Brooklyn Nets Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Nets Sign Yuta Watanabe

August 28th, 2022 at 4:34pm CST by JD Shaw

The Nets have signed free agent Yuta Watanabe, the team announced in a press release. The terms of the agreement weren’t revealed, but Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reports (via Twitter) that Brooklyn signed Watanabe to a one-year, non-guaranteed contract.

A 6’8″ forward, Watanabe has played in 121 NBA games across four seasons with the Grizzlies and Raptors. He appeared in 38 contests with Toronto last season, averaging 4.3 points and 2.4 rebounds in 11.7 minutes per outing. He also shot 41% from the floor and 34% from three-point range.

Brooklyn has 15 players on its 20-man offseason roster. One of those players (Alondes Williams) is on a two-way deal, while the other 14 are on standard contracts — in addition to the 12 with fully guaranteed salaries, Watanabe is now on a non-guaranteed deal and Edmond Sumner has a partial guarantee. Watanabe will presumably join the team for training camp with a chance to earn a roster spot this fall.

The Nets are coming off a tumultuous summer headlined by Kevin Durant‘s trade request. With Durant and the team recently agreeing to move forward with their partnership, the club is now focused on competing for a championship.

Heat Notes: Mitchell, Potter, Eastern Conference, Lineups

August 28th, 2022 at 3:26pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

With Nets forward Kevin Durant off the table as a trade target for the time being, the Heat could look elsewhere for All-Star reinforcements. In a mailbag, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel discusses alternatives, including Jazz All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell. Winderman does not consider the undersized shooting guard to be worth a package centered around reigning Sixth Man of the Year Tyler Herro and future draft picks.

Winderman also notes that the Heat should be cautious when it comes to trading forward Duncan Robinson, who will earn $16.9MM in 2022/23 after falling out of the club’s rotation near the end of last season due to his defensive shortcomings. Winderman notes that Robinson’s contract could be crucial as an inclusion for a trade to acquire a maximum-salaried superstar. Herro remains on his rookie deal, and will make just $5.7MM this season.

There’s more out of South Beach:

In another mailbag, Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel reflects on the recent decision by the Heat’s NBAGL affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, to offload Micah Potter to the Pistons’ G League club, the Motor City Cruise. Winderman writes that the decision ultimately came down to which players Miami is prioritizing developing, noting that other prospects – including Orlando Robinson – took priority over Potter.
Now that the Nets are, at least for now, stabilizing and whole heading into the 2022/23 season, Winderman wonders if Brooklyn has leapfrogged Miami in the Eastern Conference pecking order and explores just how dangerous the Nets coul dbe.
Even beyond the departure of starting power forward P.J. Tucker, the Heat’s rotation could look markedly different than it did during the 2021/22 NBA season, when a top-seeded Miami club pushed the Celtics to seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals, Winderman writes in another Sun Sentinel story. As Winderman observes, 6’5″ Caleb Martin appears to be the current leader in the competition to become Miami’s new starting power forward, though that situation remains fluid with training camp still ahead of the team. Miami’s internal search for its starting swingman next to point guard Kyle Lowry and small forward/shooting guard Jimmy Butler also remains fairly open, with several intriguing candidates on the roster.

Stein’s Latest: Morris, Hornets, Mitchell, Lakers

August 28th, 2022 at 1:46pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Veteran free agent power forward Markieff Morris is under consideration as a reserve acquisition for the Sixers in addition to the Nets, writes Marc Stein in a new article for Substack.

Stein notes that the 32-year-old was known to be a vocal locker room presence while on a star-studded 2019/20 championship-winning Lakers club, and could be a good fit for a Brooklyn team fielding several at-times angsty superstars.

Morris missed most of his 2021/22 season with the Heat due to a major neck injury after entering the season as a key reserve. In his 17 available regular season games with Miami, Morris averaged 7.6 PPG, 2.6 RPG, and 1.4 APG. The 6’9″ big man out of Kansas posted a shooting line of .474/.333/.889.

Here’s more from Stein:

As the Hornets consider reserve point guard options behind developing All-Star LaMelo Ball, the team has broadened its list of potential targets to include former Suns point guard Elfrid Payton, according to Stein. Isaiah Thomas, who fulfilled the role adequately last season, is still being looked at, as is Pistons point guard Kemba Walker, a three-time All-Star while with Charlotte whom Stein expects to be bought out of his current deal.
The Lakers‘ 2027 and 2029 first-round draft selections, along with the expiring contract of incumbent point guard Russell Westbrook, could be used to help complete a three-team Donovan Mitchell trade for the Jazz, either with the Knicks or even another suitor. Stein writes that the draft picks could hold significant appeal for Jazz team president Danny Ainge, who earlier this summer received quite a bounty in future draft equity as part of his blockbuster deal that shipped former Utah All-Star Rudy Gobert out to the Timberwolves.
Stein cautions that the Lakers, who leveraged a lot of future draft picks in their trade for Anthony Davis, remain fairly protective of the 2027 and 2029 picks. Given that L.A. is fielding a team with (currently) three maximum-salaried veterans all with at least 10 years of experience, one would expect the club to very much be in win-now mode, but the team only wants to make a move if it values the returning players as being worth the sacrifice. Stein defines that as players who can help the team return to its standing as a championship contender, following a disappointing 33-49 season that saw the Lakers on the outside of the play-in tournament looking in.

Heat Weren’t Aggressive In Pursuit Of Kevin Durant

August 28th, 2022 at 11:56am CST by Arthur Hill

Kevin Durant reportedly listed Miami as one of his preferred destinations when he demanded a trade from the Nets, but the Heat didn’t make a strong effort to acquire him, Shams Charania of The Athletic said in an appearance on the Stugotz podcast.

Heat officials believed it would cost too much of their roster to trade for Durant, added Charania, who said that the last contact between the two teams regarding Durant occurred either before or during Summer League.

Charania noted that Miami reached Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals last season and didn’t see a need for major changes. He pointed to hypothetical trades involving Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro or Adebayo, Max Strus and another player and asked whether that really gets Miami any closer to winning a title.

On top of that, any consideration of trading Adebayo would have been limited by the designated rookie extension rule, which would have prevented the Nets from having both him and Ben Simmons on their roster at the same time. A third team would have been needed to complete a deal, which made the prospects of a trade even less realistic.

Durant also was interested in joining the Suns, but Charania hears that Brooklyn didn’t want Deandre Ayton in return. Ayton became ineligible for a sign-and-trade this summer after Phoenix matched his offer sheet from the Pacers.

Charania said there were opportunities to deal Durant, but no one was willing to meet the Nets’ asking price. The Celtics wouldn’t part with Marcus Smart or Robert Williams along with Jaylen Brown, while the Raptors weren’t willing to include Scottie Barnes in trade talks. Charania said Brooklyn could have made a deal that was heavy on draft compensation with the Suns, Grizzlies or Timberwolves before they sent their assets to Utah for Rudy Gobert, but the Nets were only interested in trades that would keep them competitive.

Examining Nets' Mentality With Kevin Durant Returning

August 27th, 2022 at 3:43pm CST by JD Shaw

Brian Lewis of the New York Post examines the Nets‘ mentality with Kevin Durant now returning to the team. Brooklyn is expected to compete for a title this season, sporting a roster that includes Durant, Kyrie Irving, Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Joe Harris and others. The team is clearly hoping to move past its off-court issues and focus on contending.

David Duke Jr. Likely To Return To Nets On Two-Way Deal

August 26th, 2022 at 4:43pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Free agent guard David Duke Jr. will likely rejoin the Nets on his second two-way contract, sources tell Chris Milholen of NetsDaily.

The Nets tendered a two-way contract offer to Duke earlier this summer. Duke had initially passed on the proposal and was reportedly eyeing a spot on Brooklyn’s 15-man standard roster, but it sounds like he’s prepared to accept the two-way offer.

Duke would be Brooklyn’s second two-way player, joining former Wake Forest guard Alondes Williams. As Milholen notes, the 6’5″ guard will earn about $502K (half the rookie minimum) on the deal, and could have his two-way deal converted into a standard contract later on in the season.

After going undrafted out of Providence, Duke averaged 4.7 PPG, 3.0 RPG and 1.8 APG in 22 games with Brooklyn for the 2021/22 season. In Summer League play this year, he put up 19.0 PPG on 50% shooting, along with 4.6 RPG and 4.0 APG.

Duke’s return to the fold would bring the total sum of Nets players to 15 ahead of training camp. The team has 12 players inked to fully guaranteed deals, along with the partially-guaranteed contract of Edmond Sumner and the aforementioned duo of two-way players.

Brooklyn can still sign up to five players to its 20-man offseason roster and is reportedly considering some veteran big men for bench depth.

Nets Notes: Durant, Championship Odds, Irving

August 25th, 2022 at 8:18pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

With the dust settled (for now) on a dramatic summer full of trade and personnel demands from Nets superstar Kevin Durant, Zach Harper of The Athletic has compiled a list of the five “winners” and five “losers” following a torrid two months in Brooklyn.

Team president Sean Marks and the young players mentioned as possible centerpieces in Durant trades score high marks from Harper, while Celtics wing Jaylen Brown and Brooklyn head coach Steve Nash are among the folks involved in the rumor mill who suffered in the saga, with Nash’s long-term future with the Nets and Brown’s standing in Boston now less certain than they were at the start of the summer.

Net Income of NetsDaily penned a similar piece unpacking the winners, losers and “innocent bystanders” of the Durant chatter. Nash fares more favorably in Net Income’s appraisal.

There’s more out of Brooklyn:

With Durant seemingly in the fold at least to start the 2022/23 NBA season, Brooklyn’s title odds instantly improved at various sportsbooks, per Lance Pugmire of USA Today. Pugmire writes that Tipico Sportsbook projects the Nets as having the third-best odds to win the championship among Eastern Conference teams, behind only the 2022 finalist Celtics and 2021 champion Bucks.
Net Income of NetsDaily wonders if star Nets teammate Kyrie Irving‘s decision to opt in to the final year of his contract with Brooklyn – and a subsequent truce between Irving and the team – helped the club quell its issues with Durant for the time being.
In case you missed it, the Nets are considering free agent big men Markieff Morris and Tristan Thompson as possibilities to shore up their frontcourt.

And-Ones: Bjelica, Offseason Business, 2023 Draft, More

August 25th, 2022 at 11:00am CST by Luke Adams

Serbian forward Nemanja Bjelica has been ruled out for this week’s World Cup qualifiers due to a calf injury and is considered questionable for the upcoming EuroBasket tournament, as Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops details.

Bjelica, who signed with Turkish club Fenerbahce this offseason after winning a title with Golden State, will miss Serbia’s contest against Greece today, as well as Sunday’s game vs. Turkey. Serbia’s EuroBasket schedule will tip off on Friday, September 2 against the Netherlands.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

With the Kevin Durant saga settled, at least for now, John Hollinger of The Athletic considers what leftover offseason business we could see addressed in the coming weeks. The Lakers, Pacers, Jazz, Heat, Raptors, and Nets are among the teams that may still have some roster moves to make, Hollinger writes.
Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report shares scouting reports for his top 15 prospects in the 2023 NBA draft class, breaking down the strengths and weaknesses of players like Texas big man Dillon Mitchell and Duke center Dereck Lively in addition to the usual suspects like Victor Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson.
Exactly how much does an NBA win cost? Mike Vorkunov and Seth Partnow of The Athletic make an effort to answer that question, with Partnow outlining a “wins/dollars efficiency model” and then explaining why such a model has its shortcomings.
Katie Heindl of GlobalSportMatters.com takes a look at how the NBA has increased the diversity in its coaching ranks without the need for a rule like the NFL’s “Rooney Rule.”

Knicks, Nets, Heat Are Donovan Mitchell’s Preferred Destinations If He’s Traded

August 25th, 2022 at 9:03am CST by Luke Adams

Donovan Mitchell hasn’t asked the Jazz to trade him, but if he were to be dealt, he would prefer to end up with the Knicks, Nets, or Heat, sources tell Tony Jones of The Athletic.

The Knicks, of course, are viewed as Mitchell’s top suitor, and while Brooklyn and Miami have also been mentioned as possible landing spots, those teams aren’t as well positioned to swing a trade for the All-Star guard. The Nets can’t trade for Mitchell as long as Ben Simmons remains on the roster due to the designated rookie extension rule, while the Heat “simply don’t have the assets that the Jazz are looking for,” according to Jones.

The Jazz are said to be seeking a significant haul of first-round picks in any Mitchell deal, which is why the Knicks are viewed as a frontrunner. New York has acquired four protected first-rounders from other teams and also has all of its own picks available.

The Heat, on the other hand, don’t have any extra first-rounders and have traded their own 2025 pick to Oklahoma City. Given the restrictions imposed by the Stepien rule, Miami could only offer three first-round picks in a package for Mitchell, while New York could trade up to eight.

Although the Knicks have long been linked to Mitchell and have had ongoing trade discussions with the Jazz, the two teams aren’t close to a deal, says Jones.

Utah has also spoken to other suitors and has multiple offers on the table that the front office feels are worth exploring if talks with the Knicks don’t work out, sources tell The Athletic. The Hornets, Wizards, and Cavaliers are among the other teams that have been reported by multiple outlets as possible suitors for Mitchell.

If the Jazz don’t get an offer they like from the Knicks or one of those other potential trade partners, they’re comfortable entering the season with Mitchell on their roster. According to Jones, the club believes it’s in a good position to retool the roster around Mitchell and is more inclined to take that route than to accept “90 cents on the dollar” for the three-time All-Star.

Nets Notes: Durant, Collins, Outlook, Nash

August 24th, 2022 at 4:01pm CST by Luke Adams

A number of rival NBA executives subscribe to the theory that the Rudy Gobert trade made it more difficult for the Nets to move Kevin Durant, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. As Scotto explains, there was a sense that if the Nets couldn’t get more in exchange for Durant than the Jazz got for Gobert, Brooklyn’s front office would’ve looked “foolish.”

Within his story on the Nets and Durant, Scotto also reports that multiple members of Brooklyn’s front office are fans of Hawks big man John Collins. A report earlier this week stated that Atlanta offered Collins, De’Andre Hunter, and a draft pick in exchange for Durant. However, Collins wasn’t viewed as the sort of star who could headline a KD package, Scotto says.

Here’s more on the Nets in the wake of this week’s Durant-related developments:

Multiple general managers who spoke to Scotto predicted that the Nets will be a top-four team in the East this season, though one acknowledged that there’s a wide range of conceivable outcomes for the club. “There’s a very predictable unpredictability, a predictable chaos, a predictable waffling,” the GM said. “What really would surprise you at this point?”
While Brooklyn’s high asking price was one major reason why Durant is still a Net, one league executive who spoke to Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today suggested that suitors may have been turned off by the aggressive way the star forward pushed for a trade. “Teams don’t want to overpay for someone who has proven he will burn your house down,” the exec said.
During a segment on ESPN’s Get Up (video link), Brian Windhorst referred to the truce between Durant and the Nets as a “tentative” one, while Adrian Wojnarowksi said that things will “continue to be fragile” in Brooklyn going forward. Sam Amick of The Athletic agrees that it would be naive to consider the Durant saga over, given that “this kind of discontent doesn’t just disappear overnight.”
Brian Lewis of The New York Post and Alex Schiffer of The Athletic each list five questions facing the Nets now that they’ve decided to hang onto Durant.
Within his story at The Athletic, Schiffer says that a possible new look in 2022/23 from head coach Steve Nash – who has several new assistants on his staff – has been a “selling point” in Brooklyn during free agency. Schiffer suggests that the Nets have the personnel necessary to run a faster-paced offense this season after leaning on an isolation-heavy system during Nash’s first couple years in Brooklyn.