Since the Nets were bounced from the NBA playoffs last week by the Atlanta Hawks in six games, most of the talk surrounding the team has been centered on its two marquee possible free agents: Brook Lopez and Thaddeus Young. Lopez has a $16.7 million player option for the 2015-16 season while Young has an almost $10 million early termination option. If Lopez doesn’t exercise his option, he’ll hit the open market, as will Young if he does in fact exercise his.
Right now, it’s very up-in-the-air as to what the big men in their mid-20s will do, but Nets general manager Billy King–at a press conference on Wednesday–said it’s a major priority for Brooklyn to keep both of them, even as possible lucrative free agent offers await.
King, from ESPNNewYork’s Mike Mazzeo: “Internally, the next big step is to keep Brook and Thaddeus here,” King said at his annual end-of-the-season news conference. “They both have shown indications they want to be here in their exit interviews, and we want them here, so it’s incumbent on us to get that done.”
Now, those are just words said way before the free agency period starts, but it does say something that a general manager would put himself so far out there with his and his fellow front office executives’ true feelings about two players who are obviously very important pieces for the Nets. Will King’s remarks shift Brook’s or Thaddeus’ decisions? Probably not.
However, they do indicate he is willing to do basically whatever it takes to bring those guys back, as the Nets–as currently constructed–would have a woefully inept frontcourt that would not equate to a playoff team, even in the weak Eastern Conference. With each of them finishing the season strong–inconsistencies in the postseason aside–their individual values are about as high as they can be. That makes King’s job that much harder.
Since he essentially announced to the public just how hard his front office is going to try to re-sign both Brook and Thad, the leverage balanced is tilted in the players’ favor, which, considering how the Nets have the Bird Rights for each of them, will likely lead to significant pay bumps. That is assuming Brooklyn is able to bring them back into the fold with either long-term deals or the more probably short-term contracts, which would expire before the CBA expires next offseason, an occurrence that is expected to increase the salary cup and, consequently, player values.
But will Lopez leave the team that drafted him for a max deal elsewhere? Will Thad, who has said along with his wife that he likes the New York area and the Nets organization, play for his fourth team in the last two calendar years? In my opinion, the answer to both of those questions is no. I find it hard to believe the Nets won’t match offers they’ll receive on the open market, especially considering the impending CBA shift that is going to be on the forefront of every marquee free agent’s mind as they sign with teams this summer.
On the other hand, it’s not crazy to think a guy like Brook gets a five-year, $100 million deal from a team like the Pistons–note: There is nothing indicating the Pistons have interest, just using them as a template–that the Nets, knowing his injury history, would be reluctant to match and the same goes for Thad. Also, this is assuming either guy even opts out of their current contracts that, as of now, have them with the Nets until next summer.
So, Nets fans, don’t get all wrapped up in the possibility that Brook and Thad are gone by the time the 2015-16 season starts. There’s a decent chance it happens, but it’s just a chance and not a super-likely one at that. On the bright side, if they are indeed gone, Brooklyn might have the league’s most cap room after this upcoming campaign. Silver livings, as always.
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