Igor Kokoškov is the hidden genius behind the Brooklyn Nets’ offensive upgrades

Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

An unheralded hiring may turn out to be the franchise’s most important acquisition.

In today’s NBA, offenses are bound to have many similarities to each other. Every team runs ball-screen-based sets — some lean on it as the fulcrum of their schemes. Others treat it as a vital piece of their offense but aren’t beholden to it because of their preference for diversification and giving opponents different looks.

And then, there are those few teams who — relative to the rest of the league — use ball screens extremely sparingly. The Golden State Warriors are perhaps the most infamous example of an offense that blatantly eschews dependence on the pick-and-roll; instead, they favor handoffs, cuts, off-ball screens, and playmaking out of the low/high post as well as the top of the key.

And then, there are the Brooklyn Nets, who ranked 23rd in pick-and-roll frequency — those possessions that were finished by the ball-handler, the roll-man, or a third party — during the 2021-2022 season, per Synergy. Unlike the Warriors, however, the Nets’ alternative to a pick-and-roll-based scheme wasn’t a consistent stream of handoffs and off-ball screens; rather, it was a heavy dose of isolation possessions.

On the surface, it’s the logical way of doing things. Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving are two of the world’s premier isolation scorers, the ultimate shot creators who are given liberty to take control of a half-court possession while everyone else gets out of their way. Isolations aren’t inherently a bad form of offense — it’s a matter of who is taking those isolations. The name of the game, after all, is advantage creation; if your designated isolation operators are one-man advantage creators and can tilt defenses heavily through their individual talent, they should be given those touches.

But heavy reliance on a play type that higher-level defenses can sit on and game plan for has a ceiling. The Boston Celtics extensively prepared for Durant in the playoffs, limiting him through a mixture of ball denial, strong-side overloading, and physicality that pushed Durant out of his spots and made him extremely uncomfortable.

There is also the your-turn-my-turn nature of an offense that relies on two shot creators. Whereas the Warriors used the natural fit of Durant and Stephen Curry to create what is arguably the deadliest offensive duo in NBA history, Durant and Irving have yet to really mesh synergistically in the manner that everyone expected them to.

Part of that is availability, or lack thereof — injuries and COVID-related issues have hounded the team ever since Durant and Irving arrived — but part of that is also a glaring lack of offensive imagination. Steve Nash is probably getting more blame than he deserves, but it’s also apparent that he needs to have a fresh set of eyes to unlock possibilities that an inexperienced head coach has yet to do himself.

This is where Igor Kokoškov comes in.

A longtime NBA assistant, Kokoškov became acquainted with Nash during his time as an assistant with the Phoenix Suns. Hailed by coaching circles as an offensive genius, Kokoškov’s European roots have translated over to his style of offense: plenty of ball and personnel movement, handoffs, progressions, and decoy actions that add an additional layer of complexity to half-court sets.

In what is perhaps the most telling sign of the Kokoškov influence on their offense, the Nets recently ran a particular action that is common throughout the NBA: double drag screens, with a simple but effective twist added to it.

The Warriors are fond of running this particular action for Klay Thompson:

The twist comes in the form of one screener in the double drag setting a screen for the other screener to cut toward the ball — typically termed as “Wide” action. Collectively, this double drag action flowing into “Wide” has been previously called “Oklahoma” — by none other than Kokoškov himself.

The Nets have tried running their own version of “Oklahoma” during the preseason:

It’s by no means a perfect version of “Oklahoma.” With Ben Simmons running point, this version doesn’t have the same kind of effect that it did with the Warriors when Curry was the ball handler, who naturally attracts two defenders around ball screens and helps isolate a lone defender against the “Wide” action. — who presents more of a pull-up threat — be the ball handler in this situation to replicate the effect it had with the Warriors.

The Nets have also opted for simple “Wide” action — going straight into the set in lieu of setting it up with double drag screens — as a form of quick-hitting early offense:

The advantages generated by simply having someone cut toward the ball with a screen being set are two-fold: 1) If the low man on the weak side isn’t keen on “tagging” the roller because of the fear of leaving the corner open, the roller can simply receive a pocket pass for the dunk, as what happened in the first clip; 2) if help does come in the form of the low man helping on the roll or penetration, the corner opens for a kick-out pass and three, as what happened in the second clip.

Another action that most teams run out of 5-Out “Delay” (a big man handling the ball at the top of the key) is “Chicago” action, which is simply a pindown screen flowing into a dribble handoff (DHO). While the Nets ran a fair amount of handoff actions last season (6.2 per 100 possessions, 10th in the league), they scored 0.946 points per possession on them — 5th in the league, per Synergy.

This calls for them to run more handoff actions because they are capable of generating efficient offense out of them. Handoffs create good flow, encourage constant movement, and are a simple method of getting players into their ideal spots.

There’s a lot of things going on in the set above: “Pistol” flowing into “Chicago,” which creates a single-tag situation. The presence of Patty Mills discourages help on the roll — peep at Jevon Carter rushing back to Mills — and a Durant pocket pass around the handoff sets Day’Ron Sharpe free for the dunk.

The versatility of “Chicago” is of particular importance when it comes to this new iteration of the Nets offense. Kokoškov understands the principle of having half-court sets with multiple layers; giving defenses different looks constantly keeps them on the back foot.

For example: take a relatively simple concept such as “Spain” pick-and-roll, which adds a back screen to the typical ball-screen action:

While going straight into the “Spain” action is the common way of doing things, an advanced offensive mind would concoct a way to disguise it with a preceding action — for example, “Chicago.”

The possession above involves a drawn-up play with “Chicago” action leading directly into “Spain” pick-and-roll, with Joe Harris’ 45 cut creating the back-screen element. The execution leaves a lot to be desired — the timing of the back screen and the roll is way off — but what matters is the intention. Timing and execution can be refined over the course of the season, and Kokoškov will certainly help in that department.

It was only two seasons ago when the Nets were the best offense in the league. While scheme played a non-insignificant part, having the best collection of offensive talent was the main driver behind that success. But talent can only take you so far; there must also be philosophies and guidelines in place to make the best use of that talent and the group of players on its periphery.

The Nets obtaining Kokoškov’s services didn’t dominate the major news feeds, nor did it make any sort of significant splash within the larger NBA hive mind. Assistants gaining employment typically don’t command that kind of attention — but those in the know are aware of how big this particular hiring really is.

There’s more than one way to skin a cat — with Kokoškov, the Nets may have found the most efficient manner to do it.