ORLANDO, Fla. — Rondae Hollis-Jefferson will enter the NBA with a reputation as an elite, versatile defender, which means the players he’s guarding have a little extra motivation every night.
“That’s just how I’ve always been, taking a challenge,” the 20-year-old said Tuesday after his third NBA Summer League game with the Brooklyn Nets. “Life throws challenges at you, and the strong stand up to those challenges. In previous years, I’ve stood up to them.”
In the fourth quarter of Tuesday afternoon’s game against Charlotte, the Nets asked the 6-foot-7-inch Hollis-Jefferson to guard a familiar foe: Frank Kaminsky, the 7-footer from Wisconsin whose team ended Arizona’s season in both of Hollis-Jefferson’s years with the Wildcats.
Using his long wingspan to negate the size advantage, Hollis-Jefferson held Kaminsky scoreless in the fourth quarter, though the Hornets pulled out a 64-55 victory.
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“We needed somebody to provide a spark, and he took Kaminsky out of the game,” said Joe Wolf, a Nets assistant and Brooklyn’s Summer League coach. “He had good energy, and I thought good things happened. That’s why he was drafted, but he’s got a lot of work to do. It’s his first test of having to play somebody very capable from his draft class, and he was up to the challenge today.”
Brooklyn traded for Hollis-Jefferson after Portland selected him with the No. 23 pick in last month’s draft. Hollis-Jefferson, who signed his rookie contract Monday, is still finding himself offensively in a new system. He averaged 8.5 points in his first two games but scored just two on Tuesday on 1-for-6 shooting. He leads the Nets with seven steals in three games, and coaches are pleased with his strengths on the defensive end.
“He has a great attitude. He’s done everything we’ve asked when it comes to stepping up defensively,” said another Nets assistant, Jay Humphries.
“We don’t need him to be a scorer. We didn’t draft him to score 20 points a game. What we need to do is muck up the game a little bit, to guard some of their best players and be a force that way.”
The Nets thought enough of Hollis-Jefferson that they traded away center Mason Plumlee and a second-round pick. The Nets are also reportedly looking at trading veteran small forward Joe Johnson, which could open up an even larger role for Hollis-Jefferson as a rookie.
The UA has had a big presence in the Orlando Summer League, with second-year Magic star Aaron Gordon among the top scorers this week and rookie Stanley Johnson making a strong first impression with the Pistons as well.
In introducing Hollis-Jefferson last week, the former Wildcats star was touted as the best defender in the draft by Nets general manager Billy King, a title that the rookie will take great pride in proving this coming season.
“It’s very validating to give that credit, being a great defender,” Hollis-Jefferson said. “I feel I have to bring that to the table every night, no matter if I can score a basket. Me taking pride in that, it says a lot.”
