The Brooklyn Nets are within the midst of a rebuild however have positively made some questionable strikes to date.
First within the draft, they chose three guards: Egor Demin, Nolan Traroe, and Ben Saraf. All three are sturdy passers, however none of them can shoot or create constant scoring alternatives. It felt like common supervisor Sean Marks threw a bunch of darts on the board and is hoping one sticks.
Moreover, Brooklyn was in a stalemate with their prime free agent, Cam Thomas, for many of the summer season. Thomas is returning on a one-year qualifying supply, and now with three different guards within the fold that must develop, his long-term match comes into query.
Probably the most questionable transfer the Nets made this offseason got here by way of the commerce market and will influence their rebuild.
Brooklyn made an enormous mistake buying and selling for Michael Porter Jr.
First off, the Nets waited far too lengthy to commerce away Cam Johnson. They had been reportedly getting presents of a number of first-round picks for the ahead over the past 12 months, together with in the course of the commerce deadline final season. Due to that, they had been pressured to accept the Nuggets’ supply of Porter and a 2032 first-round decide.
That 2032 first-rounder may maintain some worth, particularly if Nikola Jokic is retired by then. Nonetheless, Brooklyn may have gotten way more, and now they’re caught with Porter.
Porter Jr. flashed indicators of potential earlier in his profession, however he has been a blended bag the final couple of seasons. His stats on the floor look good: 18 factors per sport, 51 p.c capturing, and nearly 40 p.c from three. Nonetheless, he has benefitted drastically from enjoying alongside Jokic, and Porter has not likely grown his sport through the years.
He’s largely a standstill ahead who can shoot very effectively however presents little off-ball motion. He isn’t an excellent slasher, and his deal with has not progressed since he entered the league. His protection is mind-bogglingly underwhelming for a man that measurement and with the athletic profile he has.Â
All of these deficiencies, and the cherry on prime is making $78 million over the subsequent two seasons. So the Nets can say goodbye to being actual gamers in free company subsequent summer season, with a stacked class on the horizon.
The Nets have nobody else guilty however for the Johnson mishap
Brooklyn does have quite a lot of draft capital over the subsequent few seasons, but when they handled the Johnson state of affairs appropriately, they may have gotten much more. It may have been a situation the place the wealthy get richer, as they may have had cap flexibility for subsequent summer season and extra draft picks.
Now, the Nets are caught with Porter for the subsequent two seasons. Until he one way or the other rebuilds his commerce worth, that $78 million shouldn’t be going wherever for the foreseeable future. Brooklyn is for certain punting on profitable subsequent season, however in another future strikes they make, they need to attempt to achieve flexibility as a substitute of pigeonholing themselves.
