2. Brooklyn Nets
This would be a swing-for-the-fences kind of move, but if any team needs to try and get a head start on wooing potential free agents, it’s the Brooklyn Nets. This team probably won’t enjoy its own first round pick until 2019, and with Brook Lopez and Thaddeus Young being their two best players, they won’t be particularly attractive to prospective free agents either.
But if the Nets are somehow able to land Lawson (most likely due to a lack of league-wide interest), they’d increase their chances of convincing him to stay in free agency. Jarrett Jack wasn’t a franchise point guard before his ACL tear, and Shane Larkin isn’t the long-term answer either.
The Nets have to use their cap space somewhere, and owner Mikhail Prokhorov’s interest in reassembling a competitive team could prompt Brooklyn to commit to a well known name like Lawson, even if his value has never been lower.
Next: No. 1