The Brooklyn Nets have cut ties with Kenneth Faried. Now, The Manimal is headed to Houston to team up with James Harden.
Per Adrian Wojnarowski, center Kenneth Faried’s time in Brooklyn has come to an end.
Faried was acquired in a summer deal with the Denver Nuggets. In exchange for Isaiah Whitehead, Brooklyn acquired the rights to Darrell Arthur, a 2019 first-round pick, a 2020 second-round pick, and Faried’s semi-albatross contract. (In hindsight, this already sounds like another steal for Sean Marks).
Now, Faried and his remaining $13.7 million salary are expected to clear waivers on Monday. Per Woj, the Manimal has already found a new home and is likely to join the Houston Rockets.
ESPN story on Kenneth Faried agreeing to deal with Houston in wake of contract buyout with Brooklyn. https://t.co/GBen5gLJs7
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 19, 2019
Faried, a tremendous offensive rebounder and energizer on the court, has seen the league pass him. His talents are a bit outdated in today’s league, as offensive rebounding is a skill that is less valuable than ever.
Not to mention, Faried has always been a net-minus on defense. He’s too short to guard centers but is too heavy to guard opposing fours. As a result, he has always fit the mold of a “tweener.”
In his prime, Faried was an integral part of the seldom-discussed 2012-13 Denver Nuggets. That season, Faried started 80 games for Denver, averaging 28.1 minutes per game while posting 11.5 points and 9.2 rebounds.
The high-flying Faried and the Denver Nuggets surprised many that season, finishing at the three-seed in the Western Conference (ahead of the Lob City Clippers and the Grit-and-Grind Grizzlies). Many people (myself included) had Denver as a stealth finals contender.
Faried and the Nuggets would not see this type of success in the upcoming years. As time progressed, Faried began to see his minutes slip as opposing defenses prepared for his Energizer Bunny-like burst.
Faried has never been a good shooter. He’s a career 12 percent three-point shooter and a 65.4 percent shooter from the stripe.
As the league got smaller, Faried’s lack of shooting pushed him from power forward to center on offense.
At that same time that Faried overwent a positional change, the Nuggets lucked into drafting not one, but two excellent centers. Denver selected Jusuf Nurkic, Portland’s current starting center, in the late first-round. In that very same draft, Denver also stole Nikola Jokic in the second round.
With an overflow of talent at the center position, Faried was quickly pushed to the end of the rotation. On mulitiple occasions, he expressed frustration with the franchise for his lack of playing time.
Sadly for Faried, after a change of scenery, things didn’t go much better in Brooklyn. For a majority of this season, Kenneth Faried has been given DNPs. Of the 47 total games, Faried only played in 12 of them.
Faried’s biggest issue in Brooklyn was that he was fairly redundant on their roster. Brooklyn already has Ed Davis who, similarly, is an energizer that scoops up every available offensive rebound as his life depends on it. Davis is simply better at fulfilling this role. He’s also a better defender.
There’s no need to have two of the same, specialized player on a 12-man roster.
Now, Faried is headed to Houston to boost the Rockets’ wounded front-court. With Clint Capela out with injury, Faried may be given immediate minutes; something that he’s been yearning for.
His ability to generate second-chance opportunities could be immense for Houston’s James Harden-centric offense. Best of luck to you, Kenneth. I hope you enjoy being Harden’s glorified ball-boy for his 17 attempted threes per game.
