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LAS VEGAS — For Terance Mann — both the newest Net and the oldest — coming to Brooklyn isn’t just a trade. It’s a homecoming.
Mann was born and raised in Brooklyn, growing up in the proverbial shadow of what would become Barclays Center, where he’ll be playing this season. With his mother — who was a local basketball coach — he walked around Flatbush & Atlantic as a child, excited about the coming of the team he’ll now suit up for.
“Great. Man, it’s just crazy to think about,” said Mann, 28. “I grew up around there. I remember being little. My mom was (coach at) LIU Brooklyn.
“I used to walk around the area before Barclays was even built. I used to be around there, walking around, always asking, like, ‘What are they building here?’ My mom’s like ‘I think Jay-Z is bringing the Nets from New Jersey.’ That was the talk in Brooklyn at the time. So, it’s just crazy to be able to see it.”
Many players used to come to the sport through their fathers, but times are changing. In the case of Mann, it was through his mother, Daynia La-Force.
La-Force played for Georgetown and in 1995 became an assistant coach at LIU Brooklyn, with the Blackbirds playing at the Paramount Theater just blocks from what would become Barclays Center.
The next year, Mann was born, and grew up in the neighborhood.
“I lived in New York till I was 11, and then I moved to Massachusetts,” said Mann.
“(I remember) just walking around. I went to school around the area. I would always go to Juniors, get some cheesecake; just different random stuff, playing with friends, walking around with my little brother while my mom was in practice, and just being at LIU Brooklyn a lot. Those are really my main memories.”
Now the 6-foot-5, 215-pound Mann will get to create a whole different set of Brooklyn memories.
After averaging 7.7 points and shooting 36.8 percent from deep in 67 games last season — split between the Clippers and Hawks — the Nets traded for him essentially as a salary dump.
With Brooklyn GM Sean Marks looking to weaponize his cap space, he traded for Michael Porter Jr. to get Denver’s unprotected 2032 draft pick, and took Mann to get a first-round pick last month that became rookie Drake Powell.
With three years and $47 million left on his deal, Mann will be out to remind people that he can be more than just a salary dump.
Mann can clearly play. He averaged a career-high 10.8 points in 2021-22 for a Clippers team that made the Western Conference finals, and started 71 of 75 games for them two years later.
Now the much-needed grown-up in the room for a young Nets squad with a league-record five first-round rookies, can he lead?
“For sure. I’m the oldest on the team. Yeah, so definitely,” said Mann. “It’s definitely new for me coming from the Clippers, where guys were a lot older than me. So, it’s an adjustment for me, for sure. But I’m excited to embrace the journey, taking these guys under my wing, showing them how to be professionals.”
Cam Thomas is a restricted free agent but presumptive starter at off-guard, while Porter will get the nod at one forward spot. Mann can get minutes at the two or three. But with the Nets having a plethora of rookies to groom on the perimeter — Powell, Egor Demin, Ben Saraf — Mann can help mentor all of them.
“Just lead as best I can, that’s really one of the main focuses I’m going to try and take on with this group,” said Mann. “And then on the court, whatever coach wants me to do, I’m going to do. I’ve always been that type of player. So just being excited for it.”
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