Nets Still An Appealing Destination For Players
According to Nets guard Jeremy Lin, a total of five of his former teammates across stints with the Knicks, Rockets and Hornets asked him if Brooklyn would be willing to make a trade for them, Bryan Kalbrosky of HoopsHype writes.
Kalbrosky breaks down a Nets Daily report based on a translation of an interview that Lin gave to Chinese website JD.com.
The combined appeal of the Nets’ willingness to play together, the culture unfolding in Brooklyn and the presence of head coach Kenny Atkinson makes the franchise an intriguing one as the free agency period approaches.
The Nets are projected to have approximately $26MM of cap space this summer to fortify their roster and, yes, several of Lin’s former teammates will be available, including Patrick Patterson, Donatas Motiejunas, Thomas Robinson, Aaron Brooks and Omri Casspi.
Assistant GM Trajan Langdon Drawing Interest From Hawks
The Hawks‘ list of potential general manager candidates continues to grow, with Zach Klein of Channel 2 Sports in Atlanta reporting that the club is interested in speaking with Nets executive Trajan Langdon about the opening. Langdon, who currently serves as an assistant GM in Brooklyn under Sean Marks, was identified by ESPN’s Kevin Arnovitz earlier this year as a front office “prospect” to watch. However, league insiders told Arnovitz at the time that Langdon may still need a few seasons with the Nets before he becomes a legit candidate to run an NBA front office.
Sixers Notes: Redick, Draft, Colangelo, Okafor
Clippers free agent J.J. Redick will get a lot of interest from the Eastern Conference, and the Sixers may be the leading contender, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. In a video posted on the Vertical website, several analysts offer their visions of the future for Philadelphia after winding up with the third pick in next month’s draft. Wojnarowski believes the Sixers will make a strong play for Redick, an 11-year veteran who would fill a position of need at shooting guard while bringing leadership to the locker room. Redick will probably receive offers starting at $16MM to $17MM annually, Wojnarowski predicts, and Philly’s strongest competition for him will come from the Nets, as well as the Knicks if they can clear enough cap room.
There’s more tonight out of Philadelphia:
- The Sixers may try to trade down in the draft, suggests The Vertical’s Bobby Marks in the same video, because there isn’t a perfect fit for them at No. 3. They are believed to have interest in Kentucky guard Malik Monk, who could be available a few picks later. Marks says the Kings, who own picks No. 5 and No. 10, might emerge as a trading partner. He adds that Philadelphia also owns an unprotected Lakers pick next season, an unprotected Kings pick in 2019 and a pick from the Thunder in 2020 that is top-20 protected, all of which could be used as trade assets.
- President of basketball operations Bryan Colangelo was planning a “measured, organic growth path” if the Sixers came away from Tuesday’s lottery with two picks, relays Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Instead, the Lakers landed in the top three and got to keep their selection for another year, which leads Colangelo to a more aggressive approach that will involve seeking veteran help through trades and free agency. “We are going to have both opportunities available to us now,” he said. “We are going to look at all those alternatives, all those options.” Pompey lists Redick, Kyle Lowry, Otto Porter, Danilo Gallinari and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope as free agents the team might target.
- Jahlil Okafor is an obvious candidate to be used as a trade chip, writes Jessica Camerato of CSNPhilly. The second-year center has been a poor fit in Philadelphia since being drafted in 2015. Many observers expected him to be dealt at the February deadline, but Nerlens Noel was shipped to Dallas instead. “I want to find a situation that’s great for us and great for Jahlil, and if that means him staying here then that’s great,” Colangelo said. “He’s a great kid and a great player and we’re going to see how he fits with this group.”
Jazz, Nets Expected To Pursue Milos Teodosic
The Jazz and Nets are expected to be active bidders for Serbian star Milos Teodosic this summer, relays David Pick of Eurobasket.
Sources tell Pick that Utah’s interest is particularly strong because coach Quin Snyder once served as an assistant with CSKA Moscow, Teodosic’s current team.
Teodosic is expected to seek a three-year deal worth $25MM to $30MM. The Nets have about $27MM in cap room this summer, so they could easily fit the 30-year-old on their roster, while the Jazz will have other priorities in free agents Gordon Hayward, George Hill and Joe Ingles.
Andrey Vatutin, president and CEO of the Russian team, discussed Teodosic’s future in an interview with Pick. CSKA Moscow is shooting for another Euroleague title this weekend, which could cap off Teodosic’s playing career in Europe.
“I cannot discuss candidates to replace a player that hasn’t left or might re-sign with CSKA,” Vatutin said. “Milos is unique. He is as unique as Nando De Colo, Viktor Khryapa and all of my players. But if an NBA team makes him an offer — it will be impossible to compete with.”
Vatutin adds that he has friendships with GMs in “Brooklyn, San Antonio, Denver, Oklahoma, Houston and others,” but that won’t affect where Teodosic might end up.
“Teams that want to scout Milos are able to do so with or without CSKA’s assistance,” he added. “I think the teams that have concrete interest in Teodosic weren’t mentioned in the media.”
The Kings were listed last week as a possible contender for Teodosic, who can play either guard position, but that rumor was later retracted. A report last summer said Utah and San Antonio would be his preferred destinations.
Nets To Work Out Hamidou Diallo
- Kentucky’s Hamidou Diallo worked out for the Bulls and Bucks already this week in advance of his Thursday workout with the Nets, as Adam Zagoria details. Meanwhile, Mark Strotman of CSNChicago.com wonders if Diallo, who could still return to Kentucky, might be the splash the Bulls are seeking.
Draft Notes: Johnson, King, Thompson, Pasecniks
Junior guard Robert Johnson will withdraw from the draft and return to Indiana, according to Jon Rothstein of Fanrag Sports. Players who entered the draft but did not hire an agent have until May 24th to pull out and remain in school. Johnson averaged 12.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game with the Hoosiers this season. He was not listed among the top 100 prospects by DraftExpress and would have been a long shot to be taken this year.
There’s more draft news on lottery day:
- Colorado’s George King will also return to school next season, Rothstein reports. He averaged 11.1 points and 6.8 rebounds as a junior. Stephen Thompson Jr. is heading back to Oregon State, Rothstein adds. The sophomore guard put up 16.3 points and 3.0 assists this season. Both were outside the DraftExpress top 100.
- Anzejs Pasecniks could be the next young Latvian star in New York, writes Brian Lewis of the New York Post. The Nets reportedly have interest in the 21-year-old, who was considered to be a similar prospect to Kristaps Porzingis when they were growing up. At 7’2″, Pasecniks would fill a need at backup center for Brooklyn, which holds the 22nd and 27th picks in next month’s draft. “I don’t want to say he’s Porzingis, but he’s a reasonable facsimile,” said international draft expert Fran Fraschilla of ESPN. “I don’t want to give the impression he’s unathletic, because he’s not. He gives you length, he gives you shooting, he can protect the rim a little bit.”
- The Bucks will work out six players today, according to a tweet from the team. Scheduled to participate are Kentucky’s Hamidou Diallo, Georgetown’s L.J. Peak, SMU’s Sterling Brown, Wisconsin’s Nigel Hayes, Utah State’s Jalen Moore and Louisville’s Deng Adel.
- North Carolina center Tony Bradley will participate in a workout with the Knicks on Wednesday, tweets Ian Begley of ESPN.com.
- The Lakers have four players coming in for a workout on Thursday, tweets Baxter Holmes of ESPN.com. Participants will be Xavier’s Trevon Bluiett, UCLA’s Isaac Hamilton, Michigan’s Zak Irvin and Miami’s Davon Reed.
- The Ringer has issued a draft guide ranking the top 60 players available. Markelle Fultz is the site’s top pick, followed by Josh Jackson, Lonzo Ball and Malik Monk as a surprise in the No. 4 slot. Seven guards are likely to be taken in the lottery, writes Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer in a separate piece.
Nets Working Out Rawle Alkins, Caleb Swanigan, Others
The Nets will be the only non-playoff team without a close eye on Tuesday night’s lottery results, since the Celtics have swap rights to their first-round pick. But after that swap is made, the Nets will hold the rights to the first-round picks for the two teams in action on Monday night, the Celtics and the Wizards. And Brooklyn is busy exploring its options for those two late first-round selections, along with its second-round pick.
According to Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com, the Nets will bring in Rawle Alkins, Melo Trimble, Kobi Simmons, Davon Reed, Amida Brimah, and Omer Yurtseven for a group workout on Tuesday. On Thursday, Brooklyn will take a closer look at Josh Hart and Tyler Dorsey. Meanwhile, Purdue’s Caleb Swanigan is also expected to be a part of that Thursday workout, per Nathan Baird of The Journal & Courier (Twitter link).
Kings Not In Mix For Milos Teodosic?
MAY 12, 11:53am: A day after suggesting that the Kings were a strong contender for Teodosic, Pick has shot down his own report, citing a Sacramento executive who says the team won’t be in the mix to sign the Euroleague star (Twitter link).
MAY 11, 1:10pm: The Kings are a legitimate contender in the Milos Teodosic sweepstakes, a source tells international basketball reporter David Pick (Twitter link). As Pick observes, Sacramento GM Vlade Divac has a strong connection to Teodosic, a fellow Serbian.
Teodosic, who is primarily a point guard but can also play off the ball, will be coming off another strong season with CSKA Moscow this summer. In 27 Euroleague games, the veteran guard has averaged 16.2 PPG and 7.0 APG en route to leading his club to a spot in the Euroleague Final Four.
We heard way back in September that Teodosic was eyeing a potential jump to the NBA in 2017. The 30-year-old, who is in the final year of his contract with CSKA Moscow, suggested at the time that he was ready to “compete against the best players in the world” in North America, and he has received plenty of NBA interest since then, having been linked most frequently to the Nets.
The Kings, who only have about $35MM in guaranteed salaries on their books for the 2017/18 league year, will certainly be able to compete financially with any other suitor, including the Nets. But, while money will obviously be one factor Teodosic considers, he has also stated that the team he joins will have to meet his “competitive ambitions.” Neither the Kings nor the Nets are expected to be a legit contender in 2017/18.
Nets Notes: Booker, Dudley, Johnson
Trevor Booker learned early in his career that he didn’t need to be a star to make it in the league. During his rookie year on the Wizards, he realized that he needed to find his niche.
“That’s actually been my approach ever since I came into the league,” Booker said (via Alex Kennedy of Hoops Hype). “Coming into Washington, we had John Wall, who had been the No. 1 overall pick. He’s doing great right now, by the way. They were focused on him. You could see that their main focus was on John Wall, which was fine. I understood it. I had to learn then that it wasn’t about me. I wasn’t in college anymore. I realized that I needed to find my niche. I had to earn every minute and whoever I was playing against, whether it was in a game or in a practice, I had to [work hard]. I knew I had to do that to stay in this league.”
Booker found his niche as a locker room leader and when the Nets signed him last offseason, they expected him to be a veteran mentor to his young teammates. He proved to be a valuable addition and he’s enjoying his role in Brooklyn.
“I just try to tell them what I’ve been through and how I’ve stuck around in the league for seven years. I just let them know that you don’t have to be a superstar; you don’t have to go out there and score 30 points a night to make your name known and stick around in the league. You have to find your niche, work at it and do [your job] well. You don’t have to go out there and be a hero. I try to show them, as an example, look at me. I’ve averaged probably 6 points over my career and I’m going into my eighth year and still going strong. That’s the type of the thing that I’d try to instill in them,” Booker added.
Here’s more from Brooklyn:
- Booker believes both GM Sean Marks and coach Kenny Atkinson have done excellent jobs in year one of their tenures, as he tells Kennedy in the same piece. “[Marks] definitely gets it, and he’s an intelligent guy. I think he did a pretty good job this year of trying to change the culture…Then, with Coach Atkinson, he does a great job of developing players. Just watching him throughout the season, he’d be on the court working with players and showing them different things. And that’s the kind of thing that players need, especially young players,” Booker said.
- The Nets were interested in signing Marvin Williams and Jared Dudley last offseason in part because of their respective reputations as excellent locker room leaders, Charles Maniego of SB Nation notes. Both players signed elsewhere and Brooklyn decided to add Randy Foye and Booker to mentor the young roster. Maniego also relays that adding high character players will again be a priority for the franchise this offseason.
- Amir Johnson could be an option for the Nets in free agency, Maniego opines in the same piece. The power forward was named “Teammate of the Year” by the Celtics last season.
Nets To Pursue Veteran Free Agents?
The latest piece from TNT’s David Aldridge of NBA.com is ostensibly about the Celtics/Wizards series, but the story also looks ahead to the coming offseason, particularly with respect to Boston’s plans. According to Aldridge, many people around the NBA believe that Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge was – and still is – “determined” to keep the Nets‘ 2017 first-round pick, which could give him the opportunity to draft a top point guard prospect.
- In a recent story for ESPN.com, Zach Lowe mentioned in passing that he expects the Nets to go after veterans in free agency this offseason. Anthony Puccio of Nets Daily takes a closer look at what that might mean for Brooklyn.