Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson knows what the team’s plans will be for newly-acquired superstar point guard Kyrie Irving.
At the beginning of NBA free agency, which began on June 30, the Brooklyn Nets made a splash. They reached agreements with superstars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant on four-year deals, worth $141 million and $161 million, respectively.
The Nets then went out and signed center DeAndre Jordan to a four-year, $40 million deal as well.
Irving will have to run the show this year for the most part. Durant will be out for most if not all of the season with a ruptured Achilles. That being said, Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson has a simple plan for their new superstar point guard.
“Give him the ball,” Atkinson said, per Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News.
Atkinson made it known that he has to study Irving’s style of play. He’ll go from there when it comes to the general game plan for the team.
“I’m definitely starting to do my homework on him. It’s still recent,” Atkinson said. “I think the challenge is to get the best Kyrie. I want him to have his best season ever and continue that improvement and that’s tough because he played well last year. I know there’s a lot of talk out there, but you look at his numbers and I think the way he played really well. Definitely going to challenge him to keep improving. We play a system I don’t imagine changing a ton.
“You’ll have to ask him, but I think that’s part of the reason he was interested in coming here our style of play. I think we’ll come to a meeting of minds between me and him and how that works within the group.”
The Nets should be a fun organization to watch in the NBA for years to come. They’ve gone from just a playoff team this past season to what could be a contender in the Eastern Conference for the next half-decade.
