Interesting plan for the future of the Nets

[CFAN38]

http://www.netsdaily.com/2016/1/21/10806346/more-punditry-about-what-the-brooklyn-nets-should-do-but-with-a-twist


Basic plan is to over pay to steal young restricted FA from teams. I would add another layer to the plan and look to move Lopez and Young.

Trade idea

Nets gets Asik, #7 from NO (pick as of 2/23) and #36 (as of 2/23)
NO    get Lopez

then

Nets get #16 from Cs (as of 2/23) and #35 from Cs (as of 2/23)
Cs get thad young

Following DX's mock those picks would get the nets

#7 Jamal Murray
#16 Furkan Korkmaz
#35 Malcolm Brogdon
#36 Wayne Seldon

given that all those players are all SGs I would expect something more like this

#7   Jamal Murray
#16 Damian Jones
#35 Malcom Brogdon
#36 Gary Payton 2

now the Nets would have a young group of

Hollis-Jefferson SF
McCullough PF'
Bognanavic SF
Karasev SF
Murray PG/SG
Jones C
Brogdon SG
Payton PG

now taking the mindset of over paying young RFA the NETS could target and over pay I would try for,

Fournier SG/SF
Sully PF/C
Powell PF/C

Last move would be to pick up Jacks option for the last season

2016/17 Nets

C   Asik, Jones
PF Sully, Powell, McCullough
SF Hollis-Jefferson, Bognanavic, Karasev
SG Fournier, Murruy, Brogdon
PG Jack, Payton

By no means is that a playoff team but with the right coach they could at least win games, compete and develop.

[Lucky17]

From the article:

Blowing it up, he writes, will just prolong the misery.

Seems like you're proposing blowing it up. Why shouldn't the Nets keep their two best players (Lopez, Young), and chase young RFAs (Fournier, Leonard, etc) to add around them to compete next season, instead of ditching them for draft picks?

[CFAN38]

From the article:

Blowing it up, he writes, will just prolong the misery.

Seems like you're proposing blowing it up. Why shouldn't the Nets keep their two best players (Lopez, Young), and chase young RFAs (Fournier, Leonard, etc) to add around them to compete next season, instead of ditching them for draft picks?

I do differ in opinion with the article when it comes to blowing it up and thats not just because im a Cs fan. I think the Nets are playing with fire trying to build around Lopez. If they can flip him for a young potential building block then this is the time to do it.

[TheSundanceKid]

That approach is exactly what they should be doing. It's green tinted glasses to say they should trade everything for picks because that is what is best. Sign restricted free agents to more than their teams will match. Most of those guys will provide upside to grow into anyway. Fournier at $15m, Sullinger at $15m, Barnes at the max. Those are all good deals for Brooklyn and unlikely to be matched.

Take those players and build their value for a year or two. When you think they are maxing out, trade them for better assets. It's not going to get you to the playoffs but it's a [dang] sight better than looking to the D-League for scraps.

Brandon Jennings is another great target for them. Sign him to a Rondo type deal, 1 year at $14m or something. Having a competent PG will increase the value of the entire roster.

If they go down this route they probably add 5-8 wins overall and land around the 10th spot in the draft. But more importantly for them they have extra assets which they can trade from a position of relative strength. Pick up a late first rounder from a contender that needs one of their recently signed players. Or maybe Sullinger makes Young a trade piece and they get a rookie contract and a pick for him.

Ultimately their record doesn't matter, they don't own their draft pick. Player development matters. Improving and gaining assets matter. They need to outbid others to get on the first rung and then work with what they get. Common sense to me

[slamtheking]

That approach is exactly what they should be doing. It's green tinted glasses to say they should trade everything for picks because that is what is best. Sign restricted free agents to more than their teams will match. Most of those guys will provide upside to grow into anyway. Fournier at $15m, Sullinger at $15m, Barnes at the max. Those are all good deals for Brooklyn and unlikely to be matched.

Take those players and build their value for a year or two. When you think they are maxing out, trade them for better assets. It's not going to get you to the playoffs but it's a [dang] sight better than looking to the D-League for scraps.

Brandon Jennings is another great target for them. Sign him to a Rondo type deal, 1 year at $14m or something. Having a competent PG will increase the value of the entire roster.

If they go down this route they probably add 5-8 wins overall and land around the 10th spot in the draft. But more importantly for them they have extra assets which they can trade from a position of relative strength. Pick up a late first rounder from a contender that needs one of their recently signed players. Or maybe Sullinger makes Young a trade piece and they get a rookie contract and a pick for him.

Ultimately their record doesn't matter, they don't own their draft pick. Player development matters. Improving and gaining assets matter. They need to outbid others to get on the first rung and then work with what they get. Common sense to me

adding even 8 wins to that team would tie them for 6th worst record -- not 10th -- just based on this year's current standings. 

While I do see a little merit in overpaying for RFA's, the ones you're proposing won't move the needle much for them going forward and that's going on the supposition some team with better players doesn't decide to throw that kind of money at them.  You can almost bank on someone besides Brooklyn offering those players those proposed contracts.

I think the drawback of doing so for the Nets is that in order to get those players to sign there, the deals have to have a 3-4 years at least in order to be appealing to the players.  Once they sign those players (not limited to who you've suggested but the mediocre-or-worse FAs that would settle for the Nets), they've done a tune on their future financial flexibility and have hamstrung themselves for a longer timeframe.

I really think their best option for a quicker turnaround is to sell high on Brook and Thad for someone else's draft picks to use as building blocks going forward.  they won't reap the rewards of their own crappy play but at least they'll still have draft picks as an avenue for improvement.

[merkins]

Kind of an interesting experiment, Nets have the 'luxury' of not worrying about tanking as they rebuild over next several years.  Wonder how that changes the game plan. 

I'd say in this case you keep your good players, low lottery purgatory isn't part of the equation so no ok incentive to go young to increase lottery odds.

[chilidawg]

That blow it up lineup would be terrible, guaranteeing us a top of the lottery position for a couple years.  Like the other posters I just don't see it happening.  Much more likely the try to sign a few FA's.  Maybe if that doesn't work in a year or two they'll blow it up then.  At least then they'd have their own picks again so it might make a little more sense.

[Granath]

That approach is exactly what they should be doing. It's green tinted glasses to say they should trade everything for picks because that is what is best. Sign restricted free agents to more than their teams will match. Most of those guys will provide upside to grow into anyway. Fournier at $15m, Sullinger at $15m, Barnes at the max. Those are all good deals for Brooklyn and unlikely to be matched.

Take those players and build their value for a year or two. When you think they are maxing out, trade them for better assets. It's not going to get you to the playoffs but it's a [dang] sight better than looking to the D-League for scraps.

Sooooo....adding a bunch of overpriced long term contracts is the solution?

That's a great way to put yourself in hell and prevent a possible rebuild when you do finally get your draft picks. If anything, Brooklyn will overpay for shorter-term veteran contracts so put around Lopez to be semi-competitive until they get their picks. They won't want long-term deals for overpriced guys around when they can start drafting on their own again.

See, here's the flaw in your scenario.  If Sully is going to be worth $15m, then teams other than Brooklyn will offer that amount. So for your scenario to work, Brooklyn has to grossly overpay for these guys. If grossly overpaying for those guys now is the answer (and tell me how many unrestricted FAs changed hands over the last couple of years even with available cap space), then it's far more likely that two years from now those contracts are albatrosses hanging around their necks rather than assets that can be converted into picks.

It's quite possible they just do the Donald Sterling thing and spend just the cap floor while raking in the largest profits possible. Basketball is a business and this makes a lot of business sense. That would make it easier to sell the team (as has been rumored) while making huge bank prior to the sale. You can combine this strategy with selling high on Lopez and Young before they get too old and their value declines. Then you try to grab a bunch of likable, scrappy players or run a crowd-pleasing system of basketball for a couple of years all the while laughing all the way to the bank.

Unless Brooklyn somehow grabs a top FA I don't see them even sniffing the playoffs in the next couple of years. And if that's the case, then your objective is to turn the squad into a cash cow until you can really start over.

[PhoSita]

In theory it would make the most sense for the Nets to focus on maximizing the value and strength of their roster 3-4 years from now by acquiring picks and younger players -- of any description -- by any means necessary. 

However, the incentives at play for the people involved (ownership, management, coaching) will most likely result in them trying to salvage the roster they've got by adding mid-career veterans to the Young / Lopez pairing, even if it means they'll have to more or less start from scratch heading into the 2018-2019 season after Brook Lopez's contract finally expires.

[rollie mass]

lopez,young and rjh-and pick up some free agents-maybe the owner will give some an offer he can't refuse--hey rozier,rj and young might be gone next year-sully,zeller,turner,jerebko,johnson and thats just the celts

[jambr380]

That approach is exactly what they should be doing. It's green tinted glasses to say they should trade everything for picks because that is what is best. Sign restricted free agents to more than their teams will match. Most of those guys will provide upside to grow into anyway. Fournier at $15m, Sullinger at $15m, Barnes at the max. Those are all good deals for Brooklyn and unlikely to be matched.

Take those players and build their value for a year or two. When you think they are maxing out, trade them for better assets. It's not going to get you to the playoffs but it's a [dang] sight better than looking to the D-League for scraps.

Brandon Jennings is another great target for them. Sign him to a Rondo type deal, 1 year at $14m or something. Having a competent PG will increase the value of the entire roster.

If they go down this route they probably add 5-8 wins overall and land around the 10th spot in the draft. But more importantly for them they have extra assets which they can trade from a position of relative strength. Pick up a late first rounder from a contender that needs one of their recently signed players. Or maybe Sullinger makes Young a trade piece and they get a rookie contract and a pick for him.

Ultimately their record doesn't matter, they don't own their draft pick. Player development matters. Improving and gaining assets matter. They need to outbid others to get on the first rung and then work with what they get. Common sense to me

adding even 8 wins to that team would tie them for 6th worst record -- not 10th -- just based on this year's current standings. 

While I do see a little merit in overpaying for RFA's, the ones you're proposing won't move the needle much for them going forward and that's going on the supposition some team with better players doesn't decide to throw that kind of money at them.  You can almost bank on someone besides Brooklyn offering those players those proposed contracts.

I think the drawback of doing so for the Nets is that in order to get those players to sign there, the deals have to have a 3-4 years at least in order to be appealing to the players.  Once they sign those players (not limited to who you've suggested but the mediocre-or-worse FAs that would settle for the Nets), they've done a tune on their future financial flexibility and have hamstrung themselves for a longer timeframe.

I really think their best option for a quicker turnaround is to sell high on Brook and Thad for someone else's draft picks to use as building blocks going forward.  they won't reap the rewards of their own crappy play but at least they'll still have draft picks as an avenue for improvement.

TP - the Nets just have to be sure they take an approach that more benefits their future rather than just screwing the Celtics. Lopez is having the healthiest year of his career, but is known as a ticking time bomb. It seems they may be best testing his value around the league (along with Thad's).

Going young is really the only decision they have moving forward. Is signing Sully, Fournier, Bazemore, etc to mega-contracts really going to make them anywhere close to contenders? Having these guys on the books for the next four years, while still having no picks will just bring them back to where they started. They need to look at who they want to keep on their current roster, see what picks they can acquire, and look toward a bright new future rather than making things even worse.

[#1P4P]

Rummaging through this year's upcoming RFA's, there are interesting SG/SF RFA's that the Nets can grab if they want to go that route: Barnes, Fournier, Schroeder, Clarkson, Ross, Galloway, Canaan, Crabbe, and Burke.

Depending on their salary cap situation, they can offer over payments to a couple of them and hope that they make the leap. Lopez, if his health problems are in the past, is an All Star caliber player and should be built around unless an excellent trade package is offered for him. If the overpaid players don't pan out though, the next few years will be miserable.

[Lucky17]

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/14809663/new-brooklyn-nets-gm-sean-marks-clear-vision-team

"Sure, draft picks are one way to build a team," Marks said. "But there's several other places and other ways to go out there and do it. Obviously, you can commit to free agency. My staff, where I've learned, I've seen it done around the NBA where you're building not only through free agency, you're building through the European market, you're building within your D-League franchise and developing players there. So yes, for sure, not having a draft pick as we stand right now -- but that, too, can change.

Marks apprenticed in San Antonio these last few years. I doubt he'll sell off Lopez and Young for pennies on the dollar to rebuild.

[Moranis]

I still think the best bet for the Nets is to acquire 3 or 4 of the mid-tier free agents and go for the playoffs.  Guys like Batum, Jennings, Rondo, JR Smith, etc.  If they add a credible PG, a mid-tier starting wing and some depth, they would have a chance to compete for a playoff spot.  And a lot of those mid-tier free agents would sign 2 or 3 year deals so they won't hamstring the long term effort.

[konkmv]

If they make these moves i can see them  stuck in the lottery for many years