Nets Hope Terance Mann Can Replicate His Peak Efficiency in Brooklyn

Some may view Terance Mann as a throwaway. The Atlanta Hawks were forced to include a 2025 first-rounder—which became Drake Powell—just to move Mann's $15.5 million cap hit next season. But that fact won't prevent him from making an instant impact on the Brooklyn Nets.

Not only his scrappy style of play exactly what head coach Jordi Fernandez seeks in a guard, but his sneaky offensive skills could flourish in Brooklyn—the Nets just hope he can revert to his 2023-24 efficiency numbers.

Nearly two years ago, Mann was likely one of the best role players in the NBA, but not many are aware of this. Yes, he only averaged 8.8 points and shot 34.8% from beyond the arc, which may seem pedestrian upon first glance. However, his true shooting percentage (61.5%) and effective field goal percentage (58.7%) were both highly impressive given his role.

For context, the league average in true shooting percentage is 57.6%, and the league average for effective field goal percentage is 54.3%.

As you can tell, Mann's percentages were significantly higher, which is quite a feat to accomplish in a lineup that included Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and eventually James Harden. That season, Mann averaged 25 minutes per night, which is likely the bare minimum he'd get in Brooklyn. Expect for him to hover around 27-28 under Fernandez, health-dependent.

Now, this doesn't mean Mann will emerge as some sort of offensive focal point. His role is essentially guaranteed to increase now that he's on a less-experienced roster, but that doesn't necessarily mean he'll have more of a scoring responsibility. The Nets have offseason acquisitions Michael Porter Jr. and (hopefully) Cam Thomas to carry that load come the regular season. But Mann won't simply be a complementary player anymore.

Compounding his on-court duties with his off-court duties likely makes Mann one of Brooklyn's top-five most important players in 2025-26. Sure, he'll be expected to produce when he's on the floor, but the impact he can have on the incoming rookie class will be just as important.

And, if he can post an as-efficient season as he did back in 2023-24, the Nets may even be able to sneak into the play-in. If they do, it'd be hard to imagine Mann not having a major hand in Brooklyn's return to the postseason.