Day’Ron Sharpe is coming into his third season as a professional, possibly a make-or-break year.
And with the Nets playing more drop-coverage — a scheme suited for Sharpe — he was itching to state his case for playing time.
Monday was his delayed first chance, and he didn’t disappoint.
He was one of the bright spots in a 127-119 loss to Philadelphia, imposing on the boards.
Sharpe had nine points and a game-high 10 rebounds in just 18:07.
His three offensive boards tied the game-high, and his plus-4 in limited time was second-best on the Nets.
“He had a really good offseason, really good. And he’s had a really good preseason,” starting center Nic Claxton said. “He’s using his physicality without fouling. He’s a lot more comfortable out there. I think he’s just in a better headspace mentally with the group that we have now, and I expect him to make some big strides for us.”
Sharpe had suffered an ankle injury just 1:33 into the preseason opener against the Lakers in Las Vegas, missing that game and the win over Maccabi Ra’anana.
After averaging just 11.8 minutes in 80 games through his first two seasons, next season is a $4 million team option, so this is a big campaign for Sharpe.
Mikal Bridges hasn’t missed a game that counted since he was a junior in high school and is riding the third-longest streak of games played in NBA history.
But he sat out Monday so Nets coach Jacque Vaughn could look at different lineups and players.
Dorian Finney-Smith started in Bridges’ place, while Darius Bazley, Trendon Watford, Cam Thomas and Lonnie Walker IV saw Bridges’ minutes divvied up among them. Claxton and Sharpe — both of whom missed the last preseason game — were back from injuries.
“No Mikal, just give me a little opportunity to see other guys,” Vaughn said. “Baze, Wat, Cam, Lonnie, kind of get his minutes a little bit. But besides that, no Cam Johnson, no Dariq Whitehead.”
Bridges has started 392 straight regular-season games, and followed up leading the league in minutes logged for a second straight season by spending the summer competing for Team USA at the FIBA World Cup.
Monday was a chance for Vaughn to not only rest his star — though he was loath to use the four-letter word — but also give Ben Simmons a longer run, Spencer Dinwiddie time at the point and players further down the roster a look.
“It is multipronged. You’ll see — with no Dennis [Smith Jr.], no Mikal — you’ll see probably Ben go a longer stretch,” Vaughn said. “And then you’ll see Spencer get some minutes, more minutes than he had, at the point guard position by himself. That’s one thing we’re trying to arrange, what those matchups and lineups are going to be. Hard to do without Cam Johnson, that makes it a little bit more difficult.
“We do still want to see what Wat and Bazley and Harry Giles can do, because we do have decisions that we’ve got to make going forward. That is a piece, also, why Mikal is sitting out, to give those guys another look and opportunity to play.”
Bazley, on a veteran minimum, came into Monday leading the Nets in rebounding.
“He’s getting all the boards over there,” Sharpe said. “He does it in practice too. He’s long and athletic so he’s gonna do his thing.”
Smith sprained his left ankle against Maccabi and will get reevaluated in about a week.
Johnson has a mild hamstring strain, and might practice this week.
Walker returned Monday from a wrist injury.
Joel Embiid didn’t play, with 76ers coach Nick Nurse saying he was “under the weather.”
Former Nets star James Harden didn’t play as he attempts to force his way off a third team in just three years: Houston, Brooklyn and now Philadelphia.
Former Net David Duke Jr. landed with the 76ers.
“David Duke has done OK. He really has had a pretty good fall and a pretty good training camp. I do know that my staff really likes him,” Nurse said. “He plays really hard for one thing, he can guard for another thing. He’s got some scoring to him with getting to the rim, shooting the 3, etc. You probably noticed in our first preseason game that we brought him off the bench fairly early. He didn’t have a very good outing. That set him back just a bit, but he’s been pretty good.”