Julius Randle and Mikel Brown Jr. have gotten all the Nets attention this week. But they traded for a first-round pick with an eye on Joshua Jefferson and landed the skilled forward who says Brooklyn is exactly where he’s supposed to be.
“It was really good feedback, from the late first round, from all the front office, just seeing what they need for their team,” Jefferson said. “They felt that I fit in a lot of spots because of my versatility. I’m where I need to be. The Nets took a great chance on me, and I’m very thankful for that.”
To some, the Nets took a gamble on Jefferson, an older prospect with presumably limited upside, coming off a left ankle sprain that cut short his NCAA Tournament and Iowa State’s title hopes.
“When that injury happened, I feel like a lot of things [were] jeopardized from that. Going into pre-draft, I was like, make the most out of your workouts and attack your rehab hard and everything will go how it needs to go,” Jefferson said. “Very blessed for this position that I’m in and just very thankful.”
Jefferson is a 22-year-old rookie with a chance to garner real frontcourt minutes behind Randle and Michael Porter Jr. Despite holdovers Noah Clowney and Danny Wolf, Jefferson could boost Brooklyn’s bench.
After averaging 16.4 points, 7.4 rebounds and an impressive 4.8 assists — albeit just 34.5 percent from 3-point range — Jefferson will bring passing and physicality that could earn him early playing time.
When Nets GM Sean Marks traded for Randle on Monday and brought in the 28th pick along with him, it was with an eye toward targeting Jefferson.
“It absolutely was,” Marks said. “Josh was a guy that we have absolutely been all over all year long and watched how he played the game, his skill set. That definitely translates.
“High IQ, and when you watch him play — when Iowa State plays through him, his teammates feed off of him — he’s definitely a facilitator out there. The toughness that he has. So there were a lot of intangibles. And then he’s a winner, an absolute flat-out winner. There’s an edge to how he plays and a toughness, which we loved.”
Bulk, force and toughness have been in increasing demand in the NBA playoffs lately and visibly and vexingly lacking in Brooklyn. But measuring 6-foot-7 ¾ and a solid 246 pounds at last month’s draft combine, Jefferson says his physicality will translate quickly while he waits for his shooting to catch up.
“The thing about my game that’s going to translate pretty quickly is my physicality. The NBA is a physical game right now. You have to be physical in the playoffs to win, and that’s what I’m going to bring,” Jefferson said. “Then just continue to work on my shot. Shooting it really well throughout this pre-draft process, a lot of reps. So if I continue to do that, it’s going to keep me on the floor. And defending.”
Jefferson is a ground-bound big and not a rim protector. But he’s a stout defender and excellent playmaker. Jordi Fernández will be able to replace the departed Nic Claxton’s playmaking from the center spot with Randle’s at power forward — and perhaps Jefferson’s as well.
“The way Josh plays with the ball, the DHOs, the reads, the passing ability,” Marks said. “That’s absolutely going to fit within Jordi’s system and Jordi’s style and how he wants to play.”
Jefferson says he’s studied skilled forwards like Paolo Banchero, Draymond Green, Naz Reid and Jaylin Williams, and specifically cited Randle. Now he’ll get to back up and learn from the latter.
“It’s going to be huge for me. I watched a lot of Julius Randle film throughout my senior season. It helped me a lot seeing his mid-post, post-up work is a work of art,” Jefferson said. “I’m going to use him as a resource to improve my game and then just get a lot of assists off of him.”
The Nets agreed to an Exhibit 10 deal with Illinois forward Ben Humrichous, per DraftExpress.
