As we noted earlier this summer, the Nets still hadn’t had any rookie-scale extension talks with D’Angelo Russell after about a week into free agency. Now, according to Brian Lewis of the New York Post, it appears that an extension is unlikely given Brooklyn’s plan to be a major spender in free agency next summer.
The Nets’ deadline to sign Russell, 22, to an extension is the last day before the start of the regular season, but even if no extension is agreed to, the Nets will still be able to make Russell a restricted free agent in the summer of 2019 by tendering him a $9.16MM qualifying offer next June.
“For now we’re going to see how this group plays together, how it all unfolds,” said general manager Sean Marks said. “But — again, I’m not going to rule out anything — as we stand now, this is the group and we have no plans to make any crazy changes, whether that’s an extension or signing or trade anyone else. But things happen quickly.”
Russell, the No. 2 overall selection in the 2015 NBA Draft, averaged 20.9 points, 5.7 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game before getting hurt last season, but given the plan to maximize cap space and the fact that Russell will be under team control as a restricted free agent, Lewis opines that the Nets would be prudent to stand pat and let the market set the price for Russell next summer.
Only one other member of the 2015 NBA Draft class – Devin Booker – has signed a rookie-scale extension so far this summer, but Karl-Anthony Towns, Bobby Portis, and Larry Nance Jr. are among those considered strong candidates for new deals.
Cant play d, isnt a very efficient scorer and is injury prone. Nets would be best to move on with remaining cap space.
He’s only like 22 years old. You don’t let that much potential walk away when you don’t have anything else going.
Qualifying offer next summer seems like the right play
Two max slot players are better than dlo. Watched him all three years and at best he is lou williams.
Hey Zak, have you seen the guy play? There’s no team play in Russell. James Harden plays better defense than Russell. The lack of heart is amazing.
As a Laker fan, there’s tons of fans who were happy to see him go.
Well first he’s got to stay healthy. He’s always injured, no way you give him a 4-5 year contract.
i dont think hes committed enough to earn an extension yet. that can be said about alot of these young guys making all this money so early in their career.
Smart move by the Nets. They have started to assemble some decent pieces, and are going to have a bunch of cap space next year.
If D’Angelo has a healthy and productive season, Nets tender the offer. Once FA starts, if they can land a couple of big fish, they just rescind. With the amount of big name FA’s on the market next year’s, Nets will have time on Russell, teams will have higher priority players.
There’s promise here with him. Although the Nets seemed to have made a smart move here it’s only smart if they can retain him next season. Another team may want him more and Russell will remember this. That’s the issue with not giving him an extension. Be interesting how this all unfolds.
Funny how so many teams are making room for 1-2 max FA’s next summer, but do all of them think they can get them seriously, Iknow there is a bunch of guys but not so many, there will be more available room than FA’s, so my worry is that then the teams like Brooklyn & others who don’t will end up spending the money in lesser guys, making next summer a bit like the 2016 FA summer with crazy contracts for unworthy guys. In my opinion right now D-lo is or should be the face of the franchise in Brooklyn for good or bad, so they should bet on him or trade him. I cannot see a top FA going there next summer, much less 2, so why keep the space. Does anyone think Kawhi, Klay, Butler, Kyrie, Durant, DMC… are eager to go there, sorry cannot see it. Bad move for Brooklyn.
They don’t lose anything by not extending him. Absolutely nothing. We know Kyrie is from New Jersey and that he has always had interest in playing in NY. And the NBA community seems to think the Butler and Kyrie rumors may be true. So why not shoot for the stars?
Brooklyn has the new owner from overseas although the Russian owner will still be majority stockholder for a couple more years. It’ll be interesting to see what they do.