Looking ahead (Post draft thread)

[Keith Van Horn]

If there's anything to remember as a Nets fan, know this -- whatever you think is best for the team, and then becomes a collective agreement, it won't happen

- Collect a ton of assets to trade for a big time player?
- Collect a ton of picks this season to trade up in the draft?
- Make a power play for Ace Bailey, a potential franchise player who has leads to wanting to play for you?
- Trade CJ or Clax for more future capital / rookies?

Yet here we are with this reality:
- Trade to get your pick back in 2025, getting all fans psyched... thinking your landing a top 1-3 pick, only to overachieve all year, get boned by the lottery, and then reach on a guy who probably could have been picked at 12 or 13.

BUT I WILL REMAIN OPTIMISTIC

I'll say this -- to everyone (especially 90% of Nets Twitter) who wanted to create a homegrown, organic, through the draft type team -- you have to be happy with this outcome... right??

[Keith Van Horn]

With that said

- The more I watch Demin, the more excited I get. I think he can be perfect for what this team needs. I hope he has a high ceiling.
- Traore... wasn't he originally projected to be an early lotto pick? Another guy with high upside but I don't know much about him.
- Powell, Saraf, and Wolf -- I'll be honest and say I don't know much about them either

Very, very young. We are going to be extremely bad this upcoming year, probably bottom 3-4 in the East that's devastated with uncertainty and injury. I can see someone like the Magic making a big time run.

And we need to see how the rest of our capspace is going to be used, and who we are going to sign. The biggest thing coming up next is what about Cam Thomas.

I do think we need to get a veteran PG in here to kind of lead the flock a bit, to provide for some stability and leadership. And in that regard, I don't hate keeping CJ to provide for that.

What do we think the depth chart looks like now?

[drchaos]

As bad as we were last year we won a fair number of games.

Most of our losses came without a healthy point guard.

By adding six rookies it would seem that we will jettison some of the players that got starting minutes last year with nothing to show for it.

To the extent that we are winning games this year prior to the trade deadline we need to approach apron teams with good (not great but definitely cheap) players that can be swapped for more expensive players and / or future picks.

Unless we find a way to consolidate some of our assets we will have a great bench and not enough starting talent when we want to compete in 2027.

We saw how this team looked when we added KD and Kyrie to a team that just had a bunch of young players.

Drafting and rostering 5-6 rookies is one thing, keeping all of them until the end of the season is madness.

[wco81]

Drafting and rostering 5-6 rookies is one thing, keeping all of them until the end of the season is madness.

I mean if they are looking to reduce payroll, swapping a lot of vet salaries for rookie salaries is one way to do it.

You'd think the Nets were trying to trade some of those picks but ended up using all of them.


Well if and when there is an expansion draft, Nets can let some of those rookies, who likely aren't going to prove they're keepers, unprotected.

[Stone]

I was one of the people on here that advocated for the organic rebuild. For now I believe it is the right course of action.

On the other hand I think 5 picks is over the top. I heard we are keeping Ben Saraf overseas.

There is still cap space and roster spots available.There has to be some moves to be made.

[TheNetsFan]

So many pundits are bashing the draft primarily asking who is going to score. I think they're missing the boat. It's clear we're going for the Indiana and OKC model. Positional length, multiple players able to create, attack the rim and get out in transition. Sure, there's no 20+ppg scorer in that draft class, but there doesn't have to be. We'll have another high pick next year. We'll have cap space next year. We'll still have lots of picks. We didn't need to draft our star in the first draft. He can come in next years draft, FA or via trade, much the way it did for Indiana and OKC.

[Keith Van Horn]

let's play a roster/lineups game. Obviously this is fluid and can change often, but

Demin / Traore / Whitehead
Thomas / Mann / Saraf
C. Johnson / Wilson / Powell
Clowney / Williams / Wolf
Claxton / Sharpe

Quite a few guys with team options that we need to see if they get picked up.

- Maybe Demin doesn't start... which I actually think might be best bet. Maybe bring in a veteran PG on a 1-year deal to show him the ropes?
- Is the idea to eventually start both Demin and Traore? Aren't they both pass first guys?
- Saraf, overseas stash?
- Powell and Wolf are going to have to earn some minutes, which shouldn't be too hard.
- I think we're going to have a very strong Long Island Nets team

- Are we really building around Cam Thomas too?
Very silly but kinda not joking type question/concern about Cam Thomas... why doesn't he dunk? He's such a shooter and gamesman, but when he drives it's always crazy layups. I want to see him get up on a slash to the rim and throw it down, get the defenses to be nervous about your drives.

Again, was really hoping we would walk away with our stud future franchise guy. Maybe it's Demin?

We have so many "high potential" guys, but we need to get our STUD guy who's going to lead us into the future. I feel let down that we couldn't get it last night with a guy like Bailey.

[Netaman]

let's play a roster/lineups game. Obviously this is fluid and can change often, but

Demin / Traore / Whitehead
Thomas / Mann / Saraf
C. Johnson / Wilson / Powell
Clowney / Williams / Wolf
Claxton / Sharpe

Quite a few guys with team options that we need to see if they get picked up.

- Maybe Demin doesn't start... which I actually think might be best bet. Maybe bring in a veteran PG on a 1-year deal to show him the ropes?
- Is the idea to eventually start both Demin and Traore? Aren't they both pass first guys?
- Saraf, overseas stash?
- Powell and Wolf are going to have to earn some minutes, which shouldn't be too hard.
- I think we're going to have a very strong Long Island Nets team

- Are we really building around Cam Thomas too?
Very silly but kinda not joking type question/concern about Cam Thomas... why doesn't he dunk? He's such a shooter and gamesman, but when he drives it's always crazy layups. I want to see him get up on a slash to the rim and throw it down, get the defenses to be nervous about your drives.

Again, was really hoping we would walk away with our stud future franchise guy. Maybe it's Demin?

We have so many "high potential" guys, but we need to get our STUD guy who's going to lead us into the future. I feel let down that we couldn't get it last night with a guy like Bailey.

a few things.

1. the Nets current salaries total $99m with 15 players not counting CamT or Sharpe tender offers. The minimum amount needed to be compliant in salaries is $126m, so if they bring back those 2 guys and dump Martin/Timme to two ways, they can get there. that said, it would not surprise me if they swapped for mann for a bigger AAV (but similar amount) of total money but shorter contract.

2. PG is going to be fascinating. I think both Saraf and Traore will be competing for backup PG/G-league. I'd be surprised if either is the starting PG, would also be a little surprised if Demin was the starting PG right away. I expect Keon to be sort of a 6th man backing up both guard spots, but it's possible they add a vet PG.

At this point I don't think they are moving CamJ or Clax, I think those are possible deadline moves, so I see the rotation like this:

3 clear starters from Clax, CamJ, CamT.
Demin likely to compete/get another starting spot, but it could be off ball in a slow-mo type role or in a Giddey PG type role.
5th starter I see as a competition between Wilson, Clowney, Traore, Saraf, Whitehead, Keon, Wolf, with most likely being bench players.

Powell and 1 of the PG's will likely be in G-League.

[Papi_swav]

I think we go into the season with this squad. We re sign CamT and Sharpe, we let them test the market first because there are not much teams out there with cap space so we resign them to reasonable deals. I think we need a wing player or 2 to balance it out, maybe we bring Z williams back. We needed ball handling and playmaking in the worst way, when Schroder left we became trash, and now we drafted several ball handlers. Cam T will be our main scorer and mostly all the other players can pass well so I expect us to take after that OKC/ Indy model of using alot of ball movement and players moving off the ball. I think we go into the season with Claxton and CamJ and maybe some team gives us a deal we can't refuse at the deadline. We should be really fun to watch, even if we're bad next years draft class also has star potential guys like Debantsa and maybe we trade for a legit star like Giannis etc..

[ArksNetsSince99]

With that said

- The more I watch Demin, the more excited I get. I think he can be perfect for what this team needs. I hope he has a high ceiling.
- Traore... wasn't he originally projected to be an early lotto pick? Another guy with high upside but I don't know much about him.
- Powell, Saraf, and Wolf -- I'll be honest and say I don't know much about them either

Very, very young. We are going to be extremely bad this upcoming year, probably bottom 3-4 in the East that's devastated with uncertainty and injury. I can see someone like the Magic making a big time run.

And we need to see how the rest of our capspace is going to be used, and who we are going to sign. The biggest thing coming up next is what about Cam Thomas.

I do think we need to get a veteran PG in here to kind of lead the flock a bit, to provide for some stability and leadership. And in that regard, I don't hate keeping CJ to provide for that.

What do we think the depth chart looks like now?

I’m not sure what gets you excited about Demin , this guy will be out of the league by the time he earns his second contract , Ben Simmons lite with great passing skills and court vision but nothing else , he will bust faster than most people imagine

Traore have high upside he might earn his second contract

Powell I like the defense , athleticism, high energy guy , it’s an just ok pick

Saraf another posssible bust or third pg kind of player , nothing to be excited about

Now Danny Wolf , remember this name , Bigs with that much skill doesn’t come so often , Clearly best Nets pick not only this draft class but in decades , very similar to Jokic , I’ll go further Jokic at his age was worse player than Danny is now
Will he reach his potential ? We don’t know but he have all the tools to do it

[Netaman]

I think there is a lot of moronic dogpiling on the nets draft strategy, and demin specifically, because both analysts and fans alike are judging the nets draft on some grand expectation of "they had 5 firsts!!!!" ignorant of the reality that 4 of them were #19-27, and obviously the bad luck falling in lotto to #8. Though, as i said in a different thread it would not surprise me if the main guys they would have taken over Demin were just Harper and Kneupel who went 2/4 anyway.

Even though he ended up going 4 a lot of nets fans were complaining about Kon's low upside pre-draft, but that aside if he'd fallen to 8 i think the analyst community would have roundly been praising the Nets draft even with the other 4 picks exactly the same.

Once those consensus top 6-7 were off the board, everyone agrees Demin is best passer in draft, unanimously, and that he has elite length for ball handler. So no need to even discuss those 2 things. Both are advantages over Kasper, who many (myself included) would have had no issue with at pick #8. In highlights Demin looks reasonably active defensively and also has plenty of good tape going to basket.

The big swing skill by almost all accounts is his shooting - and if you look at the shot it looks perfectly fine. In fact in the first 7 games of the season last year before getting hurt against Providence, he shot the 3 ball at 44%. BYU was 6-1 in those 7 games, yes many non-conf, and the 1 loss was to Ole Miss who finished 18th in the country in OT. He hurt his knee against Providence in the next game, and then when he came back about a month later he had his worst shooting month from 3 in January, and got progressively better in February and March.

In the tournment they won 2 games and he shot 6/21 from 3 while going 5/5 from FT line. Was 15/35 overall (43%).

calling him "ben simmons" seems like a non-starter when he was perfectly comfortable hoisting 5 3's per game, including many from nba range. he doesn't need to be come an elite shooter, he just needs to be capable and then all of a sudden his entire profile plays up - back to where his value was perceived early in the season when he was a top 5 pick before he got injured (and played poorly in the return).

demin wasn't my top pick but i had no issues with jaku who was similar in consensus ranks and i just happened to see more live, but after looking deeper at demin i think while they are similar and he may also have the slightly lower floor if the shot doesnt come around, the length alone gives him a much higher upside. didnt we all want upside with this pick? would anyone be feeling that much better just because jaku's 31% from 3 started with a 3? remember he also had Riley next to him, Demin had nobody close to that talented playing with him. jaku's team only won 1 game in the tournament (he had a trip dub in the win) but he also only shot 3/15 from 3 in those 2 games (and 8/24 overall). in the 2 games of his conference tournament he also only shot 2/7 from 3 and 5/16 from the floor.

all of these guys are projections. all of them need to make significant improvements somewhere. ace, fears, maluach included.

[wco81]

Even if all 5 picks merit being on the Nets roster for most of their rookie seasons, how are they going to find minutes for all of them?

Well if the goal is to tank for the top pick, giving rookies a lot of minutes would be one way to do it.

[Netaman]

Even if all 5 picks merit being on the Nets roster for most of their rookie seasons, how are they going to find minutes for all of them?

Well if the goal is to tank for the top pick, giving rookies a lot of minutes would be one way to do it.

think your second sentence sort of nails it. they learned the hard way last year that experienced young guys and too many journeyman vets may actually make it too hard to lose.

in terms of minutes i think demin is likely the only starter and traore/saraf are competing for backup pg minutes with the loser likely going down to G-league. i think powell is in the G-league too unless something really unexpected happens. He's a raw athlete but i expect whitehead and keon johnson to be ahead of him.

wolf i think probably gets 10-15 backup big minutes, maybe more if they dont bring back sharpe. and maybe more at the end of the season if they end up moving claxton.

so id set the over/under at 2.5 for the number of them who actually get into the regular rotation. I feel pretty confident Demin will have a pretty big role and Wolf will have some kind of smaller rotational role (and powell probably no role).

Saraf vs. Traore is the interesting camp battle.

[Eatgreenz]

more people doubting egor im getting more confident he will be a stud

[Keith Van Horn]

Goodbye Cam and hello MPJ. Looks like he'll fill Cam's shoes for the immediate future. That 1st is a nice gamble but it's a long ass time away lol.

[Netaman]

1 positive early observation - I was a fears guy but im pleasantly surprised by Traore's explosiveness to get into the paint, feels like we got a discount version of fears at #19. both need to improve outside shot, traore a bit longer for defense and probably a slightly more advanced playmaker. that pick always felt like the best value given how hyped he was last year and that he was still a lotto contender this year.

the demin outside shooting is the other early positive, he looks confident and it's a good stroke. he needs a lot of physical development because of how thin he appears, but he looks the part of at least an average outside shooter.

[Karate Diop]

1 positive early observation - I was a fears guy but im pleasantly surprised by Traore's explosiveness to get into the paint, feels like we got a discount version of fears at #19. both need to improve outside shot, traore a bit longer for defense and probably a slightly more advanced playmaker. that pick always felt like the best value given how hyped he was last year and that he was still a lotto contender this year.

the demin outside shooting is the other early positive, he looks confident and it's a good stroke. he needs a lot of physical development because of how thin he appears, but he looks the part of at least an average outside shooter.

Traore has some next level speed, it's going to be imperative that he learns that he doesn't need to have his turbo on at all times though or it'll ultimately cap his effectiveness... Love his willingness to go body to body defensively.

[Netaman]

Shifting to some post-Summer league thoughts:

1. Demin shot looks fine. 4/8 yesterday, 4/10 the other day, 2/5 the first game. 10/23 overall and looks good. Defense was good too, his length showed up multiple times getting his hands on balls. His biggest issue appears to just be strength development, needs to get stronger so he can deal with traffic and physical defense better. Can see why they are starting him on the wing. Very interesting project.

2. Traore speed looks great. Also going to be a project, needs to finish and shoot better. But he can get to the paint. Seems like the only on ball guy they got that may stick as "traditional PG".

3. Saraf shot is the ugliest but he too can get into the paint and plays physical, also has length that shows up. interesting pick. should have some fun moments off the bench. Does not look like a point guard to me, looks like Manu but with a little less explosiveness and a broken jump shot.

4. Wolf is the most advanced in some ways but also has the most that needs to change in his game adapting to a viable NBA role. His first game he was a walking turnover. As a stretch big who can pass a little i think there's a kelly olynyk type of role if he can streamline.

overall i think it's clear the PG spot on the roster is the biggest question in terms of basketball. that may have been intentional on the Nets part because had they brought back someone like DLo, this would be a much better team. Possibly even play in level like the Heat/Bulls. If their plan is mostly Traore/Keon on the point, with some Demin mixed in, there are going to be a lot of turnovers when teams turn up the heat in crunch time. Again, that may be the plan in a sort of "soft tank" developmental year.

if CamT resigns, the other 4 starting spots and reserves seem pretty solid. I think MPJ is going to do really well in a role where should get high usage. I'd be surprised if he doesn't set his new career highs in a few stats. I'm less confident Claxton will have a career year but hopefully he has a bounce back. CamT should also be due for a bounceback. If he can just keep the gains he showed last year and stay healthy, it will be a career year and they will have 2 wing scorers over 20 ppg.

Not that he was drafted for this year, but Demin is a very interesting connective piece with those 3, especially if he can spread the floor with his 3 ball. He will be able to find the open scorers and likely run actions getting Claxton looks above the rim too. Sharpe, Clowney, Wilson, Saraf, Wolf, Keon, Ziaire and even Mann should be a much better bench than last year when half the time they were reaching into the G-league. Maybe Powell/Whitehead/Timme too.

so biggest hole is clearly no veteran orchestrator at PG, but that may be by design. or maybe that's a veteran salary dump yet to come. someone like marcus smart has been rumored out there, if you can move off mann's multiple years to a bigger expiring in smart that could make sense but not sure why WAS would do that since they have plenty of luxury tax room. terry rozier and the heat could make more sense for that type of swap because it would get them out of the luxury tax. the downside is that type of move might take nets too close to play in team.

[Decipher]

Haven’t watched any summer league but consensus of commentary from media is that the rookies are pretty raw and we’re a bottom 3 team desperately needing a pg

Have no doubt that Jordi will have us exceeding expectations but we’ll still be pretty bad

[Hello Brooklyn]

Nets are in desperate need of high end talent. The 26 draft is loaded with start level talent. We just need some luck to get a top 3 pick next year and then we can be in business.

If not, we don't have our pick in 27. I think we have to look at making a trade or free agency. We can only be so bad for so long.