The Nets aren’t good, but owe their 1st round pick to Boston, making the decision to begin the rebuilding process all the more difficult.
The Brooklyn Nets are the most depressing team in the NBA, they are not only bad but as we have all been told on numerous occasions they do not own their pick. Boston will be the benefits of the hideous seasons the Nets are undergoing and this season should only really be used to develop young talent and to try and make Brook Lopez into the team leader we all know he can be.
Some believe the Nets should just go all in on a rebuild and trade the likes of Brook Lopez and Thaddeus Young, but this to me seems like an utterly pointless tactic that would just not end well.
Firstly, this would almost certainly mean Boston end up with a top two pick that gives them either Ben Simmons or Skal Labissiere, as the Celtics are in the Nets division they absolutely have to think about trying to give Boston the worst pick possible. There are a lot of good players in this draft but the two I have just named look like genuine franchise changers compared to the other guys at this point. If one of these falls into Boston’s hands it would likely be because of lottery luck or Brooklyn just being really bad. This sort of scorched earth tactic may be controversial but they would appreciate it in the long term.
The second negative of tanking for Brooklyn is that they only have one young player to build around and that is Randae Hollis Jefferson. I wrote about his talents a couple of weeks ago for the Lottery Mafia and although I am high on him, he isn’t a very good scorer. It’s extremely difficult to build around a player who cannot score the basketball.
If they were to trade Lopez and Thaddeus Young they would probably get some players back in return, but they already have good players and in the modern NBA teams simply won’t want to give up their draft picks. To look at it logically, the Nets would likely get a pick in the region of 20-30 for Brook Lopez’ services, this isn’t exactly a great pick and they would lose so many games without his scoring and distributing ability.
Thaddeus Young makes slightly more sense as a trade candidate as he is relatively inconsistent, especially with his jump shooting stroke which is registering at a 43 percent number this season. Teams such as the Clippers, the Heat and the Cavaliers would likely want to have a look at Young but if they wanted him they would have to give up a first round pick as of course he is the Nets best player and he wouldn’t be a simple ‘rental’ player due to the fact he is on a long term deal. When analysing the situation, trading Young then allowing Chris McCullough to flourish as a starter makes a great deal of sense. They would have to wait a bit because teams do become quite desperate around the trade deadline.
Joe Johnson is of course one trade candidate for this team, Johnson has been one of the most consistent players in the League in recent years but his numbers have taken a dip this season. He is shooting a career worst from the field and he has dropped from a 60 percent shooter from 3-10 feet to a 40 percent shooter.
One thing the Nets can use to their advantage in the ‘desperation’ that often comes around at the trade deadline. If a team like the Clippers, the Rockets or the Heat are in need of scoring and floor spacing as they move towards the playoffs then they would most likely give up a first rounder to acquire Joe Johnson for four months. Although his numbers have dropped significantly, he still has talent and there is of course a lot of context to his dropping numbers such as having no help in the back court.
The team can definitely trade someone as long as that person is not Brook Lopez, he is such a good player and it makes no sense to trade him. Making this move would signal tanking and this is bad because it would give Boston a high chance at getting Ben Simmons who is the best talent since Anthony Davis according to many. They should be competitive, try to develop an offensive system and look to build around Randae Hollis Jefferson and Brook Lopez.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
