First Glance Look At Nets Trade Is A Lateral Move
Nets Surrender Defense/Toughness to Gain Offensive Prowess
In the end, Memphis and Brooklyn reportedly stumbled on the hurdles in the path of a trade centered around Nets 3-and-D wing Dorian Finney-Smith, so Nets General Manager Sean Marks switched tracks.
The Nets announced on Sunday that they sent Finney-Smith and reserve guard Shake Milton to the Lakers. Guard D’Angelo Russell will be returning to Brooklyn for a second engagement, with G-Leaguer Maxwell Lewis and three second round picks also attached as part of the exchange package.
The Nets never did get the first-round pick I was hoping they’d acquire for Finney-Smith—the Grizzlies reportedly offered a heavily-protected 1 but also demanded to take Brooklyn’s second-rounder, so at best it would have resulted in something like a relatively small move up to the end of the first round—but this isn’t like the December 15 Dennis Schroder trade with Golden State. Russell isn’t Reece Beekman; he’s a real NBA player.
In fact, while Nets Head Coach Jordi Fernandez bemoaned how his club missed Finney-Smith’s leadership and toughness while succumbing to a 22-4 Orlando finishing kick in Sunday’s gut-busting 102-101 defeat, one could argue that having a point guard with the ability to create offense was just as lacking. So. Many. Empty. Possessions. The last five minutes were a disgrace—if the Nets even managed to get off a shot before turning it over, it was one with an abnormally high degree of difficulty.
Though Nets super scorer Cam Thomas returned to the court for the first time since injuring his hamstring on November 25, it coincided with Cam Johnson’s early exit due to a recurring hip ailment. If not for three consecutive Jalen Wilson three-pointers, the Nets might have been held to single digits in the fourth quarter.
Russell, for all his warts that might clash with Fernandez’s style and his questionable on-court fit with Thomas, is an experienced master with the ball in his hands. He developed into an All-Star during his first go-round in Brooklyn, only to be sent every which way following his inclusion in the 2019 Kevin Durant sign-and-trade.
Though Russell’s three-point efficiency is way down this season at 33%, it follows two consecutive 39%-plus campaigns with pull-up rates well above league average, per NBA.com. In other words, Nets fans (at least those interested in watching competitive games) would much rather see him have the ball in his hands at the end of the shot clock than Keon Johnson. Giving more minutes at the four to sophomore Noah Clowney in Finney-Smith’s old spot will result in some dropoff in all the little things the veteran provided that led to winning, but it seems like less than what the team will gain with Russell’s offensive skillset.
Which is one reason why I found this trade a little strange. It seems almost like a lateral move, not one that dramatically decreases the team’s win probability to induce tanking like the Schroder deal. Worse, the Nets took in more money than they doled out to L.A., which is why you might hear the Buss family celebrating their approximately $11.2 million windfall from the post-trade luxury tax reductions, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks, all the way up in the Hills.
The Nets, meanwhile, shrank their cushion under the luxury tax to less than $700,000. Whatever happens down the road, they can’t go over or else they’d incur repeater tax penalties. While the final tab is calculated based on the end of the season payroll, this trade does limit Sean Marks’ flexibility—one of his favorite words--to make more trades going forward.
According to Hoops Hype’s Michael Scotto, the Nets do not intend to buy out Russell, so you have to assume that the 28-year old, with his $18.7 million expiring contract (plus $700,000 in unlikely bonuses that count towards aprons but not the cap or tax), will almost immediately be put back on the block in the hope that Marks can squeeze another second rounder or two in a flip.
Not that Brooklyn needs more 2s. Of their 31 picks over the next seven Drafts, 16 are in Round 2. I don’t know that they can pick and trade that many if Marks tried handing some of them out like kittens in an overflowing litter.
So while the consensus is praising the Lakers for acquiring the two-way wing they so desperately needed while maintaining all their prime assets, it would be premature to hand out a trade grade to Brooklyn—who knows, maybe Lewis will look a little more like he belongs in the bigs than Beekman.
For now, give the Nets an incomplete.