At this level of their rebuild, the remainder of this Nets season is about subsequent season.
It’s about improvement.
And youth.
And growing gamers like Maxwell Lewis, who has gone from forgotten man to nice shock in a matter of days.
The youngest Web on the ground this previous weekend was additionally among the many greatest.
In a weekend back-to-back in opposition to the Celtics and Hawks, Lewis had 25 factors on 5-for-7 capturing from behind the arc in 38 minutes, posting a team-leading plus-28.
This from a participant who’d scored simply 21 factors in his profession coming into the weekend.
In simply three months, Lewis has gone from being traded to being injured, from a damaged leg to a profession breakthrough.
And all of the whereas, the 22-year-old Pepperdine product has introduced an infectious vitality, first within the locker room and now on the courtroom.
“I like what I saw,” Jordi Fernández stated of Lewis, who scored three factors within the Nets’ 104-96 loss to the Celtics on Tuesday evening in Boston. “Max has been unbelievable those last two games. … So, happy for him. His energy is contagious. And you can tell his teammates on the bench every time he does something positive, they celebrate. That’s the most important thing. You see that chemistry.”
First got here 15 factors on 6-for-7 capturing and 3-for-3 from deep in 16 minutes Saturday in opposition to Boston.
Then Lewis adopted with 10 factors on 4-for-7 capturing — and 2-for-4 from deep — in 22 minutes of a win over Atlanta on Sunday.
Contemplating he’d logged simply 22 minutes complete for Brooklyn earlier than that, it was a stunning flip of occasions — one he was trying to proceed Tuesday in Boston.
“I’ve got to give him a lot of credit,” Cam Johnson stated. “He is available in and will get traded — it’s not straightforward, first time being traded — first sport he performs with us, hits a 3 and will get damage on the identical play. So now you simply get traded, you’re out a month and he don’t complain. He reveals up, he works day-after-day, works laborious.
“He’s just a funny guy overall, too. He’s become known throughout the team as just bringing that fun energy, sometimes a little crazy at times but we love it, and we love him for it. And seeing his success on the court, you can see how excited everybody gets for that, because everybody knows the work you put in behind the scenes and just how good of a teammate he is day in and day out.”
That commerce was Dec. 29, a part of the return for Dorian Finney-Smith.
The Lakers had thought sufficient of Lewis within the 2023 draft that they paid Indiana $4 million to maneuver up simply seven spots to take him No. 40 general within the second spherical.
Then L.A. handed him a four-year, $7 million deal, the primary two years assured.
After spending most of his rookie marketing campaign with the South Bay Lakers, Lewis was averaging 18.4 factors and 6.9 boards within the G-League when Nets basic supervisor Sean Marks wished him included together with D’Angelo Russell and three second-round picks.
However one minute into his New Yr’s Day debut, Lewis broke his left tibia.
The 6-foot-7 wing returned to the courtroom Feb. 12, however made simply 5 quick cameos — till this previous weekend. Lewis obtained his probability, and aggressively seized it.
“I was thinking, just catch and shoot, be ready. I’m so used to hesitating and putting the ball on the ground, just doing too much. And I felt like [keep it] short and simple, and I felt like I belong in the league. So it felt good to me,” Lewis stated. “I just feel normal.”
Lewis is out to show he belongs. He’s youthful than each Web apart from Noah Clowney and Dariq Whitehead.
He’s vying with younger wings Jalen Wilson and Ziaire Williams, the latter a restricted free agent with a hefty qualifying supply of no less than $7.98 million.
In the meantime, Lewis has group choices of simply $2.2 million and $2.4 million the following two years, with solely $100,000 assured for 2025-26.
He’ll use these closing 13 video games after Tuesday in TD Backyard to show he’s price that.
