https://youtu.be/gNTXgkXn5qg
Out of all the dudes playing for the Brooklyn Nets, Landry Shamet stood to lose the most in a potential James Harden acquisition that abruptly went from “potential” to “confirmed”. Shamet was already struggling as the backup shooting guard to Joe Harris. Then Harden came along and the struggling Shamet had a few games where he didn’t even play. Various injury-related gaps in the rotation have meant that he generally does get minutes in most games, but it’s fair to say that his production has been nowhere near what we all expected.
Remember, this is the guy who got traded to the Clippers halfway through his rookie year and immediately became J.J. Redick 0.8 for them. He shot 45% from three in those 25 games! Now he’s shooting 32% and the forbidden thoughts start creeping in. “What if…what if…Landry Shamet peaked his rookie season?” your mind furtively queries, before you scold yourself for thinking such cruel thoughts. But, before you can stop yourself, your brain supplies, “He’s got MCW-itis…his jumpshot was fool’s gold. The Nets should waive him and grab Antonio Blakeney from China.”
Those intrusive thoughts should lessen in quantity and duration after you watch this highlight video, because Shamet looks SMOOTH as SILK on these jimbos. Perhaps Shamet only thrives in a larger role than what Coach Nash is able to provide him (the 33 minutes he got here is by far a season high for him). He is redundant with the vastly superior Joe Harris on the roster, so maybe another trade is in order after all. I can name at least 29 non-Brooklyn teams in the NBA who would love to have a guy who was basically an up-and-coming version of J.J. Redick from the very first minute he stepped on an NBA court, and is now a sad reclamation project.
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