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Evaluating The Brooklyn Nets Second Unit For Next Season: Part II

By Christopher Lavinio

Jan 10, 2017; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez (11) and Jeremy Lin watch the final second from the bench during second half against Atlanta Hawks at Barclays Center. The Atlanta Hawks defeated the Brooklyn Nets 177-97.Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 10, 2017; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez (11) and Jeremy Lin watch the final second from the bench during second half against Atlanta Hawks at Barclays Center. The Atlanta Hawks defeated the Brooklyn Nets 177-97.Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports /
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Feb 24, 2017; Denver, CO, USA; Brooklyn Nets guard Jeremy Lin (7) and Brooklyn Nets forward Andrew Nicholson (44) and center Brook Lopez (11) look on from the bench in the fourth quarter against the Denver Nuggets at the Pepsi Center. The Nuggets won 129-109. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 24, 2017; Denver, CO, USA; Brooklyn Nets guard Jeremy Lin (7) and Brooklyn Nets forward Andrew Nicholson (44) and center Brook Lopez (11) look on from the bench in the fourth quarter against the Denver Nuggets at the Pepsi Center. The Nuggets won 129-109. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports /

Andrew Nicholson: 3 years, $19,911,007 left on his deal

The Washington Wizards signed forward Andrew Nicholson to a four-year, $26 million deal back in July 2016. As a solid player for the Orlando Magic previously, the Wizards thought they were getting a solid backup 4 with potential upside.

However, the Wizards soon were left with Nicholson riding the bench, proving to be nearly $6.5 million in dead cap space.

As the Wizards look to make a deep playoff run, general manager Ernie Grunfeld made a call to Marks asking about the availability of swingman Bojan Bogdanovic.

As the Nets seek to stockpile as many assets headed into the offseason as possible, the Nets ended up acquiring a first-round pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, but at the expense of taking on Nicholson’s deal.

While the Wizards now hold Bogdanovic’s Bird rights, making him a restricted free agent, the security of having the ability to match any offer wasn’t enough for Washington, as they needed to unload Nicholson’s deal to make way for signing Otto Porter Jr. and potentially Bogdanovic this offseason.

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For Nicholson, who has only appeared in five games for the Nets so far, is averaging fourpoints per game in right about 10 minutes of play. He’s a big body that is trying to develop an outside game, but doesn’t run the court effectively and proves to look slow in Atkinson’s offense.

However, the Nets are certainly tied to Nicholson’s contract for another three years after the conclusion of this season.

What are the Nets’ options? Well, they could use the stretch-provision, as they did with Deron Williams, which if waived would be stretch at $2,844,429 for the course of seven years. Another option would be just to ride out the remaining three years left on his contract.

But, with the Nets already committed to another $5,474,787 to Deron Williams in dead cap for the next three years, I’m not sure the Nets can afford (if not being used) to carry another $6.5 million or so annually to Nicholson.

Much like the Wizards did, the Nets could try to trade Nicholson at the draft. But, with the recent trend of acquiring assets for bad contracts, I’m not sure the Nets can do the same.

Next: 25 Greatest Scorers of All-Time

I’ll be back early next week to provide the third and final part of this series. I’ll be honing in on the remaining bench players for the Brooklyn Nets, including Archie Goodwin, Trevor Booker, and Spencer Dinwiddie.

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