The Brooklyn Nets Offseason has officially begun, and here is a basic outline.
Nets Under Contract: Deron, Joe, Jack, Bojan, Karasev, Plumlee
Free Agents: Brook (player option), Thad (player option), Mirza (restricted free agent), Anderson (player option), Markel (team option), Jefferson (team option), Jordan (restricted free agent), Clark (team option), Morris (team option).
Cap Space: $7.7 million, but only if every single free agent was renounced, and left. If one of Brook or Thad stays, the Nets have no cap space. So, in short, the Nets will likely be limited to cap exceptions and minimum salaries on the trade market. Beyond that, the primary resource for improvement this summer: the draft, and the trade market.
The questions:
–The free agent bigs: If Brook or Thad opt in, they become unrestricted 2016 free agents. If they opt out, do the Nets keep them, and at what number? My take? Brook opts out and negotiates a 4 year deal, Thad opts in.
–Deron, Joe, and Jack: 3 of the 6 Nets under contract are young. And then there are Deron, Joe, and Jack. Do the Nets shop one or all of them? Can they even be shopped, given their contracts and the market’s desire for flexibility and guards who are quick off the dribble? My take? All 3 are shopped at least quietly, but only Joe is moved successfully.
–The role player free agents: Do the Nets look to bring back Mirza and Anderson as role playing parts to a pseudo competitive team? Or, in trying to go younger, do they eschew complementary parts? What is the price tag on either player? My take? Both players are goners.
–Who made a name for himself: Markel, Jefferson, Clark, Jordan, and Morris are the other free agents, and in each case, the Nets essentially can retain the player if they wish. Which youngster showed enough for the Nets to decide to bring back? Which youngster is seen as dead weight at the bottom of the bench? My take: Markel and Jefferson are readily brought back, Morris is not, and Clark and Jordan are not reflexively retained, but will sit in limbo.
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