Nets GM Has Bat To Make Memphis Up Ante In Finney-Smith Trade Talks
About 35 years ago, a nondescript NBA big man named Jon Koncak was mocked as “John Contract” after signing a 6-year, $13 million deal with Atlanta, an unheard-of sum at the time for a backup. It wasn’t his fault that he grabbed the offer, yet the moniker lived on for decades.
If Nets General Manager Sean Marks wants to maximize his leverage in trade talks with Memphis centered around Brooklyn 3-&-D wing Dorian Finney-Smith, he’ll resurrect that nickname when referencing Grizzlies guard John Konchar.
According to multiple reports (I believe Substack’s Marc Stein was first), Brooklyn and Memphis are working on the parameters of a Finney-Smith-for a Konchar/Luke Kennard/Draft pick package.
Marks is embracing the race to the bottom of the league to marginally raise the odds for the 2025 NBA Draft Lottery, so Finney-Smith, a winning player with a nearly $15.4 million player option for the 2025-26 season, will likely be moved somewhere in short order. If not Memphis, Dallas is said to be one of several teams with interest.
The league’s new collective bargaining agreement, with its aprons and hard caps, can make deals difficult to execute, but in the above case, the money works. The Nets would take on about $500,000 in added payroll that would count towards their current $3.4 million (according to SportsBusinessClassroom.com) luxury tax cushion and can waive De’Anthony Melton, who is out for the year with an ACL injury, to make room for the extra roster slot.
There are apparently a few hurdles to clear for this trade to get done: Kennard has an effective no-trade clause after signing a 1-year, $9.25 million deal this past offseason because he would lose his Bird Rights for his next contract if traded; the Grizzlies are allegedly holding onto their 2026 first-round pick with all their might; and Marks has reportedly been emphatic in telling potential partners that he has zero interest in taking on contracts that run past this season.
That’s where “John Contract” comes in. Unlike Kennard, Konchar has two more seasons with a $6.165 million AAV due him. It’s not really an exorbitant amount, but in this era, GMs are generally wise to count every penny. That also applies to Brooklyn, which could theoretically have as much as $70 million in salary cap space to play with this offseason. The next closest team’s space might be about a little more than half that amount. Nets fans disgusted with the tanking can dream about the next Summer of Sean.
Marks should have the upper hand in arguing, “Why should the Nets be on the hook to pay above-market for a bit player?” Konchar, 28, has had an injury-riddled career, including this season where he has appeared in just 17 of Memphis’ 32 games. Some of those were DNP-Coach decisions, as he has not seen more than 10 minutes of action in a close game in over a month. A rugged player who gets after it, Konchar can be a streaky good three-point shooter in small segments, but his regressions with extended playing time during the last two seasons when Memphis was ravaged by injuries were harsh. Envision a smaller Jalen Wilson.
The bottom line is that Konchar, like Koncak, was never worth a multi-year deal and the Grizzlies are to blame for it, not the player. Memphis previously attached a second-round pick just to dump the nearly identical though expiring $6.133 million contract of former first round pick bust Ziaire Williams on Brooklyn over the summer; two more seasons of Konchar plus the best player in the trade has to be worth a 1, with limited protections. (Note: I envision the three-point specialist Kennard, 28, will just be salary filler and a potential buyout candidate.)
Finney-Smith was having a great start to the season before a calf injury sidelined him for nearly two weeks (he returned for Friday night’s loss to the Spurs but looked rusty). He’s shooting a career best 43.5% from deep while battling on defense against some of the league’s top scorers 1-through-5. As the nearest defender, he’s allowing a field goal percentage difference of 5.1% below the average of such shooters, the best 8th-best mark in the league among the 112 forwards with at least 20 games played this season, per NBA.com. He’d fit in well with Memphis in their playoff pursuits.
As always, if a Finney-Smith-to-Memphis deal is consummated, the Devil will be in the details. What Draft pick was secured? If protected, what happens if the pick gets deferred? I’d hate to see it be devalued to a second rounder in a future Draft that is projected to be of lesser quality.
By the way, don’t be so quick to label Finney-Smith as a rental. Without knowing his thoughts on the matter, a case can be made for him to exercise that option: He might be going to a team that is currently the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference and will be 32 in May. What other contender will have the cap/apron space, never mind the willingness to take a risk on a non-star player who has some hard miles on him, to give him more than a midlevel exception? Unless he could make a side handshake with Memphis to extend (which also wouldn’t make him a rental), betting on himself next season while banking $15.4 million could easily net Finney-Smith more than if he opted out and was left with taxpayer MLE offers. He could have asked Dennis Schroder about the bird in a hand situation while they were teammates before the December 15 trade to Golden State.
I’m dying on the hill that Marks left money on the table in that deal—and every second I see Reece Beekman play provides more fodder for that take-so Finney-Smith is Marks’ opportunity to redeem himself (not that he cares a speck about what I think) by bargaining for better terms.
Keep swinging that “John Contract” bat until Memphis caves.
Oh well....