The most constant quality of the Brooklyn Nets is that they’re always uncertain in their future, their roster composition and even their identity. For most NBA teams, you can predict mostly who will be on the team next season when the previous one is over. However, for the Nets, you cannot, at least you haven’t been able to since the team moved from New Jersey: it has been consistent in its change, which can be confusing to most.
But, for those who have watched, written about and covered the Nets for years at this point, like myself, we have started to expect the unexpected. That’s why, even though Deron Williams–whose lucrative contract could end after this upcoming campaign–and Joe Johnson–whose deal is certain to expire following the 2015-16 season–should be suiting up as Nets next year and in the following ones, maybe, I think Brooklyn should look to rebuild the backcourt now through the draft.
I expect the Nets to try their darndest to rid themselves of the ugly albatrosses that are Deron and Joe’s contracts, even at a loss, this offseason, and if not this summer, possibly even during the regular season. If they do this, though, they’d be left with just Jarrett Jack, Bojan Bogdanovic, Markel Brown and–most likely–Alan Anderson (player option) at the guard positions. There are nice pieces there, but not nearly enough to compete with even in the weak East.
That leaves June’s draft as the Nets’ chance to pick up some much-needed guard reinforcements. Of course, this is complicated by the pick swap that gave the Hawks Brooklyn’s No. 15 overall pick in exchange for Atlanta’s No. 29 selection. That significantly limits the Nets’ flexibility and takes them out of the running for higher-tier guards such as Tyus Jones, Devin Booker and Cam Payne, to name a few.
However, even at the tail-end of the first round and the middle of the second round, guys like Utah’s Delon Wright and Louisville’s Terry Rozier should be available. Both were highly productive in college and would provide nice size and athleticism in the backcourt that–should they develop properly–could serve as useful replacements for Brooklyn’s currently aging core.
The free agent market, at least for this offseason, is a little thin at the point and shooting guard position and the Nets just don’t have the assets needed to engineer a huge trade for a franchise 1 or 2. They mortgaged their future with the Celtics trade, which takes them out of the running for similar blockbusters in the near future.
But, if there is anything Billy King has proven to do well in his tenure with the Nets, it’s extracting solid value out of the latter portions of the first and second rounds, be that by drafting, through trades or via the purchasing of picks. In an offseason which will see his job viability examined more than even, King has to do that at Barclays in a few weeks if he wants another shot at turning this organization around sooner rather than later.
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