Brooklyn's Beat

The Clippers and Kings are two teams full of players who may be available this summer: but can the Nets take advantage?

As for the Clippers, for the first time since acquiring Chris Paul in 2011, there is legitimate discussion of the possibility that they will look to make personnel changes to move their roster in an alternative direction.  Doc Rivers said preseason that he thinks contenders get stale, and while the Clippers were besieged by injuries, they had their worst season in 2015-2016 since coming together as a core.  That makes for potentially poachable free agents, and even trade targets, as Rivers may look to shake things up rather than give this group another shot.

As for the Kings, it is easy to view them as the Western conference version of the Nets before hiring Sean Marks (and hopefully, not after).  However, whenever a team makes coaching and management changes, those changes provide an opportunity to begin building a world class culture.  So many current contenders or near contenders — the Warriors, Cavaliers Clippers, and Raptors, come to mind – are organizations that were once downtrodden and represented the butt of jokes across the NBA landscape.  All thirty teams can be great or awful, regardless of their history, depending on how they are run.  The Kings, with the hire of Ken Catanella and the fact that their coaching search has truly been diligent, may be changing their culture.  Still, their roster is clearly not one that can stay together going forward.

So who from the Clippers or Kings is obtainable for Brooklyn?

Free Agency:

Seth Curry: Curry may be seen as a funny piece to go after in light of his surname.  Forget all of that, and what you have is a young player who has been quietly solid in Sacramento, who in limited samples showed he can shoot the ball and can guard competently. Curry has a $1 million player option so he can hit the market, and the Nets would be a good landing spot in light of their sore need of guards.  He is a player who has a ceiling he is yet to hit, and that is the type of thing the Nets need to search for this summer.

Luc Richard Mbah a Moute: Mbah a Moute at his physical peak was an excellent defender on the wing.  At this point, he does not offer as much, but he is a strong locker room presence.  And a good role model for Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, as long as the Nets did not sign him expecting big minutes.

Austin Rivers: Rivers has a player option to stay with his father in LA, and can opt out and get paid by his Clippers. While the Clippers clearly added Rivers for nepotistic reasons (why deny the obvious), if you set that aside, he is a useful rotation guard in limited minutes.  Still, he is not a starter, but may command starter like money or close.

Jamal Crawford: Crawford has always been a piece of intrigue for Nets fans, but that was when the Nets were in win now mode.  Crawford scores, but does not make plays for others, and it has to be noted that he is a part of the awful Clippers bench that consistently fails to produce behind Chris Paul.  Crawford has been winning a lot the past several years, and is from the Pacific Northwest: he does not seem like a candidate for a rebuild in the Northeast.

Rajon Rondo: Rondo is overrated at this point.  He played in Boston.  He was on a team that won a championship.  He is the type of player who, in getting steals, liking at times to guard bigger guys, and making unusual plays often not centered around scoring, who “basketball people” tend to become enamored with, but he cannot shoot, and that is a huge issue in the modern game.  In light of that, and how he flamed out of Dallas, should the Nets really hand him the keys to their offense?

Jeff Green: Every team that acquires Green becomes worse when they get him, and the Clippers are no different.  He just has not shown how he can help an NBA team.  And now that he will be through nine NBA seasons, it can’t be said that he has potential to wait on.  The Nets should pass.

Cole Aldrich: Aldrich has always been a decent bench big as a bruiser.  But at this point, the Nets, with Willie Reed and Henry Sims in house, would barely be upgrading with Aldrich.

Branden Dawson: The Clippers added him in the 2015 draft after a draft day trade, as a second rounder.  He has not played much, but the Clippers have a $875 team option they will likely exercise.

Quincy Acy: Acy is a decent rebounder, who has bounced around the league.  Having him would not hurt, but he simply isn’t an upgrade over anything the Nets already have.

Pablo Prigioni: The fall of Prigioni has been swift.  He simply offers little as an NBA player at this point.  The Nets should look elsewhere.

Wesley Johnson: If the Nets did one thing right under Prokhorov (despite undoing it months later via the Deron Williams trade and missing out on DeMarcus Cousins), it was drafting Derrick Favors over Johnson, who has been a huge bust as a pro, and who the Nets were legitimately considering in the 2010 Draft’s third spot. Johnson has a player option to stick in Los Angeles, and perhaps won’t be in the league if he does not.

James Anderson, Caron Butler, Duke Dujan, and Eric Moreland: Dujan and Moreland are barely NBA players, as is Anderson, and Butler offers nothing but a veteran presence at this point.  Pass.

Trades:  This is where the Nets lack of assets hurts them.  Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and DeAndre Jordan, as well as DeMarcus Cousins, all could be on the market this summer.  But the Nets simply do not have the assets to get a deal done.  All but Jordan are worth trading Lopez for, but is he enough to bring in those three players?  And in the case of Paul, he is an unrestricted free agent in 2017, so that weighs into any analysis.

The Golden State Warriors won 73 games, and may go down as the greatest team in the history of basketball.  That means their players are not exactly looking to run out of the first door they can find, but at the same time, there is chatter that the Warriors have plans to sign Kevin Durant, or do something ambitious with their roster this offseason.  That could mean that their talented, yet non-core players (i.e.: Curry, Klay, and Draymond) are poachable.

So who from the Warriors hits the market this summer?

Harrison Barnes: Barnes is a player the Nets should be cautious with.  On one hand, he has talent, and perhaps can do more with a bigger role outside Golden State, particularly as a stretch four.  On the other hand, Barnes was a hyped prospect from a big college program who plays on a public team that has won a championship.  All of that conspires to overrate Barnes: there is no proof, now four years in, that he is anything above a fourth option, but he may be PAID like a second option. He is restricted so the Warriors can match any offer but it is not impossible that they balk.

Festus Ezeli:  Ezeli is a restricted free agent.  Despite his injury, he has notable potential and is poised for a big payday.  However, if the Nets truly believe they need to deal Brook Lopez, that only makes sense if you fill his position cheaply.  Why pay Ezeli $12-15 million per to man the position as a relative unknown?

Shaun Livingston: The Warriors have a $5.8 million team option to keep Livingston which makes perfect sense from a financial perspective . . . unless the Warriors need to open a chunk of cap space to nail Durant.  Livingston may be available this summer as a result.  If he is, while he was a huge piece for the Nets in 2014, he has declined a touch as a Warrior, and cannot shoot.  He is better served as a 5^th starter on a good team, or 6^th-7^th man, than as a lead guard, and as a now eleven year vet, does not fit the Nets from an age perspective at this point.

James Michael McAdoo: McAdoo is an intriguing young forward who looks respectable in limited garbage time minutes in Golden State.  Again, while he likely loves being a Warrior, if they need to manage who they pay and do not pay, he is certainly near the bottom of the pecking order.  The Nets could take a look here to try and add another young athlete.  He will be a restricted free agent if the Warriors extend a qualifying offer.

Marreese Speights: Speights is a nice reserve big off the bench, who can shoot the midrange jumper.  He is plenty flawed defensively, but is clearly in a situation where his flaws do not show.  The Nets could boost their bench with Speights, but at some point, need to add better defenders to the roster, a bill Speights does not fit.

Brandon Rush:  Rush is 30 years old, a bit older than the age range the Nets should be looking at.  He does have one valuable skill: despite poor shooting in the initial years after his significant ACL injury, he is back to shooting the ball well, at near 40% on the year (close to his career average). He could be a useful shooter, but as we saw with Wayne Ellington, put a good shooter into a bad system, and he can struggle.

Anderson Varejao:  The lifelong Cav until the deadline, Varejao has little left to provide an NBA team other than a locker room presence.  I would bet that he sticks with the Warriors or goes back to Cleveland.

Ian Clark: Clark is an average guard, even in the Warriors guard friendly system and surrounded by superior talent.  The Nets should look elsewhere.

Leandro Barbosa: Barbosa is a decent bench scorer who is at the tail end of his career.  The Nets do not need players in his age or development bracket, and for Barbosa, it makes little sense to leave a winner for a rebuild.

             Injuries aside, the Pelicans have tried to build a contender around Anthony Davis, comprised of players like Jrue Holiday, Ryan Anderson, and Eric Gordon.  Their efforts have not worked out.  The Pelicans may try to use Brow as a carrot to set their sights higher, and there may be a lot of player movement in New Orleans.

So who from the Pelicans is on the market?

Free Agents:

Ryan Anderson: Anderson is overrated, and that cannot be sugarcoated.  Fans love the three ball.  Bloggers love stretch fours.  Anderson is a nice guy.  He’s dealt with a lot in his personal life.  For Nets fans, he was once here.  In theory, he is the prototypical stretch 4.  All of that, together, conspires to inflate Anderson’s value.  Anderson cannot defend, and even Anthony Davis has been unable to mask that deficiency.  The Pelicans are poorly run, but it says a lot that they paid Ajinca and Asik all the money they did, despite having Anderson up front with Brow.  Anderson, also, is poised to command an enormous deal.  Do you want to pay Ryan Anderson $16-$18 million to play next to Brook Lopez up front.  If you don’t, then you don’t want him, because that is what he will command.

Eric Gordon: Players who play at big college programs tend to become overrated at the NBA level, and Gordon is no different. Gordon is 27 years old now, and, facts being facts, has been a massive disappointment in New Orleans.  He is also, of concern, in his prime, not approaching it.  Is he worth $15 million per year as he ages into his thirties?  Because that is what he will command this summer.  While Lopez and Young are solid – and both clearly better than Gordon – at some point, there are diminishing roster returns in paying non superstars – do the Nets want to give Gordon $15 million per, on this roster?  I would pass on him.

Bryce Dejean-Jones: Dejean-Jones, a young player who thrived in the D-League before being called up, is the precise type of piece the Nets should be looking at.  The Pelicans have him under deal on a nonguaranteed $875,000, so he likely will not be available, but the Nets should look at him if he is. He thrived on a ten day deal for the Pelicans and turned it into a future salary commitment.

Kendrick Perkins: It’s inexplicable, but good players like him, even though he provides so little on court value.  He could be a veteran to look at . . . as long as the next head coach does not give him actual playing time.

Norris Cole: Cole is yet another overrated Pelican.  He thrived very early as a rookie in Miami and played on title winners in Miami, which conspire in his case to render him overrated.  Cole has done little in New Orleans, and, at 27, is older than one may think.

Toney Douglas: Signing Toney Douglas for a year like this, and signing Sean Kilpatrick, is the difference between Billy King and Sean Marks.  Both clearly recognize that with spending power low, the only thing the Nets could do this year would be to add small salaried players and hope they perform.  However, Marks focused, rather than on fan recognition, on youth with upside, regardless on the extent to which the names were known.  Billy, in signing names people could put a face to, like Shane Larkin or Thomas Robinson (or a former Knick in Toney Douglas, perhaps), focused on pieces that the fan base could get behind, to try to boost interest in a lost year.  Douglas is not what the Nets need. The Pelicans have a small team option.

Luke Babbitt: No offense, but it one wonders why the Pelicans have Anthony Davis yet are not good, the simple answer to their curiosity is to look at some of these names. The Pelicans have a team option.  But given the level of player and age bracket of Babbitt, that matters little to Brooklyn.

Alonzo Gee: At this point in Gee’s career, we know what he is.  And what that is, is a fringe NBA player.  He is also 28 years old.  If the Nets look to add fringe players this summer, those players should be young, with the potential to take a step forward (think Sean Kilpatrick), rather than recognizable older names.  Gee has a player option as well.

Orlando Johnson: Pushing his late 20s and yet to take a step forward, I would bet on Johnson being out of the league next year. The Nets should look at other options.

Trades:

There is not much here for the Nets to look at.  While the Pelicans have Jrue Holiday, they have Brow, Ajinca, and Asik under contract and perhaps try to keep Ryan Anderson – they simply have no spot available for Lopez or Young.

The Houston Rockets have been a major disappointment this year.  After reaching the conference finals and bringing back most of their core, the expectation was that they would continue contending.  Instead, the Rockets took a big step back to the .500 area, and now must contemplate how they can build a contender around James Harden.

That could lead to their free agents being very much available.  Here is a look.

Free Agents:

Dwight Howard: Howard likely has become underrated in recent seasons.  He is a hall of famer who has been fantastic since he entered the league, but the drama surrounding him from 2011-2013 has overshadowed that reality.  Strip all of that away, and what you have in Howard is a talented, but aging, big.  Howard is good, but he is no longer great.  That he is declining a $23.2 million player option this summer shows the unreasonable nature of his salary expectations as well.  This was a fit for Dwight.  This is not a fit anymore.

Terrence Jones: Jones could be a sneaky free agent this summer.  He is not playing as well as he did last year, but he is a young player with plenty of potential.  While he is restricted free agent, the Rockets under Daryl Morey have consistently resisted paying non superstars.  Jones’ market may be tepid, but this could be a chance for the Nets to get a decent young player with upside, and through his age 24-28 seasons.

Donatas Motiejunas: Despite his severe back problems, Motiejunas could also be a sneaky acquisition in Brooklyn. A restricted free agent, there is a discernible chance he and the Rockets mutually wish to part ways, after his voided trade to Detroit.  Motiejunas’ market may be chilled by his back troubles, but that could help the Nets obtain him, and they are sorely lacking non fringe youth.

Michael Beasley: Some feel the Nets give players too many chances, but this is a league wide thing.  Beasley is the epitome of the fact that if teams originally believe a player is good, they are slow to taper back their evaluations.  You often hear teams and insiders say teams have a lot of intel on players, dating to college and overseas play.  You wonder if due to the mass of information, teams are reluctant to simply see a player struggle and adjust evaluations: fans are quicker to do so, often for the better.  This is year 8 for Beasley and while he can score, can he do anything else? The Nets should look elsewhere.  The Rockets have a team option.

Andrew Goudelock: The Rockets are giving Goudelock a late season audition. A 27 year old fringe point guard, the Nets do not need to prioritize him. The Rockets have a team option.

Jason Terry: Terry has quietly had a mini resurgence since leaving Brooklyn.  He can shoot the 3 ball, but outside of that and veteran leadership (which leadership is not exactly helping in Houston, anyway), provides little at this late stage of his career.

Josh Smith: Smith is now on the wrong side of 30.  He has been unable to provide a boost this season in Los Angeles, and now in Houston.  He is the precise type of player the Nets shouldn’t be interested in.

Trades:

Thaddeus Young for Corey Brewer, Montrezl Harrell, and the Rockets’ 2018 first round pick: The Rockets cannot deal their 2016 pick because they traded it for Ty Lawson.  I do not see them making this deal at this point. Last summer, they thought they could take the next step from the 55 win level to a championship, when they dealt a lottery protected first to Denver for Ty Lawson.  Are they are that point now?  And is dealing Young for no true asset the next two years a smart move for Brooklyn? Still, if you want to deal Young, this is the type of deal you are looking at.

The Mavericks are chugging along with Dirk Nowitzki, as always.  They are not as potent as they were at his peak, or when he had more talent around him, but they have a feisty group.  Can the Nets pluck any Mavericks?  Should they?

Let’s take a look

Free Agency:

Dirk Nowitzki: Dirk is staying put in Dallas until he retires.  He could retire this season, exercise his player option, or sign an extension; but the only question, really, is if he retires or not.

Chandler Parsons: Parsons gets viewed in many lights.  He was well underpaid.  He was part of the Dallas-Houston fiasco when he defected.  He models.  Strip all of that aside, and Parsons is a good young player who can clearly help the Nets.  You need multiple talented wings to succeed in the modern NBA, and the Nets sorely lack in that area.  Parsons has a $16 million player option that he could exercise to cash in even more in 2017, or decline to get his money now. His injury may make him opt in, but his teammate, Wes Matthews, is proof you can cash in post injury. If he hits the market, he is the exact type of piece the Nets should target.

Zaza Pachulia: Pachulia is a solid big man.  He is a journeyman, but he has thrived everywhere he has gone.  At 32 years old, however, the Nets should only sign him if he desires coming on a short term deal.  At this stage of his career, I do not see Pachulia signing a 1-2 year deal unless it is with a contender.

Dwight Powell:  Powell is a young big the Nets should look at.  He gave the Mavs good minutes the first half of the year, but has become an afterthought since they added David Lee. Powell is an athlete the Nets can look at up front.  The Mavs need to decide to make him a restricted free agent via the qualifying offer, or to let him hit unrestricted free agency.

Salah Mejri: A 29 year old Tunisian big, Mejri has been fair for the Mavericks while shuffling in and out of the D-League. The Nets would be better off looking at younger options.

Deron Williams: I have a sneaky feeling he is not a target this summer.

Raymond Felton: Felton is a decent reserve point guard.  He is a player who has become a bit of a punch line, given his gun charge, weight issues, problems during his Knicks tenure, and the like, but looking past that, he is a fine reserve guard.  He, however, is on the wrong side of 30 and not a piece for the Nets to truly pursue.

David Lee: Lee is overrated for multiple reasons: he played most of his career in big cities, he excels offensively and he is cordial.  Those things conspire to overrate Lee.  Still, Lee is in decline, and is an absolute sieve on defense.  The Warriors and Celtics did not have issues with Lee the person, but after the Warriors dealt him to the Celtics at a loss just to get him some playing time, the Celtics too had no use for him.  He is not the type of piece the Nets need.

JaVale McGee: McGee has sadly devolved into a bit player after showing real promise in 2012-2013.  He plays spot minutes off the Mavericks’ bench.  McGee is the type of out there personality who needs veterans to reel him in, not the other way around: he is unlikely to be a Nets target.

Charlie Villanueva: Villanueva is the definition of a journeyman.  A defenseless, and now low upside, big, the Nets should show little interest.

Trades: The Mavericks are veteran laden and the only worthwhile pieces to pluck are hitting the market.