Brooklyn's Beat

On this site, I have looked at Nets free agency and trade options with every East team, except the Hornets and Magic.

Now, I complete our look at the East.

Free Agency:

Nicolas Batum: The Hornets have loved having Batum and, after a down season in Portland, he has rebounded and some.  The Hornets will make a handsome offer to Batum to keep him, so the Nets are fighting an uphill battle, but they should definitely try to add a wing of his caliber.  He is not a star, but is a great 3rd or 4th starter on a contender — as we saw in Portland.

Evan Fournier: Fournier is having a very good season on the wing for the Magic.  But with Vucevic, Harris, Payton, Oladipo as a core going forward, there is only so much money to go around, and even with all those pieces the Magic sit at 23-29.  They cannot keep all of this youth around: they need to either consolidate it via trade for a big name, or let some of it go and sign a big name.  Fournier could be one of the odd men out.  Orlando may match an offer to retain control, as he is a restricted free agent, but as far as obtainable restricted free agents go, he is near the top of that list.

Jeremy Lin: Lin generates remarkably polarizing opinions.  He made history as an Asian American player bursting onto the scene.  That history for some bred love, for others bred resentment.  If one forgets about all of that, and just looks at the basketball player wearing number 7 for the Hornets, what they will see is a smart basketball player, who is useful as a low end starter, or in a sixth man role, as a playmaker and talented runner of an NBA offense.  A quality, useful 5th-6th man on an NBA team.  Lin has a $2.2 million player option he absolutely should decline.  The Nets face an uphill battle if Lin does not want to go back to NY City.

Marvin Williams: He has always been a punchline due to being drafted ahead of Chris Paul, but when you look at him through the lens of who he is, rather than who he was picked ahead of, he is a useful hybrid 3-4 who can shoot the 3 and fit in defensively with a playoff team.  He is similar to Lin in regards to the prism of analysis affecting his perceived value. Williams is unlikely to devote the second half of his career to a team on the wrong side of .500 like the Nets, but he is worth a look.

Andrew Nicholson: Nicholson, a mid round first in 2012, is yet to find his real NBA niche, but has some small ball four potential if he can continue shooting the 3 well: he is only taking 2 attempts per game but that is a career high, as is his 35% clip.  If the Nets can get him economically, he may be worth a look.  He will be restricted if Orlando extends a qualifying offer, but Orlando has other priorities this summer.

Al Jefferson: Injuries have finally caught up to Jefferson, who is the worst he has been in a good nine years.  There are teams who can use Jefferson as an extra boost to their current contention.  The Nets should not look at players on this side of their career arcs.

PJ Hairston: Hairston is a decent reserve wing who, despite his youth, was given up on by the Hornets.  Hairston has some potential down the road, and may be a worthy gamble for Brooklyn.  He certainly will only command a low number, and the Nets need young players with upside, anyway they can find them.

Dewaye Dedmon: Dedmon could be a quietly good addition to the Nets bench.  He grabs 14 rebounds per 40 minutes, and may be able to find a niche as a 4th or 5th big, just in games to rebound.  The Magic may decline making a qualifying offer, which would make him an unrestricted free agent.

Brian Roberts: Roberts is a useful fourth or possibly fifth guard on a team. The Nets can look at him on a minimum deal this summer, although that is a downgrade for him salary wise.

Troy Daniels: Daniels is a fringe NBA player whom is a restricted free agent, if the Hornets make a qualifying offer, which is doubtful.  He is likely to be someone the Nets do not target.

Jason Smith: Smith can hit his midrange jumper and is a decent reserve big.  However, he is also the definition of a dime a dozen player.  He wouldn’t hurt off the Nets bench, but is not exactly a priority either.

Tyler Hansbrough: Hansbrough is a limited role player struggling for playing time with the Hornets.  Players like Hansbrough, when you’re contending or close and need a player to fill a role, are readily available.

Aaron Harrison: Harrison is a second rounder on whom the Hornets have a $875,000 team option they may exercise, to give him another year to develop.  Little is exciting for the Nets here.

Devyn Marble: The Magic have a $980,000 team option but Marble is in and out of the D League, and unlikely to generate much market interest.

Keith Appling: Appling is in Orlando on a ten day contract, and may be out of the NBA after this season.  He is a fringe NBA player.

Trades:

-Channing Frye and Evan Fournier for Bojan Bogdanovic and Jarrett Jack: If the Magic know they will not match an offer on Fournier, they can do a deal like this to get a young piece in return, as well as use it as an opportunity to ditch Frye’s bad contract.

-Brook Lopez for Cody Zeller, PJ Hairston, and Al Jefferson: Jefferson has little left; this deal would be about getting younger, and, for the Hornets, trying to insert a player to augment their core.  The Nets could try to push here for a first or multiple seconds

With several days until the trade deadline, the Nets GM search is still pending.  From a practical perspective, that easily may lead to them sitting out this trade deadline, at least with regard to big transactions.

However, the lack of a GM does not preclude the Nets from making a deal they want to make.  And it certainly does not preclude fans from speculating regarding the deadline’s possibilities, should the Nets approach it aggressively like any other deadline.

So who can the Nets acquire this deadline?  There are limitations: the majority of the Nets roster, frankly, has so little value that it is virtually untradeable, and there are no picks in house to deal picks for players.  Still, let’s look at some possibilities.

GO BIG OR GO HOME DIVISION:

–Atlanta Hawks and Memphis Grizzlies three team trade:

-Nets get: Teague, Vince Carter, Sefolosha, and Mike Scott

-Hawks get: Lopez, Brandan Wright, and Mario Chalmers

-Grizzlies get: Splitter and Bojan Bogdanovic

There’s a lot to chew on here. From the Nets’ perspective, if you decide that Lopez is not a piece to move forward with, you get Teague, who makes far less money and fills your point guard position.  Given the amount of value Atlanta is getting in this trade, you probably push the Hawks here to convey their first rounder, or a future first rounder, which could provide a mid round pick as well. Vince Carter gives the front office the little “splash” boost it always craves, while Sefolosha is a good defender on the wing. Mike Scott is just here to make the money work.

For the Hawks, if you believe Horford is leaving, this fills your center position going forward with Lopez and Wright. You can then start Schroeder at point guard, and try to flip Horford for a wing to fill your wing spot.

For Memphis, this trade provides them with Splitter to try to bridge the gap with Gasol out, and you also dump Chalmers and Vince as you build toward your future, while adding a future wing in Bojan.

Three team trade: Pelicans, Lakers, and Nets

-Pelicans get: Russell and Joe Johnson

-Lakers get: Brook Lopez

-Nets get: Holiday, Hibbert, and Eric Gordon

The Pelicans would be putting another young developing piece in Russell next to Davis. The Nets would be dealing big for small to grab Holiday, despite injury concerns. The Lakers would be selling short on Russell, at least this early in his career.  Hibbert, Gordon, and Johnson make financials work.

-Lakers and Nets: A derivation of the three teamer with the Pelicans — Brook Lopez for Hibbert and Deangelo Russell: if you want to rebuild, you do this as the Nets. You will not get better value for Brook. Guess we will see how irrational Byron Scott can make the Lakers.

–Suns and Nets: Joe and Bojan for Markieff Morris, Tyson Chandler, and Sonny Weems: The Nets would be taking Morris off Phoenix’s hands while seriously upgrading their talent level.  The Suns may decline, as Morris is playing better under new head coach Earl Watson.  Bojan, however, may be the best return they get in lieu of a first rounder, and the Nets would be taking Chandler off their hands.  The get here for the Nets is Morris — Chandler and Weems are only here to make the money work.

Three team trade: Bulls, Raptors, and Nets

-Bulls get: Thad, Jack, Terrence Ross, and Delon Wright

-Raptors get: Gasol

-Nets get: Rose and Tony Snell

POPULAR RUMOR DIVISION:

Raptors and Nets two team trade: Young for Delon Wright, Patrick Patterson, and James Johnson

For the Raptors, the goal here is obvious.  They have the fifth best record in the league and want to advance in the playoffs and contend, and this deal fills their one weak position.  For the Nets, this would be a trade to add pieces for the future.  Delon was just picked at the 18 spot in the first round of the draft, but is buried because the Raptors have Lowry and Cory Joseph.  Patterson makes the money work and while he is struggling, can be a rotation piece.  Johnson has not been in the rumors, but is a good wing defender who is persistently unhappy in Toronto.  Would the Raptors make him the difference between getting the deal done or not?

Pistons and Nets two team trade: Bogdanovic and Jack for Jennings

Jennings is only arguably a starting NBA point guard, despite the popularity of his name: just run down the list of starters and ask yourself who he is better than. See how few you come up with. And with the Pistons having Jackson in tow, that creates some incentive to trade Jennings.  Still, Jennings has been a good sixth man for them running the offense, so the Pistons will want value in return.  Is Bogdanovic enough?

TAKE ON OTHERS’ MISTAKES DIVISION:

Heat and Nets: Dragic, McRoberts, Udrih, and Josh Richardson for Johnson and Bojan: the Nets would he hoping Dragic could become their future starting point guard, and that his poor tenure with Miami is a product of his fit, rather than the beginning of a sharp decline. The Heat would be seeking a mulligan on the Dragic contract, and renting Bojan as an asset so that they do get an asset in return.

Magic and Nets: Frye and Fournier for Bojan and Jack: The Nets would be, if they want Fournier, obtaining total control of his services as he would be their restricted free agent.  Frye has fallen out of favor in Orlando, but is shooting the 3 as well as ever — he’s just buried in the rotation on a minutes basis.  The Magic would be getting out from under his contract. Jack is involved to make the money work.

OTHER DEALS:

–Wizards and Nets: Thad for Humphries, Dudley, Temple, and a first and second rounder: The Wizards weakest poisition is the 4 spot and Young would fill it.  Humphries and Dudley are decent reserves (both are underrated at this point as they shoot the 3), but the get here for Nets would be the picks.

-Nuggets and Nets: Lopez for Nurkic, Chandler, and Hickson.  The Nets would be turning Lopez into a young piece to grow with, and a rotation player; Hickson is just there to make money match.  The Nuggets likely reject this but perhaps seek to accelerate the timeline as they build around Mudiay.

–Rockets and Nets: Bogdanovic for KJ McDaniels and Sam Dekker: McDaniels is a high flier, while Dekker was a mid first round pick last year. Bojan can be a rotation player for the Rockets, while the Nets would get a little more asset heavy.

–Jazz and Nets: Bogdanovic for Jeff Withey and draft pick considerations: Withey has been a quality big for the Jazz with Gobert missing time this season.  Still, Utah is far more set up front than at the guard spots, so perhaps they look to sell high on Withey and grab a wing. The Nets here should push for a first, but two seconds may get the job done.

-Kings and Nets: Thad Young for Willie Cauley Stein and Kosta Koufos: This would be seriously stupid short term thinking by the Kings . . . but you can never put that past them

Nets and Hornets two team trade: Lopez for Al Jefferson, Cody Zeller, and PJ Hairston

-The Hornets here would be turning Jefferson, whose seriously declining, into Lopez.  The Nets would be leveraging that for two of the Hornets’ younger pieces who are not necessarily core pieces . . . especially Hairston, whose team option the Hornets declined.  The value here is not that high, but this may be the type of deal the Nets can secure for Lopez at this point.

With this piece, I continue my look at free agents across the league – this time, by looking at the Northwest division (*pre trade deadline*), starting with the Thunder and Blazers.

Who from the Thunder and Blazers are free agents the Nets can look at?

Kevin Durant: Clearly, the Nets are hilarious underdogs in the Durant chase. The presumptive favorite are the incumbent OKC Thunder.  He can go to the Warriors, or another contender.  He can go “home” to Washington DC.  Should he crave going to a bigger city, the Lakers (with Randle, Clarkson, and Russell, yes) are better set longterm than the Nets, and the Knicks (with Melo and Kristaps) clearly are as well.  Still, you HAVE to try.  If Durant tells you he wants a meeting, you spend umpteen hours preparing your pitch, and you sell the franchise as best you can. You will fail, 99.999% of the time. But you have to try to be that .001%. If you are that 1 in 1,000, the other 999 alternate universes do not matter.

Meyers Leonard: The easiest thing to do when starting a rebuild, really, is to start. Even the Nets, in amassing a ton of assets as of January of 2011, got that part right.  The Blazers have as well in the wake of losing Aldridge but start facing decisions on their young players, like Leonard, next summer. Leonard is a nice young big, who shoots four threes per game (a very encouraging sign), and has shown he can fit in with a winning group in some capacity.  Do the Nets make him an offer and see if the Blazers match on their restricted free agent? Leonard is a nice piece, but is behind Plumlee and Vonleh in the pecking order in Portland.

Dion Waiters: Waiters is a classic “overrated and underrated” case.  On one hand, casual fans love high scoring wings who were big names coming out of college, which conspired to cause Waiters to become overrated.  On the other hand, media and more nuanced fans hate players overrated by casual fans and disliked by metrics, which conspired for overcompensation in the market correction on Waiters’ popular value, to the point many underrate him.  Strip all of that away, and he is a key role player on a 40-14 team who clearly can be a 5th or 6th piece on a contender, as he is now.  That has value on the market, especially given Waiters’s age.  I would not overpay, but he is worth a $10 million contract on this market, without a doubt.  Waiters will be restricted so OKC can match any offer, but Durant’s decision may affect their assessment of whether they should (they are likely more apt to match if Durant stays).

Allen Crabbe: Crabbe has been a useful shooting guard off the bench in Portland.  He shoots the 3 well, and plays very good minutes off the bench for the second place team in the Northwest.  Crabbe, a restricted free agent, may be obtainable, given the Blazers are clearly committed to Lillard and McCollum as their back court.   The Nets need better guards and Crabbe can help in that area.

Maurice Harkless: The Blazers did an excellent job of getting Harkless for nothing this summer.  He has been a decent reserve, and, lately, has started in place of Vonleh (and seems poised to take Vonleh’s starting job even after his return from injury).  Harkless has not been that great, but has some skills, and is another restricted free agent the Nets may look to pry to bolster their bench.  With so many young restricted free agents, the Blazers may crack somewhere.

Anthony Morrow: Morrow is clearly a high class outside shooter.  He can play a critical role on any contender, as he is now, as a reserve spreading the floor. The Thunder have a $3.5 million team option they clearly should exercise.  But given their constant desire to save money, perhaps they decline . . . a “perhaps” made more likely if Durant defects. The Nets clearly should show interest.

Gerald Henderson: After years starting, Henderson is now a reserve in Portland.  He is likely obtainable, as an unrestricted free agent who is not in Portland’s future plans. Henderson is decent defensively, and is actually shooting a career best 36.5% from three on a career high number of attempts.  He can be a useful piece in Brooklyn, but is certainly not a priority.

DJ Augustin: Augustin is a fair reserve guard in a pinch, nothing more or less.  With Cameron Payne emerging next to Westbrook, there is little reason for OKC to make him a priority.  The Nets would not be hurt by adding him.

Cliff Alexander: An undrafted free agent the Nets cut during their 2015 training camp, Alexander has not been able to get much of a sniff with Portland.  Brooklyn, with far less talent, may be a better fit for a speculative player like Alexander, to see what he has. The Blazers have a $875,000 team option but with so many other issues this summer, who knows if they exercise it.

Chris Kaman: If he’s not finished, he’s close.  Kaman has little to bring to the table at this point, and when the Blazers inevitably let him go this summer (unless he stays as nothing but a locker room veteran), the Nets should look in other directions.

Steve Novak: Novak can shoot the 3. But there is nothing else he can do at this advanced career stage.  The Nets should look in other places.

Tim Frazier and Luis Montero: Both are end of the bench pieces who may not be in the league much longer.  Frazier is a restricted free agent who likely becomes unrestricted upon Portland declining a qualifying offer; Montero a player on whom the Blazers have a $875,000 team option they may decline.

The Atlanta Haws are one of the best teams in the east. They have some cap flexibility, although not as much as it appears at first blush with Al Horford as a free agent, and likely wish to to continue building as a contender. The Wizards have been a disappointment, but have a tremendous amount of cap space, and figure to continue trying to compete in the east.

So with free agency approaching, who on the Hawks and Wizards may interest the Nets, and who can they get?

Al Horford: Horford is an unrestricted free agent who should see huge league wide interest. I always have seen him as underrated by fans (the many great things he does aren’t reflected in traditional stats), but overrated by many media (for overcompensating for how underrated he is by fans, using words like “superstar”).  Still, Horford is very, very good. He does have some weaknesses, however. He is undersized, can get bullied by bigger 5’s (Brook Lopez has dominated him in multiple meetings and forced the Hawks to revamp their playoff defense), and forced the Hawks to bring in Tiago Splitter this offseason — it is at least a minor issue if your elite center requires that good of a player behind him.  The Nets could decide they prefer Horford to Brook or Young, try to sign him, and then flip one of their bigs. There is no reason, given the Nets have the cash to sign Horford outright right now, to deal either big before signing Horford — they can grab him and then flip one of their bigs, rather than risk dealing them just to see him not sign.  Of course, Horford seems happy in Atlanta, who can reward him financially in a way other suitors cannot given the new CBA rules.

Bradley Beal: It’s become trendy and popular to propose the Nets offering Beal a huge max contract as a restricted free agent, but there are multiple issues with the approach. First, Beal is the clear 2 to Wall’s 1 in Washington, and due to his popularity and the Wizards’s popularity and round 1 wins, he has become somewhat overrated. Beal is a good or perhaps very good player. He’s not a great player. Also, given the Wizards will have over $53 million in cap space, and will be huge players in free agency even if Beal returns on a max deal, there is no reason for the Wizards to balk. Is it worth tendering him an offer, and waiting 3 days for the Wizards to match, all the while being unable to use a dime of the money in the offer on other free agents as they slip off the board (as a restricted free agency offer ties that cap space in that player, until the offer is or is not matched)?

Kent Bazemore: Bazemore has been a strong replacement for Carroll this year, and the Nets absolutely need more productive wings. However, there are some issues involved with this pursuit.  The Hawks dealt Carroll in the hopes they could replace him at a lower cost, and Bazemore, unless he commands $15 million per, has done exactly that: if he resigns at $10 million per, that is a bullet Atlanta may bite. Still, he may command $12-$15 million per given the market for wings, and if he does, he is grabbable. Do the Nets want to pay that rather than find the next Kent Bazemore on the cheap?

Jared Dudley: Dudley is hitting an age where he is likely to put winning above a payday. However, despite not being a significant name to many, he is a very solid NBA wing, and very valuable player the Nets need to take a big look at. The Clippers and Bucks did extremely well with Dunleavy as a major piece. Both have suffered in his absence: the Clippers have missed Dunleavy on the wing (especially before bringing in Pierce), and the Bucks have been significantly worse this year, in large part due to losing Dudley’s services on the wing. He may be 85% of what Bazemore is at 50% of the price and the Nets need to seriously look at him.

Kris Humphries: Humphries as Nets fans know has weaknesses (he’s a mediocre offensive player who can hurt his team by crashing the boards even when it is suboptimal), but he has played well in Washington, and the Wizards have him shooting threes at a respectable 35% clip.  He can be a third or fourth big on a good team (he was as such on a 49-33 Nets team, and may be a better player now).  Perhaps he won’t return to a team that traded him, but he is a piece to look at. And with the Wizards likely seeking to retool around Wall and Beal this summer, their other free agents, like Humphries, may be very obtainable. The Wizards have a $4.6 million team option and Humphries is clearly worth that cash, but the Wizards could be in flux this summer.

Alan Anderson: Anderson as we all know is a nice role playing rotation wing.  He is a piece the Nets can look to bring back, despite his injuries this year. Anderson perhaps may seek a return to what he had in Brooklyn.

Nene: Nene has a big name, and fans surely remember the Nets passing on making him an offer in 2011. But times change, and Nene has aged in the past year or two in Washington. Believe it or not he’s getting just 18 minutes per game, and he’s just not the same player he once was. His mobility is limited, he struggles defensively, and his game is slipping. He is not a piece to look at this summer.

Mike Muscala: Muscala has not played big minutes this year, and has been something of a disappointment, shooting just 31% from 3. However, he is a young big who competes, has shot better in the past, and may have a real NBA future as a back end rotation player. Muscala is not a player to give a big payday, but he could become a legitimate player, and that is the type of thing the Nets should gamble on with their cap space, especially at a manageable price, as opposed to focusing on the big splash.  With Horford and Bazemore free, and a potential decision between Teague and Schroeder coming, the Hawks have more pressing matters than Muscala.

Ramon Sessions: Sessions has always been a competent backup point guard, and is essentially a fourth guard. He could draw interest but the Nets have enough of those and he is the definition of a “dime a dozen” player.

Gary Neal: Neal is a mediocre defender, but he is a rotation player because he can shoot the ball off the bench for a contender. He is not a priority in free agency, but a piece the Nets can look at.

Garrett Temple: Temple is a fringe reserve guard who has now been in Washington for some time. The Wizards also brought sessions in to help handle the duties. Temple is not the type of piece the Nets need going forward.

Drew Gooden: Gooden is on the downside of his career, is defenseless, and is now a bit player in Washington. I expect the Wizards to decline his $3.5 million team option but do not expect the Nets to be interested.

Mike Scott: Scott is largely a bit player in Atlanta. He is actually shooting the 3 better this year, but is a fringe rotation player at most.  He is a piece the Nets can look at to round their bench out, but not a piece to commit significantly too. Competition to obtain him will be manageable.

Lamar Patterson and Shelvin Mack, DeJuan Blair, and Jarell Eddie: Patterson, Mack, Blair, and Temple are bit players at the end of the Hawks and Wizards roster, and whether they stick in the league this summer is a legitimate question.

With the Atlantic and Central divisions reviewed, it is time to take a look at free agents the Nets may be able to snag, from the Southeast division. We start that review with the Miami Heat, a good not great team with many free agents, and given the hope to leap to great, many interesting decisions:

Free Agents: 

Dwyane Wade: In staying with Miami on contract 3 in 2010, and then staying in 2014 when LeBron left, Wade has apparently decided to remain a Heat for life. Given the rules of this exercise (I am listing every free agent) Wade is listed here for posterity. He’d help the Nets, but there’s a 99.5% chance at least that he does not become a Net.

Hassan Whiteside: The Heat have a decision to make on Whiteside. Do they essentially eat most of their 2016 cap space by giving Whiteside $20-25 million per year (that is what he will command on this market), as well as paying Dwyane Wade?  Or do they go in another direction to add multiple helpful pieces.  Here’s the thing with Whiteside: players who make flashy plays blocking shots, or play on big name teams, tend to become overrated. The Heat’s defense is better when Whiteside sits than when he plays: is that worth $20-$25 million per season. Surely not, unless you deal Lopez for a player at another position, but I question whether that really makes the Nets better. And even then, the possibilities you deal Lopez to sign Whiteside and then don’t get him, or that you sign Whiteside first and lose leverage in a Lopez deal, are both very real.

Luol Deng: I like Deng because he is a sharp defender who can shoot the 3 and take a player off the bounce, but like Whiteside, he too is overrated. He’s played on good teams. And he is a genuine great person. Both conspire to make him overrated. Deng is having a down year, and, at 30, that’s at least a yellow flag.  Couple that with the fact that the Bulls over the years never seemed to miss a beat when he went down, and he failed to bring a strong presence to the Cleveland Cavaliers or add to the roster in any way when he signed in 2013-2014, and I question whether the Nets should have interest, especially when he will command $12-$15 million per year.

Tyler Johnson: Johnson has provided some nice reserve guard minutes for Miami and, as a 40% three point shooter with decent ball handling ability, could be a reserve the Nets can take a look at this summer. Given the amount of free agents in Miami, they can only retain so much, and Johnson could be a defection. Johnson is a restricted free agent so Miami can match any offers, but they have more pressing priorities — both on the roster and off.

Gerald Green: It did not work out for Green in Indiana.  It did not work out in Phoenix. He has been a fair reserve in Miami, but is not a good defender, and cannot shoot. Simply, he is overrated in Nets fan parts because he provided excitement during a lost time in 2012.

Amare Stoudemire: The fall of Amare is sad.  He simply has very little to offer a team at this point, and the Nets do not need his services.

Beno Udrih: Udrih has not done much in Miami since being acquired in the Mario Chalmers trade. The Nets have enough mediocre reserve guards on the roster.

Chris Anderson: The Birdman does not fly the way he once did.  He’s barely playing for Miami, and interest in him this summer will, and should, be scant.

Josh Richardson: Richardson is an athletic young wing. The Heat took him in the 2015 second round and have barely played him.  They have a small $980,000 team option to retain him but perhaps, with Pat Riley planning a bigger strike, he is allowed to walk.

Udonis Haslem: The same can be said for Haslem as Birdman. Miami’s culture emphasizes rewarding suboptimal interests at times, to prove that the team takes care of its players (and after they got LeBron as a free agent, can you blame them?), so Haslem may indeed resign with Miami despite clear needs on the roster, and clear reason not to make him a priority.

Jarnell Stokes: Two years into his career, he has done nothing. The Heat have an $875,000 team option but may not even exercise it.  A rookie who struggles is still seen as having value, and will get chances to develop. A second or third year player? The draft prognosis starts to matter less than the body of work.

Trades:

Jarrett Jack for Josh McRoberts and two second round picks: McRoberts has been terrible in Miami, despite coming to much fanfare in 2014.  The Heat have so many roster questions, with 11 free agents, and the hope that they can improve in free agency, even though their current players will absorb much of their cap space.  To open flexibility they can dump one of their four 2016-17 contracts: Bosh, Dragic, Winslow, and McRoberts comprise those deals, but only McRoberts is worth dealing.  Via this deal, the Nets would provide the Heat some flexibility to do bigger things. Jack won’t ever play for Miami if this deal occurs so they cannot give up too much, but the Nets should leverage a couple of second rounders, for renting cap space in 2017, and in 2018 if McRoberts exercises his player option.