Jeremy Lin is trying to justify the Nets‘ $36MM investment by becoming a better shooter this offseason, relays Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com. Lin, who accepted a three-year deal to leave Charlotte for Brooklyn, has altered his shooting style and is hoping for better results. Mazzeo notes that Lin’s percentage as a jump-shooter over the past four seasons is just 34.8%. “I’ve changed my form, brought my release lower and made the motion smoother in hopes of making it more consistent, creating a quicker release and using less energy so on nights when I’m tired I can still shoot it well,” Lin said. “I’ve also been working on my floaters and change of pace game because as I get older, I will rely less and less on my athleticism.”
There’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- Randy Foye stands out as a veteran on a very young Nets team, writes Cory Wright of NBA.com. Foye, who signed a one-year, $2.5MM deal with Brooklyn last month, has played 683 games in his 10-year NBA career. That’s about 200 more than the combined total of new teammates Anthony Bennett, Bojan Bogdanovic, Justin Hamilton, Joe Harris, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Sean Kilpatrick and Chris McCullough. Foye is aware of his new role as a veteran leader. “When I first came into the league, Kevin Garnett was my vet,” Foye said. “He was on me, but everything he told me, he practiced what he preached. He got on the floor, dove on the floor and a lot of the things that he did he led by example.”
- Sixers head coach Brett Brown was happy to add a man who once held that position to his staff, according to Brian Seltzer of NBA.com. Jim O’Brien, who was Philadelphia’s coach for one season in 2004/05, rejoined the team after former associate head coach Mike D’Antoni left to become head coach of the Rockets. “His experiences in the NBA are documented,” Brown said of O’Brien. “I just felt like, for me, with his Philadelphia background, his NBA experiences, and the fact that I felt comfortable with him, I felt like he would be a veteran sounding board, and good for my other young assistants.”