... and Avery Johnson has had nothing but good things to say about his defense.
That may be true, but he still ranks 400th in the NBA in points allowed per possession. Small sample size or not, that's horrific.
Where are you seeing that? Synergy?
I'm by no means saying he's a good man defender (he's not), only that his defensive flaws can be hidden on a good defensive team (much the way Ray Allen's are here). His dRtg is actually above the Nets average, not that I'd put much stock into dRtg.
On the offensive end, yes, the Nets ISO a ton and freelance, but as I mentioned earlier, that's actually not an especially good fit for him (he's certainly made the most of it thus far though). He struggles efficiency wise creating for himself, but off the ball and in transition he can do some damage.