The Brooklyn Nets, despite having lost four of their last seven games, have actually been playing much better basketball recently. They aren't quite at the point where their fans could feel good about them, but there are some things to like about the team moving forward.
Rookie first-round draft pick Chris McCullough has finally gotten on the court, and although he hasn't done much, he looks like he could be a useful player going forward. Brook Lopez continues to dominate despite not having much around him, and we already know what kind of impact rookie Rondae Hollis-Jefferson was having before he injured his ankle.
Hollis-Jefferson fractured his ankle in practice, and he had to undergo surgery. After the surgery was completed, RHJ was expected to miss at least two months of action. It has been three months now, and there finally appears to be some progress towards a return for the rookie, as he was able to get in a full practice earlier this week.
While the full practice is a great sign that Hollis-Jefferson is moving in the right direction, there is still no timetable for his return. The 21-year-old wing wants to get back into playing shape before he gets back into games, and the Nets will not rush him back. Brooklyn has nothing to play for the rest of the season, and Hollis-Jefferson looks like he can be a key piece to their future, so they want to ensure that he is fully healthy before he steps back on the hardwood.
It is well-known that the Nets don't have a very bright future because of their lack of assets, but they have recently shown signs of a brighter future than people think. Even Zach Lowe thinks that the Nets have become watchable lately, and this has all come without RHJ, who many would agree was the main bright spot early in the season for Brooklyn.
Hollis-Jefferson played in 19 games before getting hurt, and although that's a small sample size, he showed a lot in that short span. He took over as the starting shooting guard, and he showed great athleticism and proved to already be an above average defender. For those reasons, the Nets will do whatever it takes to keep him healthy moving forward, even if that means holding him out for the rest of this season. That doesn't seem likely at this point since there seems to be significant progress, but Hollis-Jefferson is a key piece to the Nets' future, so proceeding with caution is the right move here.
