As the Nets march toward a significant offseason, every single team offers something to the Nets, from a morsel to a big piece. The Wizards’ roster construction, sitting at 49-33 and looking to upgrade, may lend itself to some Nets poaching.
The first big target is Otto Porter: as I chronicle here, he fits the Nets no matter what their plan is, but the Wizards are likely to retain him. After him however (minus Wall and Beal obviously), there are options here.
Marcia Gortat stands out as he questioned his role in Washington after the season. The Wizards could, in theory salary dump him to open cap room for a larger strike. If so the Nets should take advantage. If the Wizards seek value, the Nets can offer Brook Lopez, a significant upgrade … if the Wizards are willing to pay in the way of assets and kids. Their 2019 first and Kelly Oubre may not enough for the Nets, but those components would form the guts of a deal.
The Nets could explore similar deals for Jeremy Lin. Lin could anchor the Wizards bench; the Wizards desperately lack that type of presence in their second unit.
Ian Mahinmi is another piece the Wizarda may look to dump and Brooklyn could step in as a haven for assets. The Nets should explore that salary dump option. A deal around Mahinmi’s dumpster fire contract, and Lopez or Lin, likely would not work, however – the Nets would need value for their players AND value for assuming Mahinmi, that the Wizards just do not have to offer.
In a smaller scale money dump, Jason Smith is next to worthless and has a player option for 2018-19. The Nets should see what value they could extract for taking him on. The Wizards have second round picks the next two drafts, and a history of devaluing the second round in favor of short term gains – the Nets should target that in Smith discussions, and at the draft.
Beyond that comes Marcus Morris and Tomas Satoransky. Morris is on an excellent contract as a huge component of a 49 win group. That makes him likely to stay put – unless the Wizards see Lopez as an upgrade because of Oubre’s potential emergence. Satoransky struggled in year 1 in the NBA, but European players often take off in years 2-3, and he was legitimately good in Europe. Perhaps his first year struggles were reminiscent of Mirza Teletovic’s in 2012-2013. The Nets should see if the Wizards would dump him into a larger deal as a throw in, to see if he sticks. If not, he’s on a tiny contract anyway.
Further beyond that there is nothing to see. Bojan Bogdanovic makes no sense in Brooklyn and that is why the Nets dealt him. Trey Burke is a bust, as is Chris McCullough, and Brandon Jennings is beyond atrocious.
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