Building blocks
D'Angelo Russell PG |
Caris LeVert SG/SF |
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson SF |
Draft picks
Jarrett Allen PF/C
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Aleksander Vezenkov SF/PF
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Draft board
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The Nets are coming off another poor season where they finished with the worst record in the NBA and landed the top pick in the 2017 NBA draft, unfortunately the Celtics held swap rights to the pick and swapped them for the 27th pick. Sean Marks and the Nets have had to find various ways to acquire talent, whether it be through trades, drafting smart, or through throwing big money at restricted free agents. This offseason was no different, and in a salary dump trade with the Lakers they managed to land former number 2 pick D'Angelo Russell (see trade below). Russell is an extremely talented NBA player who could benefit from a fresh start in Brooklyn. Head Coach Kenny Atkinson has a good history with player development and I expect him to cater the offense to Russell's strengths. They also took part in two other salary dump trades, one being with the Raptors which netted them DeMarre Carroll, a 2018 lottery protected 1st round pick, and a 2018 2nd round pick. The other being a deal with the Blazers which netted them Allen Crabbe in exchange for Andrew Nicholson (Crabbe was pursued heavily by the Nets in 2016, but Portland matched the offer sheet). Both Carroll and Crabbe add immediate depth, experience, and shooting at the wing position, something the Nets desperately needed. In the draft they benefited by having Texas PF/C Jarrett Allen slide to them at the 22nd pick. I had him in the late lotto to mid teens as a prospect, he has some big shoes to fill with Brook Lopez being a Laker, but he does have the talent to perhaps be a Brook level player someday. Overall the Nets are unlikely to make the playoffs and may once again give up another top 3 pick (to Cleveland), but they've done a good job working with what they got, drafting smart, developing, and adding talent through salary dumps is exactly what you need to do to rebuild on the fly.
Team Needs
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Estimated Cap Space
$24,728,106 UFA K.J. McDaniels SG, Randy Foye SG, Archie Goodwin SG RFA None |