NBA Free Agency 2017 Player Profile: Nene

Strengths

Nene is a brute, and I mean that in the best possible way. Sometimes he can get a little too aggressive, but he’s going to add toughness to whatever team he’s on. He’s a little more extreme, less talented Greg Monroe in a lot of ways.

These days he’s not a scoring machine, but Nene was incredibly efficient in Houston. Almost all of his offense came on shots very close to the rim, which he had no trouble converting. Nene shot 61.7 percent from the field with the Rockets, and that number climbed to about 70 percent before he got hurt in the postseason.

Surprisingly, Nene might add more on defense than on offense. The Houston Rockets team was largely unable to play defense last season, as Houston allowed teams to score 106.4 points per 100 possessions. That number dropped all the way down to 102.8 with Nene on the floor, and climbed up to 108.0 without him out there.

He made the Rockets better on both ends while he played last season. Nene is no star player, but he’s the kind of risk/reward veteran that can really help a talented team’s second unit.