Where Do The Nets Go From Here?
OK, so I’m done bitching about the Nets pivot to Tankville. Mikal Bridges is gone--as are Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden—and it’s time to move forward, even if it’s depressingly so for this aging Nets fan.
But it’s not like we can sim the next two seasons and wait for the first-round picks to arrive, starting with the first batch of four the Nets control (including one of their own) in the 2025 NBA Draft. No, the games have to be played, by players in Nets uniforms.
The next question, then, is by whom. Brooklyn currently sports 12 players on its roster, but most seem to think that’s a fluid situation. There are no “untouchables” here, and a few of the veterans (i.e. 3-and-D wings Dorian Finney-Smith and Cam Johnson) actually have some value to contending teams looking to trade picks for finishing touches.
However, I wonder how eager Brooklyn General Manager Sean Marks is to offload these potential X Factors given that other teams are loathe to part with 1s unless it’s for a star (Bridges, since he has never earned an All-Star berth, is an exception). Second rounders appear to be the currency of choice these days under the new collective bargaining rules, as evidenced by Brooklyn’s trade of wing Royce O’Neale to Phoenix at the February deadline.
Even taking in other organization’s contract mistakes in salary dumps isn’t what it used to be. One would have thought that Marks would have been all-in on wing Tim Hardaway Jr, who’s approximately $16.2 million expiring contract was deemed a hinderance to Dallas’ plan to improve its NBA Finals roster. It is known that the Mavs still have an affinity for their former mate Finney-Smith; ergo, a DFS-for Hardaway/2027 first rounder (or some semblance of that) kind of made sense. Instead, Dallas was able to pawn Hardaway off to Detroit for backup guard Quentin Grimes and a second-rounder without dipping into their prime picks.
Unless Marks can attach a mid-sized salary in his quest to secure additional draft assets in other team’s salary dumps, the Nets usage of this maneuver will be limited this offseason. That’s because Brooklyn needs this season’s payroll to remain below the 2025 luxury tax line of approximately $171.3 million. A breach would trigger severe consequences as a luxury tax repeater, from trade restrictions to removal of mid-level free agency exceptions, all the way through 2028, according to NetsDaily.
Per Spotrac.com, the 12 Nets under contract (including those not yet fully guaranteed plus an estimate of center Nic Claxton’s first year on his reported extension) is about $152.5 million. Jaylen Martin’s two-way contract doesn’t count in this exercise. Nor do undrafted free agents KJ Jones II and Mark Armstrong. Should Brooklyn tender a qualifying offer to restricted free agent Trendon Watford before Saturday night, that adds another $2.7 million to the tab with two roster spots open and, by my calculations, approximately $16 million to play with before hitting the luxury tax line.
Those slots used to belong to Dennis Smith Jr. and Lonnie Walker IV, both of whom could easily end up elsewhere as unrestricted free agents. Whereas I once had high hopes for Walker, still only 26, his second-half slump dampened my enthusiasm for a reengagement. Smith, meanwhile, is a terrific teammate who can be a hound defensively, but in a league where non-shooters are exposed, Smith’s sub-30% three-point rate makes him unplayable despite the superb defensive impacts.
The Nets stayed quiet during this week’s two-day Draft, so don’t expect a sudden youth infusion when comparing the rotation to last season. However, last year’s first-round picks Noah Clowney and Dariq Whitehead (assuming he’s recovered from shin surgery), are only 20, while Cam Thomas, Day’Ron Sharpe, and Jalen Wilson also qualify as “young players.”
I also don’t expect Marks to dump everyone in one fell swoop; he likes to keep a few veterans sprinkled around anyway—remember Trevor Booker and DeMarre Carroll? That’s so the students don’t run the school. Maybe Finney-Smith goes, but Cam Johnson, Dennis Schroder, and Bojan Bogdanovic could very well garner major minutes to open the season.
So, with the new league year commencing on Sunday, where does Brooklyn go from here? Lets’ look at a few things they should consider:
1) Utilize the approximately $11.9 remainder of the Joe Harris trade exception
Assuming the Bridges deal isn’t expanded whereby the Nets are coerced into accepting someone like Knicks backup guard Miles McBride (and the $4.7 million fully guaranteed 2024-25 salary cap hit) as an extension, Marks should explore opportunities to acquire a player before the exception expires on July 6. Though you can’t attach players to the exception, you can find ways to split trades up. For example, the Lakers can move injury-plagued guard Gabe Vincent into Brooklyn’s trade exception for a second-round pick or more and then the Nets could send DFS to LA for a 2029 1 and plus little-used guard Jalen Hood-Schifino. (Folks. It’s only an example). Vincent has another $11.5 million coming to him in 2025-26, but that’s now expected to be another Nets Tank year. In addition, I believe this would allow the Nets to essentially roll over the trade exception to a new one of about $11.5 million that can carry forward into July 2025.
2) Re-sign Watford…and coach him!
Never have I seen a player who left me wanting more and less within the same season. Watford has the size and versatility to become a very useful piece on a good team. He just needs to be coached better so the glaring mistakes on both ends—the turnover fests and missed defensive assignments—don’t relegate him to the bench for extended periods like last season. Watford, previously a big man in Portland, was thrust into backup point guard duties due to a Nets injury plague at the position and did not seem prepared for what the job entailed. I believe that experience will prove helpful in the long run—if new Head Coach Jordi Fernandez can stay on his case during those stretches where Watford’s focus narrows to the basket only. It will require actual player development, like extensive film review, but this could prove fruitful. Watford may have the look and game of an older man, but he doesn’t turn 24 until November.
3) Find another center
Going into last season with just Claxton and Sharpe on the depth chart at the 5 was a Marks faux pas, in my opinion at the time. It could be because he relied on Ben Simmons to regain some reasonable facsimile of the skills that made him so versatile that he used to be able to swing a little time in the middle against smaller bench mobs. Again, that was foolhardy of Marks because Simmons suffered another back injury that ended his season after a mere 15 games. So, whatever Simmons gives the Nets this season should be viewed as the proverbial cherry on top—great if its’ there (and you don’t mind the stems that are Simmons’ flaws), but unnoticeable if it isn’t. That means center should be atop Marks’ to-do list this offseason. Unfortunately, this is not how Marks generally operates—he’s an asset accumulator, regardless of position. I’ve always been partial to Mo Bamba, who is coming off a minimum deal in Philadelphia. I concede the holes in his game, but to me it’s important that the Nets allow sophomore Noah Clowney,20, to grow in a power forward role, where he can act more as a help defender as opposed to being targeted on pick-and-rolls. Bamba also continues to put up above-average three-point shooting numbers for a big man, albeit in smaller samples, which would provide the floor spacing Claxton and Sharpe have yet to showcase.