Brooklyn Nets Film Room: How Dariq Whitehead Can Play a Role Offensively

Injury issues have plagued the start of Dariq Whitehead's NBA career, but there is still a lot to work with there for the Brooklyn Nets.

Mar 16, 2023; Orlando, FL, USA; Duke Blue Devils forward Dariq Whitehead (0) dribbles the ball during the second half against the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles at Amway Center. Mandatory Credit: Russell Lansford-Imagn Images / Russell Lansford-Imagn Images

Dariq Whitehead is arguably the most promising prospect on the Brooklyn Nets, but recurrent injuries might have, at best, delayed his potential and, at worst, dashed it.

Whitehead’s NBA Summer League was meant to mark a real return from his recent woes, but it was not what Nets fans expected. The 20-year-old averaged five points, 4.5 rebounds and one assist in 21 minutes per game. 

Whitehead shot 14.6% from the field and 8.3% from three. He had the same number of field goals made and turnovers: six — subsequently meaning he had three times as many rebounds (18) as field goals made. It doesn’t and shouldn’t take much more to realize that Whitehead struggled in Las Vegas for the Summer Nets.

At the same time, it’s equally as important to acknowledge that, while Whitehead’s play severely underwhelmed, this came in only four games. The Newark native appeared in two games for the Nets last season, but Whitehead’s 2023-24 campaign was effectively a redshirt year. 

This upcoming season should be considered his rookie one on the court. Whitehead is reportedly back to full health after three surgeries in two years. He initially underwent a pair of procedures on his right foot, going back to his time at Duke and then right before the 2023 NBA Draft. Last January, a left shin surgery ended Whitehead’s season.

Seeing as how Whitehead’s early superstar potential has at a minimum been put on hold, it would be unfair to evaluate his future on those once-held projections. Instead, the former Blue Devils guard also has a safer, middle of the road outcome that showed up in Duke’s March 10, 2023 game against the Miami Hurricanes:

It’s likely that Whitehead’s short-term future is playing a role, rather than being the guy. His three-point shooting gives him a safe floor in that regard. Whitehead’s responsibilities at Duke were centered around catching and shooting, and defenders had to respect him as a three-point threat. 

Half of his attempted field goals were three-pointers, per Bart Torvik, with Whitehead drilling 42.9% of those looks from deep (42-for-98). This conversion gave him leverage despite occupying such a narrow role.

In this game against Miami, Whitehead took some simple threes where he was spotting up on the wing or on the corner. However, he also made some challenging shots moving to the left corner and displaying a quick trigger, or showing that he can make shots out of inbound situations. Looking ahead, the Nets have enough playmakers to set Whitehead up with efficient looks.

Further showing his leverage, he drew fouls from the three-point line, which took him to the charity stripe for six free throws. That was his season-high at Duke, although the hope in the future is that Whitehead can draw fouls in other ways.

Whitehead’s next step is efficiently attacking the hard closeouts he’s shown he can force. 

In this game and in college overall, he preferred to pull up rather than attack the rim. However, this can also be attributed to the injury issues that were limiting his athleticism. While this was after Duke, Whitehead mentioned that dealing with shin splints last season hindered his jumping ability.

At Duke, only 23.9% of his total shots were at the rim, per Hoop Math. In comparison, 31.4% were two-point jumpers.

Whitehead was measured at 6'5.75'' in socks with a 6'10.25'' wingspan at the 2023 NBA Draft combine, which gives him good positional size for a 2-guard and enough physical tools to slide down to the 3. He can tap into his size when combining it with his jumper’s high release point, but not yet finishing through defenders.

Again, though, it’s tough to currently discern how much of his finishing improvements were linked to his on-court health. A bigger sample size with the Long Island Nets this season will prove much more helpful.

Since Whitehead might shape up as more of a role player, he’ll need to maximize his touches and make quick decisions. Many players in the NBA “only” need to catch and shoot, catch and pass or catch and drive, albeit while making different reads within these possibilities. That is as opposed to being the first option who needs to self-create and set up his teammates while also being zoned in on by the defense.

Whitehead made some simple passing reads in this game. In the first clip, he kills his dribble too early but can still find Kyle Filipowski in the corner after noticing that Dereck Lively II, the big rolling in this case, caused Miami’s no. 11 to stunt over for a brief second. This can be a read he makes in the NBA.

The kid from across the Hudson.@dariq_whitehead: From Newark to Brooklyn, presented by @qatarairways pic.twitter.com/pfaDzuwhSr

— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) September 24, 2024

Whitehead will likely spend most of his season on Long Island in the G League to recover his game rhythm and get as many reps as possible. The goal should be to build momentum and show growth, rather than suddenly break out, with an eye towards playing some NBA games closer to the end of the season — like Noah Clowney last year.

Progress and development in a player is not linear, so Nets fans should not be overly discouraged by the former Blue Devil's Summer League woes. They were not ideal, but only the start of a much bigger picture. 

Despite an undesired start to his NBA career, Whitehead has the means to, at the very least, become a solid role player. In a future edition of Brooklyn Nets Film Room for Nets On SI, we will discuss how a pathway also exists for his star potential to resurface.

---

Want to join the discussion? Like Nets on SI on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Nets news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.