Nets Aren't Looking To Tank
As a result of the Nets owning their own first-round pick for the first time in four years and the struggles the team has dealt with after losing Caris LeVert, many fans have brought up the idea of tanking this season to land another top prospect. However, as Greg Logan writes for Newsday, the Nets and head coach Kenny Atkinson won’t be actively trying to lose games any time soon.
The Nets have suffered several tough losses in recent weeks, having built up leads against the 76ers, Grizzlies and Thunder, only to fall short of victories on all three occasions. However, the team had a strong weekend, securing back-to-back victories over the Raptors and Knicks.
As it stands, the Nets sit at 10-18 and 11th in the Eastern Conference. The conference has a plethora of struggling teams, which would make it more difficult for the Nets to fall down the standings. It looks like this Nets team will continue fighting and scraping for every victory it can get.
New York Notes: Lee, Ntilikina, Crabbe, Fultz
Courtney Lee feels like he’s in training camp after missing the first 24 games of the season with a neck injury, relays Marc Berman of The New York Post. Lee showed obvious signs of rust in two games this week, making just two of seven shots from the field.
“It’s going to take a while to get reactivated to game-speed, game-like situations,’’ he said. “It’ll probably take couple of weeks to get back a rhythm and feel chemistry with the guys. I’ve been thrown out there with those guys and trying to play on the fly. Next couple of weeks, I’ll start to feel comfortable out there.”
Lee’s future with the Knicks remains uncertain as his age (33) and contract don’t fit in with the organization’s plans for the future. The Knicks are hoping to make an impact in free agency next summer and would like to unload Lee’s deal, which will pay him more than $12.76MM next season. Berman suggests the team may showcase him in the coming weeks in an effort to spark a trade.
There’s more from New York City:
- After being held out of three straight games, Frank Ntilikina appears to be returning to the Knicks‘ rotation, Berman relays in the same story. Ntilikina will likely be used as the backup point guard while Trey Burke is sidelined with a sprained knee. “Frank’s a professional, he understands the game,’’ said coach David Fizdale. “He does a good job controlling what he can control. He’s doing extra work and supporting teammates and doing a great job at it. I wouldn’t say it’s a setback. It’s part of the NBA process. Frank’s handling it very well and learning how to be supportive of teammates.”
- The pursuit of Allen Crabbe has been the only major mistake by Sean Marks since taking over as GM of the Nets, according to Zach Lowe of ESPN. Marks signed Crabbe to a four-year, $75MM offer sheet in 2016 that was matched by the Trail Blazers, then traded for him a year later. Crabbe’s scoring average has fallen under 10 PPG for the first time in four seasons and he is shooting just 25% on 2-point shots. Lowe notes that he’s not contributing enough in any other area to make up for his decline in offense.
- The Nets‘ record on player development makes them a perfect environment for Markelle Fultz, contends Michael Smeltz of NetsDaily. Smeltz states that a trade for Fultz could speed up Brooklyn’s rebuilding process after mixed results on deals for D’Angelo Russell and Crabbe.
Spencer Dinwiddie Set To Become Extension-Eligible
Spencer Dinwiddie first signed with the Nets on December 8, 2016. That means Diwiddie will become eligible for a contract extension on Saturday, the two-year anniversary of his initial signing. And that fact hasn’t been lost on him. As Michael Scotto of The Athletic noted last week (via Twitter), Dinwiddie recently issued a lengthy statement to reporters about his contract situation.
[RELATED: Players eligible for veteran contract extensions]
“I’d love to have an extension. I’d love to be here for a long time,” Dinwiddie said. “If I don’t get an extension, I’ll be looking forward to unrestricted free agency and going through the season trying to help the Nets win games as much as possible. Either I’m going to sign an extension or I’m going to be an unrestricted free agent, simple as that. The ball is very much in [GM] Sean Marks and the Nets’ court.
“Everybody knows what my extension number is: Four [years] for $47.5MM,” Dinwiddie continued. “It is well documented. You can’t go above. It’s not like I’m really looking to go below. It is what it is. I’ll find out when you guys find out. We’ll either see something on the ESPN ticker that says ‘Spencer Dinwiddie offered $47.5MM from the Brooklyn Nets,’ and then you guys will know how much money my bank account has at that moment in time.”
As Dinwiddie suggests, contract extensions for players on modest deals like his are limited to a starting salary worth up to 120% of the NBA’s estimated average salary. Based on this season’s numbers, that means that a Dinwiddie extension would start at $10.61MM and would be worth $47.51MM over four years.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski recently said that the Nets have a number in mind for Dinwiddie, which makes it sound as if the club doesn’t plan on putting that maximum amount on the table. But based on the point guard’s candid comments, it sure sounds like he doesn’t have much interest in an extension that pays him less than that full amount ($47.5MM over four years).
Sources told Brian Lewis of The New York Post last week that the 25-year-old, who is in the midst of a career year, could likely command more than that in free agency, so his stance makes sense.
Could Dinwiddie’s asking price come down? Could the Nets relent and offer the full $47.5MM? Anything is possible, but there’s one big reason not to expect the two sides to come to terms on an in-season extension.
The Nets project to have a significant amount of cap room next summer, and extending Dinwiddie would cut into that space substantially. His cap hold as a free agent will only be about $1.6MM, which means Brooklyn could keep that hold on its books, hanging onto Dinwiddie’s Bird rights, then go over the cap to re-sign him after using the rest of its space on other players. That’s exactly what the team did this past offseason with Joe Harris, who was in a similar position. Extending Dinwiddie during the season would increase his projected cap hit from $1.6MM to $10.61MM, cutting into the Nets’ flexibility.
On the other hand, if the Nets don’t make an effort to extend Dinwiddie during the season, it might increase his interest in exploring the market when he becomes a free agent. And since he’ll be unrestricted, Brooklyn wouldn’t necessarily be able to keep him in July.
Plus, even if they were to extend Dinwiddie at the price he wants, the Nets could still create $50MM+ in cap room next summer, and would avoid heading into the offseason with uncertainty surrounding both Dinwiddie and RFA-to-be D’Angelo Russell. Maybe it’d be worth it for the Nets to lock in Dinwiddie at a reasonable rate if they don’t believe they’d have a realistic chance at two max free agents on the open market anyway.
There are no simple or easy answers for the Nets with Dinwiddie, so it will be a situation worth watching starting on December 8.
Knicks Notes: Ntilikina, Hezonja, Wall, Dotson
Before getting his third consecutive DNP-CD on Thursday night, Frank Ntilikina offered some terse answers when asked about his role, perhaps conveying a little frustration, as Marc Berman of The New York Post relays. Meanwhile, head coach David Fizdale made some ominous comments when asked about his lineup decisions involving Ntilikina and other Knicks.
“I got a front office that supports me in that,” Fizdale said. “We have to know who’s moving forward out of this group. And it won’t be every single player on this roster, unfortunately. That’s the nature of the business. We have to come out of this year knowing who those guys it’s going to be moving forward with us.”
After Thursday’s game, in which the Knicks surrendered 128 points, Fizdale acknowledged that maybe he should’ve given a strong defender like Ntilikina the opportunity to play, per Steve Popper of Newsday.
“I can always look at him,” Fizdale said. “It ain’t like he’s out, though. Again, it’s going to be a long season. Frank will be getting his opportunities again.”
Here’s more on the Knicks:
- Fizdale said on Thursday that Mario Hezonja is still in New York’s starting lineup because of his effort on defense, as Popper notes. Berman of The New York Post passes along a tweet from former Knicks executive Clarence Gaines Jr. questioning Fizdale’s explanation, while sources also told Berman that Hezonja was happier during his Orlando days when he was in the starting five.
- Following up on a pair of reports from earlier this week, Ian Begley of ESPN.com says (via Twitter) that the Knicks haven’t had any internal discussions about a possible trade for John Wall and haven’t heard from the Nets or Pistons about Damyean Dotson. Berman previously reported that people around the league believed the Knicks were gearing up to make a push for Wall and said that Detroit and Brooklyn had shown the most interest in Dotson.
- Lance Thomas is getting close to returning to action, but – like Courtney Lee before him – may have a hard time carving out major minutes in a crowded rotation, Berman writes for The New York Post. Thomas and Lee look like potential trade candidates this season, so New York may make an effort to showcase both players.
- Ten months after Kristaps Porzingis suffered his ACL tear, there’s still no set timetable for his return to the court, according to Berman.
Is Rookie Rodions Kurucs Ready For A Breakout?
- The Nets are in a bit of a lull, to say the least, but one bright spot could be the play of rookie Rodions Kurucs, writes Bryan Fonseca of NetsDaily. Kurucs, 20, scored 12 points and grabbed four rebounds in 14 minutes in Brooklyn’s loss to the Cavaliers on Monday.
Nets Sorely Missing Caris LeVert
After Nets swingman Caris LeVert went down with a gruesome leg injury a little less than a month ago, the team feared the worst, with several of LeVert’s teammates seen visibly crying after the injury occurred.
Fear turned to relief, however, when tests revealed a subtalar dislocation of the right foot, no broken bones, and a prognosis of a possible return to the court this season.
Since the injury, however, the Nets are 2-11 and have lost eight straight after blowing another big lead against the Thunder tonight. Before the injury, the Nets were off to their best start since the 2014-2015 season with a 6-7 record. So not surprisingly, the relief that Brooklyn felt after LeVert’s diagnosis is starting to wane, writes Anthony Puccio of NetsDaily.
“I just think Caris gives us a different dimension, especially against the switching teams,” head coach Kenny Atkinson said. “Teams were much more hesitant to switch against us because he’d just blow by the big that was guarding him. It’s a dimension we don’t have (now).”
In other words, LeVert made players better on both ends of the floor, with veteran Jared Dudley even going as far as to publicly call LeVert the Nets’ best player earlier this week. “We lost our best player and have lost three to five games by like two to six points, Dudley tweeted. “(We) could easily be (a) .500 basketball team.”
There is still no timetable for LeVert’s return, but the Nets still presumably hope to have him back on the court before the end of the 2018/19 season.
Pistons, Nets Show Interest In Damyean Dotson
After reporting last week that at least a couple teams have inquired on Knicks swingman Damyean Dotson, Marc Berman of The New York Post provides some additional details, identifying the Pistons and Nets as the two teams that have shown the most interest in Dotson.
While Dotson is drawing interest from rival teams, there are no indications for now that the Knicks intend to move him. At the time of Berman’s initial report, Dotson has fallen out of New York’s rotation and hadn’t played in over a week, which perhaps prompted teams like the Pistons and Nets to poke around to see if the 24-year-old might be available.
Since then though, Dotson has reclaimed a regular role and has taken full advantage of the opportunity. Over the Knicks’ last four games, the former second-round pick has averaged 17.8 PPG with a scorching-hot .625/.650/1.000 shooting line in 26.1 minutes per contest.
David Fizdale‘s rotation in New York this season has been somewhat inconsistent, with players moving in and out of the lineup over the course of the season. Given Fizdale’s frequent shake-ups, there’s no guarantee Dotson will continue to receive regular minutes the rest of the way, but for now he looks like a potential low-cost keeper for the club.
If the Knicks do make Dotson available before this season’s February 7 trade deadline, his on-court production and his team-friendly contract would make him an intriguing target for either a playoff contender like the Pistons or a rebuilding club like the Nets. Dotson is earning just $1.38MM in 2018/19, with a non-guaranteed $1.62MM salary for 2019/20. He’d be eligible for restricted free agency in 2020.
Another of the Knicks’ 2017 draftees, Frank Ntilikina, has reportedly received some trade interest from around the league too, having been linked to the Magic, Suns, Grizzlies, and possibly the Nets.
NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 12/4/18
Here are Tuesday’s G League assignments and recalls from across the NBA:
- The Jazz have recalled Grayson Allen and Georges Niang from the Salt Lake City Stars, according to the team’s Twitter feed. It was each player’s only G League assignment of the season.
- Jevon Carter and Ivan Rabb had an eventful day. The Grizzlies assigned the pair to their G League affiliate, the Memphis Hustle for morning shootaround, per the team’s Twitter feed. The two were then recalled for the Grizzlies’ mid-day practice before being re-assigned to the Hustle to play in their night game.
- The Pelicans have assigned Frank Jackson to the G League, according to a team press release. New Orleans doesn’t yet have its own affiliate, so Jackson will play for the Texas Legends, pursuant to the flexible assignment system.
- The Pacers have recalled Alize Johnson from the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, per the team’s website. Johnson has been with the G League affiliate since November 7.
- The Nets have assigned Dzanan Musa to their G League affiliate, the Long Island Nets, according to the team’s Twitter feed.
Atlantic Notes: Ntilikina, McConnell, Celtics, Burke
As Frank Ntilikina has fallen out of the Knicks‘ rotation, a handful of other teams around the NBA have been linked to the second-year guard, with the Magic, Suns, and Grizzlies among the clubs said to have shown some interest in Ntilikina.
Ian Begley of ESPN.com added another name to that list over the weekend, reporting (via Twitter) that the Nets have also expressed interest in the Knicks guard. Brooklyn already has a pair of solid point guards – Spencer Dinwiddie and D’Angelo Russell – in its backcourt, but both players will be free agents at season’s end, while Ntilikina remains under team control through 2021.
However, if the Nets did inquire on Ntilikina, it sounds like they were just doing its due diligence — a team source tells Brian Lewis of The New York Post that Brooklyn has no interest in acquiring the former eighth overall pick from the crosstown Knicks.
Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
- Appearing last week on The Russillo Show, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski mentioned that he’s “very confident” the Sixers could have acquired a first-round pick in exchange for T.J. McConnell within the last few weeks, as Dan Feldman of NBC Sports relays. Wojnarowski had previously reported that the 76ers weren’t looking to move McConnell. Woj is obviously more plugged in than any other NBA reporter, so it’s hard to doubt his intel, but I’d have to think that there’s a catch here — perhaps the pick would have been heavily protected, or the Sixers would have had to take on some salary.
- In an Insider-only article for ESPN.com, Kevin Pelton explores the Sixers‘ options with Markelle Fultz, writing that the team doesn’t have to make a decision on the former No. 1 overall pick right away, with the trade deadline still two months off.
- While the Celtics still have an enviable collection of assets to put in play if they take a big swing on the trade market, the value of some of those assets has depreciated a little this season, as Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report details. Boston’s first-round picks from the Kings, Clippers, and Grizzlies may not be as valuable as initially anticipated, given how those teams have performed, and Jaylen Brown has taken a step back in his development so far.
- Trey Burke sustained a mild MCL sprain on Saturday and will be re-evaluated sometime this weekend, the Knicks announced today (via Twitter). Earlier today, we passed along some comments Burke made about his upcoming free agency.
Nets Continue To Struggle Without LeVert
- After an injury derailed Caris LeVert‘s promising season, the Nets have struggled to bounce back as they have lost six straight games in a variety of ways. Brian Lewis of The New York Post writes about the team’s struggles since losing their leading guard.
- Given those aforementioned struggles for the Nets and the fact that they actually own their first round draft pick this year, could it possibly be time for the team to tank? At least one writer from NetsDaily isn’t afraid to ask the tough question.