Marshon Brooks on being drafted by C's "It was a great feeling, honestly"

[j804]

I thought this article was interesting as I heard rumors that he didn't want to be here. He grew up watching us and was excited about being by drafted by us. I wish we would have kept him we could have used the scoring.  

For a brief moment, MarShon Brooks thought he would be a member of the Celtics. The former Providence star was selected by the C’s with the 25th pick in the NBA draft last June.

“It was a great feeling, honestly,” Brooks said.

But that feeling didn’t last long. The Celtics made the pick on behalf of the Nets as part of a prearranged trade that sent Brooks to New Jersey and Purdue forward JaJuan Johnson (taken 27th) and a 2014 second round pick to the Celtics.

“By the time I got across the stage (to meet NBA commissioner David Stern), I knew I knew I had been traded,” Brooks said this morning before the Nets face the Celtics at the Garden tonight. “I knew before they announced it on TV and things like that, but just shortly before.”

In that brief time, Brooks was excited about staying close to Providence, where he blossomed into a scoring machine. The 6-foot-5 shooting guard averaged 24.6 points per game last season, which ranked second in the nation behind former BYU star Jimmer Fredette. The New Jersey native also knew plenty about the Celtics from his four years in New England.

“I didn’t really have a choice,” Brooks said. “They were on every channel.”

Brooks hasn’t spent much time thinking about what could have been. He’s been too busy lighting up the scoreboard for the Nets.

Brooks is averaging 13.7 points per game, which is behind only No. 1 pick Kyrie Irving among rookies. He’s benefited from over 21 minutes per game of playing time for the 1-5 Nets, and is expected to make his first career start tonight. By contrast, Johnson has appeared in only three games this season, totaling eight minutes and four points.

“I’m happy with it,” Brooks said. “I got an opportunity to play right away. I’m playing pretty well. Coach (Avery Johnson) has a lot of confidence in me so I can’t complain.”

Brooks admitted it has been a challenge to get up to speed due to the brief training camp caused by the lockout. He said the toughest part about the NBA is the quick turnarounds between games, which are more extreme in this compressed schedule. Brooks said his comfort level will only grow, but he doesn’t appear to be experiencing any growing pains offensively.

“I felt like I’d be able to score at the next level just because I was so prepared at Providence,” said Brooks, who is shooting 46.3 percent from the field. “I was put in a lot of isolation situations and a lot of pick-and-roll situations at Providence so I think that prepared me well for this situation.”

[Tradetime]

Yeah, I can agree with keeping Brooks around for scoring. The guy is a rookie and as stated in the article trailing only Kyrie Irving in rookie scoring.

Who knows when we'll ever see Jajuan Johnson or Moore play any kind of role on this team. Doc gave his usual lip service about Moore passing Avery Bradley on the depth chart.

[LarBrd33]

he looks good tonight.  Probably trying to make a statement

[Fan from VT]

he looks good tonight.  Probably trying to make a statement

He's looked pretty good all season. We'll see if it keeps up but right now it looks like he's potentially a truly elite scorer.