Two-year plan starting with 2019 offseason and 2019-2020 season:
Jaylen: It’s a make-or-break year. If he is not an all-star at the deadline, I want him moved for a matching 1-2 year contract of a journeyman and 1-2 picks.
Jayson: I’m more optimistic about Jayson, believing he can be the next Durant. At this point, I say we head into 2019-2020 with Tatum as our number one scoring option just like during our 2018 playoff run. Help him grow into an all-star this year or next. If he fails to hit that level by February 2021, move him for a matching expiring contract and 1-2 picks.
Kemba: Our All-NBA PG is our key facilitator and needs to not be overused so we can have him ready for championship runs in 2-4 seasons. Hopefully he’ll be ok letting Tatum and Brown prove themselves this year. He’s our undisputed leader among the players, a truly high character guy who has already made me say “Kyrie who?”, and we’re very fortunate to have him.
Hayward: Our fourth option unless we move Brown at the deadline, this season ought to be Hayward as good as he is ever going to be again. Nobody is touching this contract and he’s definitely opting in next offseason. Treating Hayward respectfully and letting his full contract play out will serve us well in future free agency recruitments. Hayward may end up spending the rest of his career with us, albeit likely at a much lower figure come 2021 unless he returns to all-star form (seems unlikely at this point, but who knows?).
Smart: Our glue guy, he ought to be our sixth man unless Brown gets moved at the deadline in which case we make him our starting two indefinitely. I love Smart’s grit and, with the exception of Kemba, he’s the only player I’m almost certain will be on the roster in 2021-2022.
Kanter, Theis & R. Williams: Split the big man time between the three. I’d take a flier on Boogie so we have a four-big men rotation this season, but who knows. I say we give Kanter the start (or Boogie) and hopefully Williams replaces him at some point in the season. I am presuming we’re going with Kemba/Brown/Hayward/Tatum/Kanter, so Theis would spell Tatum. I think Williams can be a stand-out defensive center, but he needs to dramatically improve his offensive game. Even if he does not, he may prove to be a solid backup defensive/rebounding center for 2021-beyond. There’s only one ball, so I do not see any problem with defensive-rebounding centers (admittedly I’m biased since I was always a defensive/rebounding 4/5 as a kid).
Langford and G. Williams: Give them rotational minutes, particularly since there is no guarantee Brown or Tatum will develop into all-stars. Maybe they can? Or, personally, I’d try moving them for this, so we can add a PF who may develop into an all-star (loved his dad) while also having a solid backup at the 3:
http://tradenba.com/trades/HyMoUlhxSYabusele and Ojeleye: Filler who will probably never be worthy of huge rotational minutes. Dump them at some point before 2021-2022.
Morris: Try to pull off a S&T for a future protected first. Otherwise, let him walk. Same with Wanamaker, although we’re talking a heavily protected second in his case (if we’re extremely lucky).
Who was our second-round pick this year? Whoever he is, let him practice and learn on the bench. I suppose there’s always a Jokic or Middleton to be found in the second-round, but it’s like winning the lottery. I rarely pay attention to these second round guys and think teams overvalue those picks.
2020 offseason:
- If Brown is an all-star, give him the max he is offered. If he did not become an all-star, he should have been moved at the deadline for pick(s).
- If Kanter opts out, look for a journeyman center as a backup and hand the keys to R. Williams.
- Hayward obviously will opt-in.
- If we have Sabonis, re-sign him by matching whatever the best offer is. If we still have Langford and G. Williams, which I’m going to presume is the case rather than Sabonis, we’ll give them more minutes in 2020-2021 obviously. I do like Langford’s game.
- I say be restrained, continue to emphasize that Kemba and Tatum (and Brown if he stays) are the core, and stay the course by only signing backup players to one-year contracts (you’ll see why below). This is a weak free agency class whereas 2021 may have some huge players available. Hopefully the Memphis pick brings us a killer big man.
2021 offseason:
- If Tatum is an all-star, give him the max he is offered. If he did not become an all-star, he should have been moved for picks.
- If Brown and Tatum are gone, we’ll basically have Kemba, Smart and R. Williams on the books, and either Sabonis or Langford/G. Williams plus our 2020 rookies. This means with Hayward gone, we can go all-in for Giannis (10% chance maybe? But if you told us two years ago that the Nets would have Kyrie and KD in 2019, how hard would we have laughed?). You just never know. A great consolation prize would be Gobert, the best defensive big man in the game today. If it is possible to build around Giannis, Gobert and Kemba, we move whatever pieces are necessary to make the cap figures work. That team would win the 2022 title almost certainly.
- If Brown or Tatum, just one of them, is an all-star we find a way to add Gobert OR Giannis. This would be enough to win it all in 2022, too.
- Hopefully Tatum, Brown and Kemba are all-stars in Boston in 2021 and we just won the championship, in which case we simply continue to draft smartly, manage the cap well, and win, win, win!
Thoughts? Your alternative plan?