Hoops Rumors is breaking down the 2018 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, revisiting the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll evaluate each team’s moves from the last several months and look ahead to what the 2018/19 season holds for all 30 franchises. Today, we’re focusing on the Brooklyn Nets.
Signings:
Standard contracts:
- Joe Harris: Two years, $16MM. Re-signed using Early Bird rights.
- Ed Davis: One year, $4.45MM. Signed using room exception.
- Shabazz Napier: Two years, $3.79MM. Second year non-guaranteed. Signed using cap room.
- Treveon Graham: Two years, minimum salary. Second year non-guaranteed. Signed using minimum salary exception.
- Two-way contracts:
- Non-guaranteed camp contracts:
- Mitch Creek: One year, minimum salary.
- Jordan McLaughlin: One year, minimum salary.
- Nuni Omot: One year, minimum salary.
- Theo Pinson: One year, minimum salary.
Trades:
- Acquired Dwight Howard from the Hornets in exchange for Timofey Mozgov, the draft rights to Hamidou Diallo (No. 45 pick), the Nets’ 2021 second-round pick, and cash ($5MM).
- Note: Howard was later bought out.
- Acquired the rights to Isaia Cordinier and the Trail Blazers’ 2020 second-round pick (top-55 protected) from the Hawks in exchange for Jeremy Lin, the Nets’ 2025 second-round pick, and the right to swap 2023 second-round picks.
- Acquired Kenneth Faried, Darrell Arthur, the Nuggets’ 2019 first-round pick (top-12 protected), and the Nuggets’ 2020 second-round pick from the Nuggets in exchange for Isaiah Whitehead.
- Acquired Jared Dudley and the Suns’ 2021 second-round pick (top-35 protected) from the Suns in exchange for Darrell Arthur.
Draft picks:
- 1-29: Dzanan Musa — Signed to rookie contract.
- 2-40: Rodions Kurucs — Signed to four-year, $6.96MM contract. First three years guaranteed. Fourth-year team option. Signed using cap room.
Departing players:
- Quincy Acy
- Dante Cunningham
- Milton Doyle (two-way)
- Jeremy Lin
- Timofey Mozgov
- Jahlil Okafor
- Nik Stauskas
- James Webb III (two-way)
- Isaiah Whitehead
Other offseason news:
- Named Will Weaver head coach of G League affiliate Long Island Nets.
- Kenneth Faried charged with possession of marijuana.
Salary cap situation:
- Used cap space; now over the cap.
- Carrying approximately $116MM in guaranteed salaries.
- No cap exceptions left besides minimum salary exception.
Check out the Brooklyn Nets’ full roster and depth chart at RosterResource.com.
Story of the summer:
For the fifth straight year, the Nets were without their first-round pick in 2018, and for the third consecutive year, that pick would have been a top-10 selection. Brooklyn’s dearth of lottery picks, a result of an ill-fated trade with the Celtics, has slowed the team’s rebuild. Even as the Nets’ front office has made savvy and sound roster decisions, the lack of opportunities to land future stars has limited the club’s progress.
The 2018 offseason didn’t present any new opportunities to draft or sign a franchise-altering player, but it may have been the last Brooklyn summer defined by gathering assets and moving pieces around with an eye toward making a future splash.
After all, the summer of 2019 will mark the first time since 2013 that the Nets will have their own first-round pick, and the team also owns Denver’s first-rounder (top-12 protected) in that draft. On top of that, Brooklyn’s trade of Timofey Mozgov this offseason ensured that the team will clear a massive amount of salary from its books at season’s end, opening the door for the possibility of a major signing (or two) in 2019.
It has been a long, slow, and painful process, but the Nets’ patience has put them in a position to make some noise in the not-so-distant future.
Key offseason losses:
One of the first big moves Sean Marks made after taking over as general manager of the Nets was giving three years and $36MM to veteran point guard Jeremy Lin. That turned out to be a poor investment, but only for reasons out of Marks’ control — a pair of significant injuries limited Lin to just 37 games over two seasons.
During Lin’s absence(s), the club stocked their point guard depth chart by acquiring D’Angelo Russell, Spencer Dinwiddie, and Shabazz Napier, leaving no room for Lin this season. The Nets did well to get off his $12.5MM salary without having to attach more than a 2023 second-round pick swap and a 2025 second-round pick to him.
A pair of midseason additions from last winter, Jahlil Okafor and Nik Stauskas, were worthwhile fliers at the time, but didn’t prove worthy of long-term commitments from the Nets, who allowed both former lottery picks to walk in free agency.
Other departing veterans include Quincy Acy, Dante Cunningham, and Mozgov. All three players are capable of providing value in limited roles, but Cunningham and especially Acy will be remembered more fondly by fans than Mozgov, whose massive contract impeded other roster moves.
Key offseason additions:
Although they didn’t have their own first-round pick this year, the Nets did have two selections in the top 40 and used them to add a pair of international prospects in Dzanan Musa and Rodions Kurucs. Musa and Kurucs will likely spend some time in the G League in 2018/19 and may not be ready to play regular roles in Brooklyn right away, but the Nets were able to lock up both players to four-year deals, giving them plenty of time to develop the young duo.
On the free agent market, the Nets made some of the NBA’s best low-cost investments of the summer, adding Ed Davis, Treveon Graham, and Napier on bargain deals. Graham and Napier were underrated bench pieces in Charlotte and Portland respectively last season. As for Davis, he’s the sort of solid veteran player who will play a key role for the Nets if they make a push for the playoffs, and who could be an interesting trade chip at the February deadline if they’re out of contention.
The Nets acquired three draft picks in the trades that netted them Kenneth Faried and Jared Dudley, but – like DeMarre Carroll a year ago – those players may end up being more than just bad contracts. Faried is one of the NBA’s most productive rebounders when given the chance to play, and Dudley’s veteran leadership and ability to stretch the floor could be useful for Brooklyn.
Finally, the Nets even made an intriguing two-way signing, adding former Sun Alan Williams to their roster last month. Like Faried, Williams is a tenacious rebounder, averaging 15.0 boards per 36 minutes over the course of his NBA career. He’s only one year removed from earning $6MM with the Suns. Brooklyn will have him on a two-way salary that starts at $77,250.
Outlook for 2018/19:
The Nets are certainly headed in the right direction, but this is a team that won just 28 games last season and didn’t add any difference-making players during the offseason. Challenging for a postseason spot in a weakened Eastern Conference would probably be the best-case scenario for the franchise.
Would that outcome be in the Nets’ best long-term interests though? The franchise in a fascinating spot right now, since it’s not clear whether the club’s best chance to add an impact player in 2019 would be in the draft or in free agency. Finishing poorly enough to land a high draft pick would almost certainly have a negative effect on Brooklyn’s odds of landing a top-tier free agent, since most stars aren’t looking to join a 25-win team.
Given the unpredictability of the draft lottery – particularly with the lottery odds flattened for 2019 – and the Nets’ aversion to tanking, the organization is more likely to go all-out in hopes of cracking the top eight in the East. Even if they fall short, the Nets would be able to show prospective free agent targets that they’re committed to building a winning culture and that they’re ready to take a big step forward with one or two key additions.
Salary information from Basketball Insiders was used in the creation of this post. Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.