As the Nets’ 2015-16 season — in which they are 10-25 — continues to spiral toward resulting in a high lottery pick for the Boston Celtics, the only thing left to do is look forward to the offseason, in which Brooklyn will have significant cap space and abundant roster spots to spend that cap space on.
Yesterday, a trio of rumors floated around the Internet about how the Nets might proceed this summer from a roster perspective, which they may even begin toying with before this season is done.
First off, the New York Post‘s Brian Lewis reported that Toronto Raptors’ star shooting guard DeMar DeRozan is likely to opt out of a player option for next season, which would make him an unrestricted free agent. Furthermore, Lewis says that DeRozan, who the Nets know well from a playoff series in 2014 against Toronto and from the Atlantic Division, is “one of [the Nets’] primary expected targets” in free agency.
DeRozan, 26, is averaging over 22 points per game so far this season on 44 percent shooting from the field. He’s not a great three-point shooter but is an incredible slasher and has a knack for drawing fouls and getting to the free throw line. Lewis does say that his source was non-committal on whether or not DeRozan has ruled out the chance he re-signs with Toronto for a more lucrative deal post-opt out and whether he would even be interested in Brooklyn. But, the Nets definitely have enough money for him and will certainly have a need at shooting guard.
Next, per Sporting News (middle of the article), the Charlotte Hornets have inquired with the Nets’ front office about Bojan Bogdanovic, Brooklyn’s second-year sharpshooter. Bojan hasn’t shot too well this season, posting a .438/.336/.783 slashline that is a across-the-board decline from his rookie campaign, but Charlotte has struggled as of late and needs another perimeter scorer with Nicholas Batum (toe) and Jeremy Lamb (wrist) dealing with injuries.
Bogdanovic is under team control through the end of next season for around $3.5 million per year, so he has a fairly team-friendly contract. But he does have a 15% trade kicker attached to it, so if the Hornets were to trade for him, they’d have to pay him over $4 million annually unless he were to waive it.
The pressing question, though, is what Charlotte would be willing to give up for Bojan and if it would be enough for the Nets to agree to send the promising forward away. It could, potentially, take a first-rounder for the Hornets since Bojan is still young, not a free agent until next summer and has shown a lot of promise.
The last rumor surrounds none other than Joe Johnson, Brooklyn’s aging former All-Star, who has struggled mightily this season in the last year of a max contract that has paid him roughly $25 million annually. In the same Sporting News article as above, there’s a report that the Nets may choose to buy out Joe’s contract after the trade deadline, making him a free agent and available to sign with any team.
This situation may be the least likely of the three for the sole reason that it would be a money-saving move, would probably hurt the Nets on the court even more than they are hurting right now and would help a contending team get a potentially useful veteran for pennies on the dollar.
However, the organization could decide to reward him by giving him (at least) one more chance at the championship that has been elusive to him throughout his career. In his time with the Celtics, Suns, Hawks and Nets, Joe has never advanced further than the Western Conference Finals (with the 2004-5 Suns). Should he be bought out, there would be a host of teams that could benefit from his services.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
