Grade the Nets 2021 Offseason

[Prokorov]

ROSTER
G: Harden | Carter
G: Irving | Mills | Thomas
F: Harris | Brown | A. Johnson
F: Durant | J. Johnson | Perry
C: Griffin | Claxton | Jordan | Sharpe
2-way: Edwards | Zegrowski
Summer League: Gray

Free agency Additions
Patty Mills (MLE)
James Johnson (Minimum)
Deandre Bembry (Minimum)

Resigned Players
Bruce Brown (Qualifying Offer)
Blake Griffin (Minimum)

Trade Additions
Javon Carter

Draft Additions
Cam Thomas (Pick #27)
Day'Ron Sharpe (Pick #29)
Kessler Edwards (Pick #44)
Marcus Zegrowski (Pick #49)
Raiquan Gray (Pick# 59)

Assets Added
11.5 Million (TPE)
2nd round pick (WSH 2024)
2nd round swap (WSH 2025)
Nikola Milutinov (Draft Rights/Stash)

Free Agency Losses
Jeff Green (Denver)

Trade losses
Landry Shamet
Spencer Dinwiddie

ROSTER
G: Harden | Carter
G: Irving | Mills | Thomas
F: Harris | Brown | Bembry
F: Durant | J. Johnson | A. Johnson
C: Griffin | Claxton | Jordan | Sharpe
2-way: Edwards | Zegrowski
Summer League: Gray, Perry

[Prokorov]

I Voted B+

PROS
* I thought we needed to retain Blake, as the #1 priority. And Marks did so on the minimum
* I thought we needed to retain 2/3 of Green/Brown/Blake. Marks was able to with Brown/Blake
* We needed to add Defense/Toughness. We did that in both the back court/front court with Carter/Johnson
* Johnson servers as a nice brown repalcement and shifting that spot from shooter to defender/toughness
* Mills replaced the catch and shoot/floor spacing of Shamet while adding the on-ball scoring dimension
* Mills helps keep us competitive when harden/kyrie miss games
*got a large TPE by trading dinwiddie, allows us flexibility

CONS
* Used all 5 picks. one will likely need to be let go after summer league. no stashes, none traded for future picks where we are light
* Didnt get a 1st, even protected, in the dinwiddie trade. thought he could do better with pick compensation then 2nds
* Didnt dump DJ as part of dinwiddie deal, i dont knock him much for this given news the big3 want to keep him
* Missed out on PJ tucker (tucker got more elsewhere)

Overall, the cons are reasonable. the Pros are big. We are returning a better team then last year top to bottom. And added 2 big defense/toughness pieces in Johnson/Carter which was one of if not our biggest issues. Mills as a new dynamic and much needed injury insurance

It was basically shamet/green for mills/johnson + carter and i make that swap 100 times out of 100. Mills is the best of that group and Johnson was a necessity with us being kinda soft.

We have alot of assets to work with. 4 rookies, 2 future seconds, euro stash, TPE.

[MrDollarBills]

I gave us B. Getting Mills was a major coup, and I like how we have added some balance to the roster defensively. I think we need one more shooter, preferably at 3-4.

[Prokorov]

I gave us B. Getting Mills was a major coup, and I like how we have added some balance to the roster defensively. I think we need one more shooter, preferably at 3-4.

I agree. Someone needs to be released to bring in another body. But I love how Mike Scott would fit

[Packers+NetsWIN]

I voted "A" although in reality I would have went with an "A-" if that was available. I mean the Nets came into this offseason with no available cap space except for the taxpayer exception. They met my goal of returning the same starting 5 as last year's team, which I honestly believe would have won the championship if it wasn't for injuries.

They injected some much needed youth with two promising first round draft picks. I know the team is all in on winning this season and next season, but due to the lack of draft capital from the Harden trade I think it was important to find some young guys they can develop into future rotation players/future starters.

They improved the defense, toughness, durability, and basketball IQ on the team with the additions of Carter, Johnson, and Mills. This was sorely missing from last year's team. No more having to watch TLC making low IQ plays or Shamet not being able to initiate when injuries enivitably occur or Mike James get hunted by the opposing team's offense whenever he was in the game.

I was originally advocating for the trade of DeAndre Jordan to remove his contract from the books. But if there is even 1% truth to the rumors that the front office kept him to keep the big 3 happy, then keeping him was definitely the right decision. Gotta keep them happy till the ink dries on each of their extensions.

The only real disappointments I had was (#2) not getting another stretch 4/5 was hoping to get a bit more in the Dinwiddie deal. Griffin and Durant are the only consistent shooting bigs currently on the roster. And they both will sit games for routine mantinence days this season. Porter would have been a nice addition at the 4 spot assuming he is healthy. And again, assuming health, Ibaka is someone the nets maybe can target at the trade deadline with that trade exception. Maybe somebody on the buyout market even like Kevin Love. And (#2) I'm worried about the bench unit scoring on it's own merit. As long as at least one of the big 3 is on the court, I have no problem playing something like Harden with Mills, Brown, Claxton, and Johnson or Durant with Carter, Mills, Brown, and Claxton. But if that second unit is out there at the same time in it's entirety (Carter, Mills, Brown, Johnson, and Claxton), I anticipate them having a tough time scoring the ball. But that's me just overthinking it and nitpicking, like I said as long as at least one of the big 3 is on the court at all times there will be no problem scoring. Obviously I'm not too worried as I gave the off-season an "A"

[HardenGoat]

B+ same reasons pretty much as Prok, Thought a first could have been had in the S+T. Wanted Tucker but I guess he went for more than our MLE. Tucker was a player we could have removed from a contending team. I think the Mills trade will ensure us health though for our big 2 guards, and also weakened the Lakers who need shooting and replacing Schroder, so for those 2 reasons alone it is huge.

[Stone]

I was bouncing back and forth between a C+ and B. I ended up with giving Marks a B and here's why...

Bottom line we got better.

We retained Blake and Bruce.

We added Patty Mills which is going to make the 12 to 15 games Kyrie will miss a lot less stressful.

I don't think Marks is done. If a guy like K Love gets bought out or something else completely out of left field come through our window, I could definitely see him pulling the trigger. This is it, we are in it to win it all this season.

The biggest concern is Nash and what if anything will be different without MDA.

[MrDollarBills]

Yep if Kevin Love gets bought out I'm totally on board with him coming here.

[vincecarter4pres]

I voted B, though I feel I'm being a bit generous. Dinwiddie return was crazy mediocre, even if understandable.

Losing Uncle Jeff was no bueno either.

Everything else was an A- at worst.

B/C+

[3pt_chucker]

Some harsh critics in this board

I give it a A- given our circumstances. The team got better and looks deeper on paper. Still have tons of flexibility and assets to add guys via trade or using the buyout market. At this stage, couldn't really have done much better.

[ecuhus1981]

Stingy voters. I would say A- is my actual opinion, but since that's not an option in more inclined to call this offseason a full-fleged A.

That Shamet deal was straight-up thievery. Jevon is a darn fine 3&D PG, he can check 2's as well so I could envision him playing alongside Kyrie in the right matchups. The 29th pick for a so-so combo guard entering a walk year would be solid return by itself.

The draft picks were smart, if underwhelming. There weren't any steals that I could see that we should have taken.

I've said it for weeks, our roster was already locked in for the most part. I see a bunch of people upset that we didn't keep Uncle Jeffy and Spencer. Really, getting Mills and Johnson on bargain contracts makes more sense for our financial outlook, and their skill sets are probably a better fit for current needs than our former Nets anyway.

Sean isn't done. He may sign Iggy, which I think would be great for certain matchups. Or JJ. Or Hart, if New Orleans renounces his QO due to the Oubre signing. Or Millsap. Or Bonga. Or Bradley. Or Ennis. Or Diallo. We have opportunities, but we knew going into this offseason that we didn't have the need our the ability to splash cash like Miami or Chicago. We're really really good already. We needed cost-controlled role players along the margins. We're on the path.

[Prokorov]

I voted B, though I feel I'm being a bit generous. Dinwiddie return was crazy mediocre, even if understandable.

Losing Uncle Jeff was no bueno either.

Everything else was an A- at worst.

B/C+

For me, James Johnson is at least a push with Jeff Green and to me an upgrade because he fits more of a need (Defense, Toughness). You lose the shooting but i think we have plenty of that and you can always grab a stretch 4 situationally if needed.

[Prokorov]

Bembry signing may bump my grade up one.

[Stone]

I like the Bembry signing also, but I'm not upping my grade until we the Big 3 squared away with extensions.

[Suwanee]

With KD’s extension news, I’m upgrading my B+ grade to A. To me this extension trumps all the offseason moves we’ve made so far.

[Karate Diop]

The one thing that still puzzles me is why we used all 5 picks... It's possible that the guys drafted pan out but I can't see any of them making significant contributions as we get deeper into the playoffs...

[TheNetsFan]

The one thing that still puzzles me is why we used all 5 picks... It's possible that the guys drafted pan out but I can't see any of them making significant contributions as we get deeper into the playoffs...

That's the wrong perspective. The youth is here to learn and soak things up, so that by year 2 or 3 they might be able to contribute in the playoffs.

Rotations get short in the playoffs. Forget about guys 10-15 in the postseason. You hope they crack the top 9 in 2 years. How often have the Spurs drafted guys who are then forgotten but later emerge seemingly out of nowhere? Expect that here. We already saw it a bit with Claxton.

[MrDollarBills]

This has now been an A+ offseason.

[Netaman]

I went with an A. Had they gotten more back for Dinwiddie it would have been great but usually S&T's like that don't return much.
IMO you have to grade against the realistic alternatives. Getting better picks and swapping Jordan out somehow to be able to afford bringing back Green are probably the main gripes preventing A+. But that would have been wizardry not really seen since they somehow got someone to trade for Mozgov's contract.

The 1 (expensive) but easy to execute alternative would have been resigning Dinwiddie in lieu of Mills and giving Green the MLE. That may have cost them Johnson (or Bembry, who seems like a very interesting pickup). And obviously the few things they got for Dinwiddie in the trade. And the TE giving them flexibility in the buyout market is not nothing. We should probably think about that like "this year's LMA/Blake" in waiting.

So was Dinwiddie worth that much more $ than Mills? And Green? Maybe but it's pretty close. Green feels like the bigger difference there to be honest. Mills may even be better fit around the big 3 because he's a better shooter than Dinwiddie (whose advantages on the ball are probably wasted here with Harden and Kyrie). With the way the playoffs went I have no issues with anyone who would choose the near 40% 3pt shooter who has played almost 100 playoff games > the sub 35% 3 pt shooter who has only played a handful of playoff games, forgetting the $50m (100m+ w/ LT?) price difference.

oh and obviously getting KD locked is the key to everything.

in terms of the draft I'd be lying if I said I had a good feel for pretty much any of the picks bc I didn't watch much CBB the last 2 years, however I am excited that they used so many picks because the draft has been one of the Marksman's greatest assets. If 2 of the 5 picks can develop over the next few years into the next version of JA/Levert/Claxton that's going to be key to keeping this thing going as the big 3 get older and need the benefit of playing fewer minutes and less challenging assignments on D.

[Born_Ready]

voted b+. it’s hard not to like any of the moves made thus far. patty mills is a gigantious upgrade over chiozza and james. his championship pedigree will pay dividends in the locker room and on the floor. brembry is an upgrade as well. he can play some defense. if they can secure a big man, it would instantly be an a+ upvote for me.