It’s Been A Busy Week For Sean Marks and the Brooklyn Nets
Old mate Sean Marks has always got a plan. Two weeks ago The Niche Cache ran a thing previewing his offseason, his big chance to shine, and this summer definitely looked like the calm before the storm. Taking on salary dumps for assets in the past had made it tricky for the Nets to play those same cards again while this was also the last year that they’d be without their first round draft pick, shout out to Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett for that one playoff series win.
Of course, Marksy being Marksy, he still managed to make a few moves both in terms of taking on chunky salary and picking up draftees. And it all began with a call from the Charlotte Hornets…
Cheers Woj. Dwight Howard, aye? Spark up those dreams of DH12 getting up for those D’Angelo Russell lob passes, defending the rim with power and size and getting back to the levels he was once at with Orlando. Or even just with Charlotte, since Dwight was undercover pretty decent last season. He’ll have to accept fewer touches in the post, naturally, but… oh no wait he’s already said he’s gonna be bought out. Never mind, guess Dwighty wasn’t about the rebuild. Just wait for him to sign with the Warriors for the minimum now, the bugger.
The Nets will still be on the rack for a lot of that salary, it depends what they can agree to. Howard’s expiring contract is worth almost $24m so it’s not like he’s made things easy on them in the short term. But remember that they’re not about the short term, they’re trying to set things up for next year when, as it stands, only Allen Crabbe will be on guaranteed money. Chances are they look to re-sign Spencer Dinwiddie and D’Angelo Russell, potentially along with a couple others, before then but what matters most is that they’ll be off the books for both Howard and also DeMarre Carroll.
And, crucially, Timofey Mozgov, who will earn another $33m over the next two seasons. That’s the plan here. Howard might have been nice as a player but what they were really planning on was dropping the responsibility of Mozgov’s salary, which they took on in the trade that got them D’Angelo Russell. The second round pick they sent to Charlotte (which became Hamidou Diallo) was acquired by trading away Cody Zeller who they’d signed on a minimum anyway, no dramas. If Howard doesn’t leave any cash on the table with his buyout then they could only have something like $6m to work with in free agency… but the Nets would be able to sign two max free agents in 2019 with some money left over.
That’s some fine wrangling there, Sean. But what about this season? You looking to bottom out again and maximise that pick for next season at the risk of going backwards after the progress made the last two seasons? Seems like a waste, surely.
Well, they may not have had their own first round pick but they still had a firstie thanks to the Toronto Raptors and another in the second round from the LA Lakers (snatched up in the same DeMarre Carroll trade). Sean Marks has admitted he came close to trading up on draft day but instead chilled at #29 and #40, where the Nets selected Dzanan Musa and Rodions Kurucs. Two rangy and skilled European wings who should fit the culture that Kenny Atkinson is constructing but who also might need a few years as project players. If you had to bet on draft tendencies then that’s exactly the player profile that the money would’ve been on for Brooklyn.
Both players will be with the team next season, they won’t be stashed away or left to grow in the G-League. Given the trickiness with their salary situation that’s kinda convenient, especially if they aren’t willing to pay the dollars that’ll bring Joe Harris back.
As for whether the pair can be productive in the NBA, there’s only one way to know how steep that learning curve is and that’s to wait and see. Musa is barely even 19 years old so you can’t expect the Bosnian to hit the ground running. He’ll get the green light to shoot but will need to work on his shot selection, while obviously his defence will need some work as well. A lot of draft projections had him going higher than 29 though. As for Kurucs, he’s a year older and hailing from Latvia. Not quite the shooter that Musa is but a better player with the ball on the floor. Both will be willing bench battlers and turns out Marksy scouted them each personally. The golden seal of approval.
Brookie then moved swiftly to snap up a few undrafted blokes to have a crack at their Las Vegas Summer League team. Jordan McLaughlin, Shawn Dawson, Theo Pinson, Tyler Davis and Yuta Watanabe have all signed on. Musa and Kurucs might get a rest after long seasons in Europe but Caris LeVert and Jarrett Allen are expected to be there. So too is Juan Pablo Vaulet, an Argentine overseas stash, although an ankle injury might slow him down. Hey and so is Chinese star Ding Yanyuhang, who made some big impressions with the Dallas Mavericks in Summer League last year. He’s a mate of Jeremy Lin which always helps.
So that’s potentially eleven players of a maximum 15 and you know how NBA franchises don’t always trust foreign players who they can’t scout as comprehensively? You know how Sean Marks is trying to take advantage of every loop hole in recruiting processes to complete a rebuild that started with almost zero assets? Yeah so Musa and Kurucs are both internationals with Bosnia and Latvia respectively. Yanyuhang is a Chinese representative. Vaulet plays for Argentina. Tyler Davis has played for Puerto Rico, Shawn Dawson has played for Israel and Yuta Watanabe has played for Japan.
Typical, really. What remains to be seen now is whether the Nets would entertain any trades, with Jeremy Lin probably the player who would make the most sense (even if he’s a key player in this locker room). It’d only happen if they got something worthwhile in return, a young cornerstone or something (Zach Lowe threw out Dragan Bender and the Phoenix Suns as a possibility)… but don’t say you weren’t warned if it happens.
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