Brooklyn Nets are still working on to find ways to exclude Kyrie Irving from the Covid-19 protocols regarding his vaccination status.
Steve Nash revealed Sunday the team is preparing without having Irving in its plans for home games. Irving will need to take at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine to play in New York.
In any case, the Nets will need to use their depth in point guard position with Patty Mills and Jevon Carter being the two players that could start instead of Kyrie at least in front of the Nets’ fans.
Mills has the reputation of a scorer coming off the bench, and that could be the case in Brooklyn, as he can be the first scoring option of the bench unit. Mills could also be a veteran presence in the bench unit.
Mills came off the bench during his preseason debut with the Nets in the game vs. the Bucks, and played for 19 minutes, scoring 10 points. Jevon Carter is the other potential option for Steve Nash in the point guard position.
Carter came to Brooklyn early in the offseason as part of a trade between the Nets and the Suns. The third-year point guard has received significant time on the court during the preseason.
He put up 10.5 points, 2.0 assists, 1.5 rebounds and one steal per contest. He also shot 50 percent from the field and 62.5 percent from deep.
“Jevon is great, obviously a great defensive player, but, offensively, he’s very capable. For us, when our offense is rolling is making the defense better. He(Carter) does a really good job of splitting those two,” Blake Griffin said on his teammate Sunday.
“Sitting down, playing defense and as soon as we get it transitioning to offense. I’m really impressed with him-It seems kind like an obvious thing-, but they are certain point guards that are better than others. He does a really good job with that,” the former All-Star concluded.
Carter will find open shots in potential lineups, where he will be pairing with James Harden or Patty Mills. His defensive prowess could be useful against guards, who can dominate on the offensive side of the ball.
Whether the Nets resolve the situation with Irving and make him available for the full season or not, the Nets could definitely use their guard depth, at least in the regular season.
