Trader_Joe wrote:TJ's Brooklyn Offseason ReviewKey Losses:While there are 3 key losses from last season, I do think most have been replaced rather adequately. Russell was the price to pay to get Irving and KD, and Irving is a better player than Russell at the moment. Even though I’ve never really appreciated Irving’s game, and while I think Russell is closer to Irving than most think (with room to grow), Irving’s efficiency will be the biggest difference between these two players. Irving has produced with near elite efficiency, while Russell has always been inefficient scoring the ball. I do think Russell is more team oriented and the better passing PG, but I’m eager to see what Atkinson can do with Irving and what Irving can do under Atkinson.
Ed Davis is a big loss. He was the heart and soul of the bench, and our best defender and rebounder. Despite being undersized height and weight-wise, he matched up well with a majority of centers. But, between him and Allen, the Nets were victimized down low by the likes of Embiid, Vucevic, Towns, Lopez, Kanter (now on a division and PO rival), etc. Jordan may not be the player he once was but he is Ed Davis’s age, has the height and weight Davis doesn’t and is a former DPOY. He looks pretty good physically on his vegan diet (Kyrie and W.Chandler are vegans too) and should be motivated to play with these guys.
Carroll was the gift that kept giving. He played well on the court, was a leader off the court, landed us Musa and Kurucs and as well 2 Euro stashes (Aaron White form the Wiz, Nemanja Dangubic from the Spurs). His replacement is viewed as Taurean Prince. Atkinson was there when they drafted him, and the Nets once had him assigned to the LI Nets by the Hawks. They targeted Prince and think he can be a young Carroll. Unless Prince steps up defensively, I can’t see him matching Carroll’s on court contribution and certainly not his off-court leadership.
Losses:RHJ and Dudley are the only other losses of note. Though RHJ was the 3rd string C most the season and Dudley most expected to be bought out. Dudley was a surprise with his IQ and leadership, but I think Chandler can take that role. Claxton and Ellenson take over RHJ’s role.
Draft:31: Nicolas Claxton
Nets supposedly had Claxton much higher on their draft board (they always say they do), but I can see why. Nearly 7 foot, nice handle, nice form, strong finisher and shot blocker. I think he will excite every time he hits the floor, which doesn’t project to be too much. Expect him to see most his time in L.I. and then as a 3rd string Center and PF.
Nets also drafted PG Jaylen Hands who could get the one remaining 2 way spot, but I think he might be off to Europe instead.
Trades:(With Atlanta) Allen Crabbe, #17, 2020 1st (lotto protected 2020-22, else 2 seconds) for Taurean Prince, 2021 2nd
This trade set the tone of the off-season. It was an overpay, but the Nets felt they had to make a move before someone else did. Atlanta was known to be selling cap space and Atkinson has a relationship with his former team (Lin trade last year as well). Nets also liked Prince and did target him. Ultimately it was a trade they had to do, to do what they wanted to do.
(With GSW) D’Angelo Russell S+T, Treveon Graham, Shabazz Napier for Kevin Durant (S+T), 2020 GSW 1st
(top 20 protected, else 2025 2nd)
A surprise move… or was it?
I found it interested that the Sunday afternoon of free agency, after Woj said KD was signing with the Nets, he also said Jordan was signing with them... and then it came out for 4/40 shortly after. (Stein reported their interest a week before) How could they come up with that cap? At first it was reported discounts and bonuses. But in reality, the salary came from the difference between Russell’s lower cap hold and high starting max to match with. In the end KD and Irving got full maxes (I think Kyrie took 500k less as opposed to the several million each reported originally.) Makes me think this was planned out ahead of time. Russell had been very quiet leading up.
I doubt the Warriors are a top 10 team this season, so the pick is likely a way future 2nd, but it’s still kind of funny to get a 1st for Durant. LAC, LAL, Houston paid 10 1st round picks and 5 picks swaps along with some good young players to land their 2nd stars.
(With Washington/SA) Demarre Carroll S+T for Aaron White draft rights and
Nemanja Dangubic from the SpursSure, more minor trade filler for nothing.
(With LAC) #27 for ’20 Philly 1st + #56
A cap clearing move as every penny counted this summer.
Free Agency:Kevin Durant 4 yr $164,255,700
3+ PO Year 1 is a loss, but the hope is KD comes back next season and has a Dominique Wilkins type recovery. Is that too optimistic? Well, found this interesting….
Kobe: Left achilles
Rudy Gay: left achilles
Cousins: Left achilles
Wes Matthews: Left achilles
Elton Brand: Left achilles
Memet Okur: Left achilles
Chauncey Billups: Left achilles
Brandon Jennings: Left achilles
Anderson Varajao: Left achilles
Leonard: Left achilles
All really struggled to come back and weren’t 100%
Wilkins: right achilles, better than pre injury
Durant: right achilles TBD
All the players who had their careers ended were right handed and tore their left achilles. Durant is right handed and tore his right achilles.
But this phenomena isn’t limited to basketball.
Virtually every professional athlete that has come back at 100% from a ruptured achilles has had 1 thing in common: Howie Kendrick, DeMaryius Thomas, Zach Britton, Jason Peters, Derrick Johnson(1st time, 2nd when he ruined his career it was the left), Michael Crabtree, Brent Grimes, Dan Marino, Terrell Suggs, Lawrence Taylor, Vince Wilfork.
Every single one of them tore their RIGHT achilles tendon. I’m not sure if there’s been one single case of someone successfully coming back 100% after tearing their left, whereas there has been significant evidence that tearing the non-dominant Achilles has had negligible impact on performance/career trajectory outside of time missed during rehabilitation. As a matter of fact, almost every single elite athlete that has torn their right achilles while they were still in or near their prime has come back even stronger the following season.
Credit to rbynyc11 on Netsdaily.
There was a lot more he had to say, but I don't want to completely steal his post.
Now I’m not a Dr. and I don’t know his background, but it looks like he did some research or at least he is making me a feel a little bit better.
Also from Net Income (connected mod) at ND:
“Told as well that the rupture was high up on the calf where blood flow is the best, enhancing recovery. Best case scenario I was told.”
Yeah it sucks he ruptured his Achilles, but the Nets had no control over that and were willing to take the risk. KD’s surgeon is the Nets Orthopedist and has already worked on his foot, LeVert, Lopez and several others. Gotta like that dynamic.
Kyrie Irving 4 yr $136,490,600
3+POEasily one of the most polarizing and probably disliked players in the league. And for good reason. He thinks he’s smarter than he is and probably thinks he is better than he is. He’s done little without LBJ on his team and hasn’t exactly been a joy to be around most of his career. But… this is where he wants to be, and it seems he’s had his mind made up for some time. Many players said they knew this for months and even Ainge said that around March he got the impression Kyrie wanted to go back “home” and to the Nets, not the Knicks. Atkinson also has a good track record with PGs and he should fit right in. Was it worth letting Russell go? Yes, because no KD without Kyrie.
DeAndre Jordan 4 yr $39,960,716
Bad contract all around, but it was the cost of doing business. Seems Marks was doing his best to bring guys together that wanted to play together. Jordan, Irving and KD played together on the 2016 Olympic team and you have to thinks things started brewing a while ago. I already touched on what Jordan “can” bring under key losses.
Others:
Wilson Chandler (1/Min)
David Nwaba (2/Min)
(2nd year TO)Garrett Temple 1 yr $4,767,000
(Room Exception, 2nd year TO)
Theo Pinson
(2/Min)Henry Ellenson – 2 way
Deng Adel - Camp invite
Only thing I want to note, was that Kyrie was consulted and supposedly really wanted to play with Temple. Kyrie also tried to recruit Thad Young and Iman Shumpert apparently. Another thing to note, they did the same thing with D.Will (made moves to appease him), please Kyrie, don’t be D.Will 2.0. Seems there are some eerie coincidences here.
My Depth Chart:PG: Kyrie Irving (32) / Spencer Dinwiddie (16) / Theo Pinson (DNP)
SG: Caris LeVert (28) / David Nwaba (10) / Dinwiddie (10) / Dzanan Musa (DNP)
SF: Joe Harris (28) / Garrett Temple (16) / Nwaba (4) / Kevin Durant (inj)
PF: Rodions Kurocs (24) / Taurean Prince (24) / Wilson Chandler (DNP)
C: Jarrett Allen (24) / DeAndre Jordan (24) / Claxton (DNP)
Henry Ellenson – 2W
Deng Adel - Camp invite
Just adding how I see it, and doing a minute distribution.
I think Allen continues to start. Maybe KA alternates starts based upon the match-up, but Allen looked like a man possessed in Summer League (or at least determined to keep his starting job, which he says he wants to keep while Jordan has supposedly told KA he will do whatever helps the team) and Allen looked bigger than last year. I think PF is the real question. Nets had a great record when Kurucs started (28-18). But, he played out on control at times and does not have a reliable shot. Prince adds more shooting, which is key for the Nets offense. I think that is KD’s spot to fill in a year.
Needs:KD back at 80% or greater.
Without him, this team just doesn’t look all that special to me. A solid PO team, but not a true threat without their superstar, if he still is one.
But considering that probably isn’t happening for 1 more year, this team needs continued growth from the youth. We pretty much know what they have with Irving, Harris, and Dinwiddie. LeVert showed flashes and was great in the POs, but we need to see him do that for a full season (meaning he stays healthy), before he’s anointed as the 3rd star. Nets also have to make a decision about his extension (and Prince). One of Kurucs or Prince has to show they can effectively man PF all season, while Allen needs to continue to gain strength and aggression. He can make the highlight blocks, but we need him to be an impact defender throughout.
Trades will be tough this year.
They are not moving KD or Kyrie
Doubt they move Jordan considering the circumstances or his contract.
Dinwiddie was the primary recruiter of Kyrie to Brooklyn from his Harvard class with Kyrie and has been pretty open about it. Doubt they do him like that.
After that though, they are hard pressed to accumulate significant salary in trade outside of Harris and Temple which is all of $12m.
Additional Thoughts:I wonder if the Nets will have the same competitive fire they had last season. Will this be treated as a bridge year while KD is out? They are not in the same league as the Bucks or Sixers, and I don’t necessarily think they will be able to overtake teams like Boston, Indy or Toronto as easily as some Net fans do. There is a lot of turnover as a whole and injury risk with some of these guys. I could easily see this team being a disappointment in the minds of many. But this regime has always preached long-term and bigger picture, so I’m not going to fear the future if things don’t quite go as planned this year, especially because I don’t think things will truly go south.
Projected Win/Loss: 46-36
A small improvement over last year (42 to 46), but there was something special about last year’s team. The sum was greater than the whole of the parts in large part from their camaraderie. (Though I am hearing Dinwiddie and Russell never really got along, Dinwiddie did openly recruit Kyrie to take D.Lo’s spot and they never played well on the court together. Also heard Russell un-followed Dinwiddie on Insta or some social media thing which is supposed to mean something. I also think teams like Orlando, Miami, Detroit will battle for the PO, while the tanking teams may not tank as hard as previous years after the NYK’s blatantly and admittedly tanked and still did not get one of the top 2 prospects. Other than Cleveland (unless Love is healthy and kept) and Charlotte, the focus is going to be on improvement and building their teams into a winner.
Off Season Grade: A-
They overpaid to dump Crabbe, handed out a bad contract to Jordan, overpaid Temple, lost Russell, traded out of the 1st round and may not be a 50 win team. I don’t care. They landed 2 of the top FAs on the market that pretty much any team with cap space would have loved to sign… injured or not (sorry Knicks, not believing you wouldn’t have paid KD). They took advantage of the CBA for extra cap space, they got a 1st rounder for Russell but more importantly, they became relevant. Finally. They even have “haters” now. That alone is a grade bump.