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Nets’ Early Offseason Moves Good News For Brook Lopez Return

By Joe Bianca

Apr 25, 2015; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez (11) shoots over Atlanta Hawks forward Pero Antic (6) during second half in game three of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at Barclays Center. The Brooklyn Nets won 91-86. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 25, 2015; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez (11) shoots over Atlanta Hawks forward Pero Antic (6) during second half in game three of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at Barclays Center. The Brooklyn Nets won 91-86. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports /
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Ever the wheel-and-dealer, Brooklyn Nets general manager Billy King couldn’t let NBA Draft Night 2015 pass without making a trade that significantly impacts the team’s direction going forward. King dealt the Nets’ only real young asset, center Mason Plumlee, along with 41st pick in the draft (Pat Connaughton) to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for the 23rd pick Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and backup point guard Steve Blake.

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Connaughton is an intriguing sleeper as a potential 3-and-D shooting guard who had the highest vertical leap in the draft, but the bigger risk is jettisoning Plumlee. For a team with the least flexibility of any in the NBA, this was a significant gamble.

Plumlee, the Nets’ most recent first round pick in 2013, had shown flashes of brilliance in his two Brooklyn seasons. He made the NBA’s All-Rookie First Team — albeit in a weak class — mostly by shooting 65.9 percent for the season in just 18.2 minutes per game off the bench.

That dipped to 57.3 percent in his second season, however, and his free throw percentage was an atrocious 49.5 percent with a bigger sample size and offensive role in 2014-15. An elite finisher and plus athlete at the five, Plumlee still hasn’t developed any kind of offensive arsenal and is now 25 years old. There are legitimate concerns about whether he can ever be more than a bench big.

Nevertheless, Plumlee represented the only insurance policy if Brook Lopez, who has reportedly told the Nets he will opt out of his contract this week, bolts in free agency or re-injures his balky foot that has cost him much of the past four seasons.

Lopez struggled throughout the first half of 2014-15, but picked things up once getting healthy after the All-Star break and was lights out in the last 16 games of the season, averaging 23.7 points, 9.4 rebounds (3.8 offensive) and 2.3 blocks per game on 57.7 percent shooting. The Nets went 11-5 during that stretch, making Lopez the impetus for an improbable run to the playoffs and avoiding the draft lottery in a year they had to swap their first-round pick with the conference-leading Atlanta Hawks.

The Nets’ willingness to part with Plumlee for Hollis-Jefferson, an outstanding wing defender and athlete who possesses next to zero offensive punch, along with word they’re actively shopping swingman Joe Johnson, suggests King has strong indication from Lopez’s camp that he’ll return for his eighth season with the franchise.

Lopez was set to be the franchise’s cornerstone after three very good seasons in New Jersey, but with his foot troubles and new owner Mikhail Prokhorov’s win-at-all-costs mentality, his importance was greatly reduced. It looks as though management is now ready to re-commit to Lopez as Brooklyn’s centerpiece and if King’s moves so far this offseason are any indication, Lopez is ready to acquiesce.

Next time: A breakdown of Brooklyn selections Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Chris McCullough and Juan Pablo Vaulet.

Next: Top 5 Free Agency Destinations For Kevin Love

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