Bruce Brown signs Two Yrs/ $13M with Denver

[vincecarter4pres]

I don't see how O'Neal over Brown was worth losing that pick?

[ecuhus1981]

I don't have a sense of our direction as a franchise.

Seriously. Like... even if we get a really, really good haul of players & picks, it still has to fit in to some kind of overall plan, mais non?

What the fluff is our plan here, anyway?

So far it sounds like Tsai's been a really good owner at not interjecting himself needlessly, but I can totally understand him having enough of KI&KD's nonsense, at long last. Because based on the latest news, it sounds like that was kinda the final straw?

The next part is a deep longshot, but bear with me--
Me, I'm that kind of weirdo who feels like I've learned more from my mistakes than my easy successes across the game of life. If I'm Sean Marks, I'm calling Kenny Atkinson, apologising once *again* for making a terrible move(s), and asking him for recommendations about a HC. I would eat total, TOTAL crow in that phone call, and whenever Kenny said 'you did this wrong' or 'I was really unhappy about this,' I would find a way to understand his meaning, even if I didn't completely agree.

I'll share a basic life-hack with you, homies--
The above is a shockingly easy way to disarm people, because at heart, most people, especially hard-working people, really just want to be heard, recognised and understood. Not saying I'd want Marks to 'trick' Kenny, but when you're wrong, you're wrong. Marks was completely wrong about KD&KI, and Kenny did not deserve to be treated like that IMO. Right?

Then, after much back-and-forth over days & maybe weeks (again this is a deep longshot!), I would say (as Marks), "I understand your trust in me is in the gutter, but if you *hypothetically* were willing to come back here as HC, you would have complete autonomy to continue your rebuild. Your contract would be completely-guaranteed, you leave whenever you want (we pay the bill), and you now have some GM powers."

Just a fantasy of course, but in particularly it's such a middle-finger *FU* to Kyrie & Durant, wiping them away from Nets' history in direct proportion to how little they really mattered, in the end.

So in that scenario we get right back to our healthy rebuild, with Kenny (or even a near-Kenny), and cast aside the last three years of total nonsense.

I have always liked the "exit interview" strategy.

As you say, most folks aren't going to harbor so much ill will that the would purposely give bad advice to their former employer. I don't know that I would re-hire Kenny, but he's clearly very respected throughout the league.

My theory is that we go after Coach K, with Quin Snyder as his associate head coach / "coach-elect". It feels less necessary without a superstar roster, but I still would like the direction.

[ecuhus1981]

I don't see how O'Neal over Brown was worth losing that pick?

Yeah, I thought it was a pre-move because the Nets knew he was gonna get a major bag from someone.

But now we find out he signed for $6mil per, and we didn't even offer him?! Bembry vibes all over again.

[SeanieWard]

I'm disappointed Nets didn't resign him. There were times last year he was the 2nd most impactful player on the floor when Kyrie was out. He energy and effort will be missed in Brooklyn. He played with that "Brooklyn grit". Royce is a better shooter and provides more height/size but I thought there was room for both players on this roster and if I had to pick one I'd choose Brown, especially when one costed us another 1st round pick

[NyCeEvO]

I guess the FO thinks Royce O'Neal >> Brown + 1st?

Or Bruce wanted a more stable situation.

This is disgraceful and embarrassing

Read on Twitter

I’d need to know more info before I judge the situation.

Did he only say that they didn’t make an offer or did he say they never spoke to him?

If it’s that they merely didn’t make an offer, they could’ve told his reps to stay in touch after free agency begins and let them know if any offers come in to see if they would match. If they didn’t know KD was going to request a trade just before the start of free agency, I could see them scrambling internally once they found out. Trying to figure how to deal with KD immediately becomes the most important franchise objective.

I could easily see a situation where Brown’s reps call the Nets to inform them of Denver’s offer and the Nets decide simply decide against matching or beating Denver’s offer considering that they frankly have larger fish to fry at the moment. If the Nets weren’t at least going to match Denver’s offer, it doesn’t make sense to make one. Thus, the Nets could’ve been in touch with him, but just didn’t make an offer or weren’t willing to haggle over Brown.

Of course, this theory would mean absolutely nothing if it turns out that they never even spoke to him. I hope that they at least spoke to Brown out of respect for him and what he’s done for the franchise. But again, I’ve long felt that he was overrated by our fanbase, so I personally am not that upset about losing him (as long as he’s replaced with either a better overall player or a younger player with higher upside.

[TheNetsFan]

Brooklyn could have also said they need to sort out the return on KD and Kyrie before committing to Brown. If he's going to wind up buried, it doesn't make sense for either party.

[MrDollarBills]

O'Neale is a better shooter than Bruce.

I love the guy, but the playoffs have made it clear that having non shooters on the wing just makes it easier for teams to defend you.

Also, with Simmons here, it makes Bruce redundant.

[ecuhus1981]

O'Neale is a better shooter than Bruce.

I love the guy, but the playoffs have made it clear that having non shooters on the wing just makes it easier for teams to defend you.

Also, with Simmons here, it makes Bruce redundant.

Historically, yes, O'Neale is a much better shooter. However, Bruce may have finally turned the corner as a spot-up guy. Brown shot 40% from 3 last season, on 1.3 attempts per game. Not an enormous sample size, but a BIG improvement from the past. At 25yo it's conceivable that he can maintain that efficiency. For context, Royce shot 39% on 4 attempts per game.

It did not have to come down to either/or, I wish we'd have kept Bruce. No matter the roster fallout, he's a guy that can contribute to winning.

[MrDollarBills]

O'Neale is a better shooter than Bruce.

I love the guy, but the playoffs have made it clear that having non shooters on the wing just makes it easier for teams to defend you.

Also, with Simmons here, it makes Bruce redundant.

Historically, yes, O'Neale is a much better shooter. However, Bruce may have finally turned the corner as a spot-up guy. Brown shot 40% from 3 last season, on 1.3 attempts per game. Not an enormous sample size, but a BIG improvement from the past. At 25yo it's conceivable that he can maintain that efficiency. For context, Royce shot 39% on 4 attempts per game.

It did not have to come down to either/or, I wish we'd have kept Bruce. No matter the roster fallout, he's a guy that can contribute to winning.

If I had a say in it i wouldn't have let Bruce go. But I understand the why behind it.

I hope Bruce continues to thrive, but we can't have defenders daring our guys to shoot when our primary ball handler is a non shooter.

[therealbig3]

I support Bruce as a person. He was a good “soldier” for the team. I wish him all the best and hope he does well in Denver. IIRC, he’ll be joining Jeff Green (who we should’ve retained).

With that said, I’ve always felt like he was overrated by our fanbase. Many players can do what he provides. Now it’s up to Marks to acquire one of those players.

He has a really uncanny sense of knowing when to cut and make himself available at just the right time, which a lot of players don't have actually. He's a hard-nosed defender, but a little undersized. Clearly was working on his 3-ball and got a lot better at that.

He's a very good role player imo. Gave us way more than Patty Mills did by the end of the season. Really surprised we brought back Mills actually. He's super replaceable by Curry and Harris, who are both a lot better than him.

[sashaturiaf]

I support Bruce as a person. He was a good “soldier” for the team. I wish him all the best and hope he does well in Denver. IIRC, he’ll be joining Jeff Green (who we should’ve retained).

With that said, I’ve always felt like he was overrated by our fanbase. Many players can do what he provides. Now it’s up to Marks to acquire one of those players.

He has a really uncanny sense of knowing when to cut and make himself available at just the right time, which a lot of players don't have actually. He's a hard-nosed defender, but a little undersized. Clearly was working on his 3-ball and got a lot better at that.

He's a very good role player imo. Gave us way more than Patty Mills did by the end of the season. Really surprised we brought back Mills actually. He's super replaceable by Curry and Harris, who are both a lot better than him.

Patty is back because
1. He's the Ben whisperer
2. He's a big team culture guy and superb leader
3. You can never have enough shooting

On the other hand. I think we chose not to bring Bruce back because he's just one non shooter too many for this team. Also theres the fact he was so good as a faux Draymond 4 vs 3 guy on offense, and that role might not exist without KD here.

[Rastas]

I support Bruce as a person. He was a good “soldier” for the team. I wish him all the best and hope he does well in Denver. IIRC, he’ll be joining Jeff Green (who we should’ve retained).

With that said, I’ve always felt like he was overrated by our fanbase. Many players can do what he provides. Now it’s up to Marks to acquire one of those players.

He has a really uncanny sense of knowing when to cut and make himself available at just the right time, which a lot of players don't have actually. He's a hard-nosed defender, but a little undersized. Clearly was working on his 3-ball and got a lot better at that.

He's a very good role player imo. Gave us way more than Patty Mills did by the end of the season. Really surprised we brought back Mills actually. He's super replaceable by Curry and Harris, who are both a lot better than him.

Patty is back because
1. He's the Ben whisperer
2. He's a big team culture guy and superb leader
3. You can never have enough shooting

On the other hand. I think we chose not to bring Bruce back because he's just one non shooter too many for this team. Also theres the fact he was so good as a faux Draymond 4 vs 3 guy on offense, and that role might not exist without KD here.

Also add in Patty logged in the most court time minutes of any Net's player last year.
Durability and Availability is still a thing.
Also explains why his performances dropped off later in the season - dude was asked to do way too much last season for a 33yo , best used as offensive spark plug off the bench.