Here’s a quick guide to what the Brooklyn Nets could do before or on Feb. 8 for the 2018 NBA trade deadline.
Ah, trade season. This portion of the NBA calendar is a prosperous time for fans to theorize various possibilities for their respective franchises.
Brooklyn Nets fans, however, have to get a little more creative. General manager Sean Marks basically maxed out the salary cap over the summer (in a good way), adding preposterous contracts like Timofey Mozgov to acquire more assets.
This is unique for a rebuilding team; most on-the-rise franchises are itching to reach the salary floor (90 percent of the cap). But since Brooklyn has no incentive to tank, it makes sense to clog the payroll.
So with that in mind, outlining what they will do becomes more difficult. Salaries coming onto the Nets roster can’t exceed the outgoing ones by much, and their expendable pieces will have to be attractive to another team.
With this team, “expendable” is synonymous with “veteran.” Unfortunately, the list of veterans on Brooklyn’s roster is slim to begin with. Weeding out the dreadful contracts leaves less than a handful of players and excising the detrimental ones makes shortlists look like essays.
This filtration leaves one logical candidate, and an equally logical destination:
Joe Harris, SG
What team doesn’t need a shooter these days? A 6’6″ wing with a career 38.2 percent clip from downtown, Harris and his minimum deal could be very attractive to a team needing a floor-spacing spark.
With the way the NBA has evolved, one can only imagine the teams who could be in the running for a low-cost sniper on the wing. Anyone from fringe playoff contenders needing a slight push to Finals contenders needing bench depth could be in the running for Harris’s services.
One of the most logical trade partners is fittingly in desperate need of Harris’s skill-set: the New Orleans Pelicans. With the roster basically comprised of three very good players and very little else, Harris could be just what NOLA’s doctors ordered. His bargain-bin contract is also crucial for a team that can’t take in excess salary due to being over the cap.
The Pelicans also don’t have much to offer in terms of assets, but Harris won’t cost the farm:
Harris’ departure from Brooklyn will force head coach Kenny Atkinson to play Caris LeVert and Nik Stauskas more. The Nets have no reason to do otherwise with the youngsters they worked so hard to acquire.
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Additionally, his entrance into NOLA’s scheme gives DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis a more reliable kick-out option. With the Western Conference’s middle class separated by what equates to slivers, an inclusion like this could be what catapults them into the second round of the playoffs.