Offseason Grades - Brooklyn Nets

[bondom34]

Up next in the Atlantic Division (with a new addition to the team and another guest poster) the Nets.

Prokorov's Grade:

Brooklyn Nets transactions

Front Office
-Lost Ime Udoka to the Celtics; Mike D'antoni to New Orleans
-Added Steve Clifford, Brian Keefe, David Vanderpool as assistant coaches

Draft
Drafted Cameron Thomas at #27.
Drafted Dayron Sharpe at #29 (acquired from Phoenix).
Drafted Kessler Edwards at #44.
Drafted Marcus Zegarowski at #49.
Drafted RaiQuan Grey at #59.

Trades
Traded Landry Shamet for Jevon Carter and pick #29.
Traded Spencer Dinwiddie (S&T) and Nikolai Milutinov for two 2nd round picks in 2024 and a TPE in a 5-team deal.

Free agency
Extended Kevin Durant, 4/$194M.
Re-signed Blake Griffin, 1/min.
Bruce Brown accepted QO, 1/$4.7M.
Signed James Johnson, 1/min.
Signed DeAndre Bembry, 1/$2M.
Signed Patty Mills, 2/$12M.

Offseason Thoughts
The Nets had 2 absolute "Musts" this offseason. The first was retaining Blake Griffin. The second was inking all of the Big to extensions (Marks has said publicly he expects this done by training camp). Losing Jeff Green wasn't ideal, but beyond that they basically returned their entire core to help optimize this window and if/when the extension happen keep the window open as long as possible.

Griffin gives the Nets a legit center option who can stretch the floor and provides solid D, switchability and makes up with charges what he lacks in blocks. Without him the Nets rely on Claxton who is weak on O and doesnt stretch the floor or Deandre who has a myriad of problems on both ends.

I thought the Carter/Bembry/J.Johnson aquisitions were important and calculated. Marks added a bit of defense and alot of toughness. The Nets now have a role defender 1 through 5. something they lacked last year. Marks also low-key forced Nash's hand (Nash basically refused to play non-shooters). Marks stacked the deck with Defense first role guys. When Nash was forced to play bruce browm it generally went well.

The Nets lost alot of games last year because of stars missing games and teams running us off the floor on nights we couldnt be bothered (vs. subpar/bad opponents). The Mills addition and cast of new role guys should help their in the regular season. Mills is great insurance when harden or kyrie miss a game to step into a scoring role. and the Carter/Bembry/Brown/Johnson/Claxton unit can have some resistanc eon nights when the big 3 dont want to try on D.

It all still comes down to health and avoiding reliance on Nash having to making critical coaching decisions or adjust in game. But I think the Nets are better balanced this year with more role defenders and Mills. Last year outside of the big 3 it was just shooters/finishers. they missed dinwiddie at times. Mills adds another guy who can get his own bucket.

The assistant coaching changes may matter. typically they dont, but nash is still green and in-game coaching is not his strong suit.


Grade
B-

2022 Prediction
Contend for a ring/strong finals push. Health will matter again.

Offseason in gif form


Mamba4Goat's Grade

Brooklyn Nets transactions

Front Office
None.

Draft
Drafted Cameron Thomas at #27.
Drafted Dayron Sharpe at #29 (acquired from Phoenix).
Drafted Kessler Edwards at #44.
Drafted Marcus Zegarowski at #49.
Drafted RaiQuan Grey at #59.

Trades
Traded Landry Shamet for Jevon Carter and pick #29.
Traded Spencer Dinwiddie (S&T) and Nikolai Milutinov for two 2nd round picks in 2024 and a TPE in a 5-team deal.

Free agency
Extended Kevin Durant, 4/$194M.
Re-signed Blake Griffin, 1/min.
Bruce Brown accepted QO, 1/$4.7M.
Signed James Johnson, 1/min.
Signed DeAndre Bembry, 1/$2M.
Signed Patty Mills, 2/$12M.
Offseason Thoughts
Honestly, I forgot that they got a TPE from Dinwiddie's sign and trade and it changes a lot of things for me, including me thinking that it would be silly for them to buy out Deandre Jordan (their only large-ish salary ballast. Lots of national media folks were fixated on Jeff Green leaving being a major loss for them but James Johnson isn't too far off from him and may go a little under the radar as a signing.

The Patty Mills signing was a home run, the draft was a home run, getting a first and a useful spot roleplayer for Shamet was a homerun, and getting a bunch of wing defenders is always a great idea. I don't think I have any qualms with their offseason.


Grade
A, I can't really think of much that I would change. An all-in move for their TPE and small pool of picks (plus a youngster in a second concurrent trade wouldn't hurt but that would be icing on the cake and be greedy.

2022 Prediction
Let's say 60-22, 2nd or 3rd in the East. I would wager that their stars see a good bit of rest/missed time and that they're fine without them. If everyone (well, just KD, Harden, and Kyrie) played all 82 games and health/rest weren't a factor I would push for 70 wins though.

Offseason in gif form


K_Chile22's Grade


Brooklyn Nets transactions

Front Office
None.

Draft
Drafted Cameron Thomas at #27.
Drafted Dayron Sharpe at #29 (acquired from Phoenix).
Drafted Kessler Edwards at #44.
Drafted Marcus Zegarowski at #49.
Drafted RaiQuan Grey at #59.

Trades
Traded Landry Shamet for Jevon Carter and pick #29.
Traded Spencer Dinwiddie (S&T) and Nikolai Milutinov for two 2nd round picks in 2024 and a TPE in a 5-team deal.

Free agency
Extended Kevin Durant, 4/$194M.
Re-signed Blake Griffin, 1/min.
Bruce Brown accepted QO, 1/$4.7M.
Signed James Johnson, 1/min.
Signed DeAndre Bembry, 1/$2M.
Signed Patty Mills, 2/$12M.

Offseason Thoughts:
Hit on about everything in FA. KD extension is huge, keeping Blake is good, Patty Mills is a big get and while I never thought he wouldn't be back, keeping Bruce Brown is nice. Wish they could have kept Jeff Green but they got much better value with their MLE in Mills.
I'm pretty surprised they were able to get a first, even if it is 29, for Shamet and did well to get some assets along with the TPE for Dinwiddie. Think they overall did well to grab Cam Thomas and Edwards, not a fan of Sharpe but hey, I didn't think they gave up even value for with 29 to get him in the first place.


Grade:
A. Don't have anything to harp on, all the big stuff was great. If the other two starts do sign extensions then this is an A+

2022 Prediction:
1st seed in the east. Mills gives them way more help if one of their creators go down than they did before.

Offseason in gif form


Prokorov's Grade


bondom34's Grade
Brooklyn Nets transactions

Front Office
None.

Draft
Drafted Cameron Thomas at #27.
Drafted Dayron Sharpe at #29 (acquired from Phoenix).
Drafted Kessler Edwards at #44.
Drafted Marcus Zegarowski at #49.
Drafted RaiQuan Grey at #59.

Trades
Traded Landry Shamet for Jevon Carter and pick #29.
Traded Spencer Dinwiddie (S&T) and Nikolai Milutinov for two 2nd round picks in 2024 and a TPE in a 5-team deal.

Free agency
Extended Kevin Durant, 4/$194M.
Re-signed Blake Griffin, 1/min.
Bruce Brown accepted QO, 1/$4.7M.
Signed James Johnson, 1/min.
Signed DeAndre Bembry, 1/$2M.
Signed Patty Mills, 2/$12M.
Offseason Thoughts
The Nets for the most part had a pretty straightforward offseason to do list and hit most of it within reason.

Getting a minor asset in the TPE for Dinwiddie is a plus, and the Shamet for Carter trade was a win for them to me. I wasn't a big Cam Thomas guy in the draft but getting a young big like Sharpe made some sense and grabbing a couple guys in the 2nd round didn't hurt either.

Free agency wise the only (minor) complaints if you even want to call them that are not getting Jeff Green back and not really doing as well as some on the vet min guys, but again both are really minor things to say. Griffin played well for them and getting him back was a good call and Mills was about the best reasonable target they could hope for so that was definitely a plus. I'm assuming Harden/Irving extensions are coming up as well, but seems they also have started to lay groundwork for the 3 stars to remain on the team.

Overall just an offseason for a team favored to win the title next year where they could have run it back and made some minor tweaks that were good on the margins.

Grade
A-
2022 Prediction
1st seed in the east.
Offseason in gif form

[eminence]

They had a good offseason, but I don't think I could go up to A when Mills is the only move worth noting for this season imo.

[K_chile22]

They had a good offseason, but I don't think I could go up to A when Mills is the only move worth noting for this season imo.

Not sure where the opportunity was to do better, given the opportunities they had, I thought they killed it

[eminence]

They had a good offseason, but I don't think I could go up to A when Mills is the only move worth noting for this season imo.

Not sure where the opportunity was to do better, given the opportunities they had, I thought they killed it

Might just be a difference in grading philosophy.

Personally I'm not all that high on the direction they took with their draft either. Would've looked to use picks to get ready to play vets or move off Jordan if that's what they want to do rather than add some rookie that won't do anything this season.

[ecuhus1981]

Great work, guys!

I agree, it's difficult to expect a better offseason, given their financial restraints and limited movable assets. I've come around on Cameron Thomas, I'm still not certain if Day'Ron can become the stretch 5 that we envision, and I don't know where the other draftees belong. That's before we talk about the guy I was most excited to see us add, Isaia Cordinier!

Having too many options for the 15-man roster is a good problem, I suppose. I predict 61-21 for 1st in the East, and a title. Go Brooklyn!

[ecuhus1981]

They had a good offseason, but I don't think I could go up to A when Mills is the only move worth noting for this season imo.

Not sure where the opportunity was to do better, given the opportunities they had, I thought they killed it

Might just be a difference in grading philosophy.

Personally I'm not all that high on the direction they took with their draft either. Would've looked to use picks to get ready to play vets or move off Jordan if that's what they want to do rather than add some rookie that won't do anything this season.

I feel you, BUT looking around the league, the guys who could have come in and locked down a rotation spot were not available via trade for our assets.

Shamet for Carter/29 was a masterstroke, but our only other tradeable salary is DJ. We tried attaching a 1st to him for an useful expiring, and there were no takers. I believe that absorbing additional salary with the Dinwiddie TPE *may* get us there, but if not, we'll know that vets like Thaddeus and Tomas were out of our price range.

[BullyKing]

Feels like all of the reviewers picked the perfect gifs

[TheBrooklynKidd]

They had a good offseason, but I don't think I could go up to A when Mills is the only move worth noting for this season imo.

Not sure where the opportunity was to do better, given the opportunities they had, I thought they killed it

Might just be a difference in grading philosophy.

Personally I'm not all that high on the direction they took with their draft either. Would've looked to use picks to get ready to play vets or move off Jordan if that's what they want to do rather than add some rookie that won't do anything this season.

They could’ve used their picks that way but the team will desperately need cheap talent in the coming seasons and Cam Thomas, Dayron Sharpe and Kessler Edwards all have a solid chance to fill that need in a year or 2. I think they had an A+ draft night.

Giving up assets to dump Jordan when they have so few is a short sighted, purely financial decision that doesn’t make sense for a championship or bust team. I’m glad they’re moving towards buying him out instead.

But I agree, I don’t think their off-season deserves an A... yet. But if they can turn the roster spots of Deandre Jordan and Alize Johnson into Millsap and another interesting player, then it’ll creep up into that tier IMO.

[SmartWentCrazy]

KD re-signed; everything else is irrelevant in my eyes and their offseason gets an A.

[K_chile22]

Well the Millsap thing makes their off-season look even better

[HornetJail]

B. Didn't get worse, didn't get better. Still title contenders and the favorites to come out of the East, but would've liked to see more of an emphasis on perimeter defense role players.

[Mamba4Goat]

Paul Millsap makes it an A+

[Mamba4Goat]

A few notes about the signings/rumors today...

Brooklyn is already at 15 players before Millsap/LMA. Deandre Bembry ($750k guaranteed) and Alize Johnson ($0 guaranteed) are the only players on the roster not fully guaranteed. They seem like logical options to waive but Deandre Jordan getting bought out and potentially stretched makes some sense too.

This essentially closes the door on any hopes of TLC being brought back.

It wouldn't be shocking to see Blake Griffin or James Johnson not on the roster at the end of the season if they land both LMA and Millsap.

EDIT: None of this ultimately changes my grade though.

[Texas Chuck]

I'm actually less high on a lot of the individual decisions here. It ultimately doesn't matter if the 3 stars are healthy in the playoffs, but I hate not getting Brown locked up longer. I think Bembry and Johnson offer very little. They have 5 or 6 roster spots tied up in guys who have no place in a playoff rotation and I would have tried to sign at least one more guy who could soak up a lot of RS minutes to get the stars to the playoffs healthier. I think their coaching staff is a lot weaker behind their inexperienced head coach.

Now they also locked up KD. Milsap will really help. If they get away with carrying the rookies, that's a potential source of help down the road.

But if we are grading them not on how good they already were, but by the decisions they made towards winning a title this year which is what really matters, hard for me to give them more than a C at best.

[eminence]

Not sure where the opportunity was to do better, given the opportunities they had, I thought they killed it

Might just be a difference in grading philosophy.

Personally I'm not all that high on the direction they took with their draft either. Would've looked to use picks to get ready to play vets or move off Jordan if that's what they want to do rather than add some rookie that won't do anything this season.

I feel you, BUT looking around the league, the guys who could have come in and locked down a rotation spot were not available via trade for our assets.

Shamet for Carter/29 was a masterstroke, but our only other tradeable salary is DJ. We tried attaching a 1st to him for an useful expiring, and there were no takers. I believe that absorbing additional salary with the Dinwiddie TPE *may* get us there, but if not, we'll know that vets like Thaddeus and Tomas were out of our price range.

Agreed on Shamet for Carter/29, great deal.

But yeah, just a difference in philosophy, the Nets had an A+ when they signed Kyrie/KD, the Lakers when they signed LeBron, Warriors when they signed KD. If your headliner is Mills it's B territory for me.

I'm not sure I'd actually be all that interested in LMA at this point for them.

[Dadouv47]

A for me. Just don't see what they could have done better with their limited financial restrictions. Durant extension + good role players in Patty Mills/Millsap (probably LMA soon) is pretty good

[Prokorov]

I submitted this prior to 2 moves today. so I will ammend:

Nets reportedly sign Millsap/LMA (replacing id assume Alize Johnson and DJ in some kind of salary dump/buyout).

Milsap fills the last real need for the team... a stretch 4 behind KD. Green did it last year. Between Green and Johnson the team adequately replaced jeff green. it also gives the nets more depth on offense in the event 2 stars go down like last years playoffs. (i'd rather milsap there then bruce brown the last 2 possesions of game 3).

I think milsap will play a small role, but can gain 20ish starts when blake or KD sit to back -2-backs, maintenance, and injury. beyond that he is scrapping with james johnson for 12-14 mpg and i like Johnson alot better for those minutes.

LMA (still yet to happen but seems likely) to me isnt an upgrade and i think it causes more problems then it solves. Nash already went to far all-in with 5 shooters at all times last year and it cost us some games. it will give nash a chance to play Blake/LMA at the 4/5 which is an awful idea. it will reduce claxton to DNP/CD and he is our best defender. it removes the only true rim runner on the team in DJ.

I think id rather have DJ here, almost never play, but have that rimmer runner in my pocket instead of having LMA here, reducing claxtons role, and foricng blake into some PF minutes.

[Prokorov]

They had a good offseason, but I don't think I could go up to A when Mills is the only move worth noting for this season imo.

Given the roster going into the offseason, i thought the combo of carter/bembry/johnson was 10 times bigger then mills. mills is great. especially to supplement harden/kyrie missing time. but the nets needed toughness and they need smalls who could defend as role guys. they had 0 there. now they have quite a bit

[Prokorov]

Feels like all of the reviewers picked the perfect gifs

i think it actually a fail no one used this, including my review

[Prokorov]

Well the Millsap thing makes their off-season look even better

Milsap is a big name. but he will have a smaller role then carter/bembry/johnson IMO.