The Nets gave away most of their draft picks in putting together what was the most expensive team of all time a few years ago. The good news is they now have managed to get rid of most of those oversized contracts, too.
New general manager Sean Marks inherited that slate and has further cleaned it, trading veteran forward Thaddeus Young for the No. 20 pick in last week’s 2016 NBA Draft. That move fit the franchise’s long-term goals, where the focus can be to create the best possible team in the long run using cap space and trades rather than tanking for a draft pick.
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Let’s take a look at the Nets’ free agents and salary cap situation before breaking down how to best go about that goal.
Potential free agents: Jarrett Jack (partially guaranteed), Shane Larkin (unrestricted via declined player option), Thomas Robinson (unrestricted via declined player option), Willie Reed (restricted), Markel Brown (restricted), Wayne Ellington (unrestricted via declined player option), Donald Sloan (unrestricted), Sergey Karasev (unrestricted) and Henry Sims (unrestricted).
Likely cap space: $53.5 million.
Realistic maximum cap space (using $94 million estimate): $54.2 million.
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New Nets GM Sean Marks. (Getty Images)
The buyout paying Deron Williams about $5.5 million per season until 2020 will be the last remnant of the early-2010s overspending. That is a massively positive step for the franchise, but the problem is that they lack draft assets to capitalize on this down time. They owe their 2016 and 2018 first round picks to the Celtics outright and likely will send their pick to Boston again in a 2017 swap.
Those constraints mean Brooklyn has to be both aggressive and judicious with their cap space since it stands as their best way to improve over the next few years. That $53 million may sound like a substantial sum, but it will secure less talent in 2016 than any other year because everyone has money and the Nets do not have a winning roster to entice free agents to them over other suitors.
The 2017 free agency class will be stronger than this year’s, but the Nets still face a crowded group of suitors with money because of a second salary cap spike coming next year. That is why Brooklyn should consider focusing on 2018, which is a long time from now but also marks the season where Brooklyn will be out from underneath its obligations to Boston and will regain control of its destiny.
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Realistically, the Nets will struggle to compete before then even without the incentive to tank. Pushing for early-exit playoff bids at the expense of building an asset base would leave the Nets in a weaker position for when their success can reverberate and expand. The decision to trade Young aligns with this way of thinking, as he would be a free agent before the next great Nets team and had value around the league with his skill and contract.
While no team should say no if Kevin Durant wants to come on board, the Nets would be wise not to pursue other top 2016 free agents. Al Horford, Mike Conley and DeMar DeRozan are not good enough to pull the franchise out of its doldrums instantly, and they might not be great fits or values by the ends of their contracts, when the Nets finally can put a team around them.
Instead, Brooklyn should strive to be a player on two other important fronts of the offseason: trades and bargain signings. As teams throw money around for inferior talent, Brook Lopez and Bojan Bogdanovic will look much better, like Young did. The Nets can also negotiate from a position of strength and wait for in-season demand after injuries since they should be more than happy to keep those players. The Wizards gave up a lottery pick for disgruntled Markieff Morris just a few months ago, and the Pistons nearly did the same for banged up Donatas Motiejunas. (There is risk with Lopez because of his injury history, however.)
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While listening to offers on the roster, Marks also needs to be a value spotter. Some of the best moves in recent offseasons came when teams took on contracts that aspiring contenders needed to ditch for other moves; think Jared Dudley, Zaza Pachulia and Tiago Splitter last summer. Typically those players also have fewer remaining seasons on their contracts, which fits perfectly with Brooklyn’s goals.
At the same time, the Nets’ front office should be courting interesting young players who want to sign early in July, paralleling what Portland did with Al-Farouq Aminu and Ed Davis last summer. Those individuals will be few and far between in this bonkers market but Brooklyn offers a desirable location and playing time to those who are looking for it. Later in the offseason, the Nets should position themselves as the perfect destination for “make good” one-year contracts like Bismack Biyombo and Jeremy Lin signed in 2015. That same potent combination of playing time and location makes them ideal for that pitch.
Brooklyn could receive interest from swingmen in particular because of new head coach Kenny Atkinson’s success developing young perimeter talent with the Hawks. Finding and cultivating even one Kent Bazemore or DeMarre Carroll would be huge for the franchise — either as a long-term piece or a trade asset.
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The overarching concept for Brooklyn is a familiar but still-important refrain: no bad contracts. Being intelligent and patient could produce real dividends if the other major market teams act impetuously this summer. At the same time, they should use their specific advantages to take a few fliers on young players structured in a way that the team gets a benefit if they work out.
Finding the next Robert Covington or Matthew Dellavedova instead of paying the current one would go a long way towards ensuring that the Nets have a strong base of cheap talent ready for when they can compete again.