Brooklyn Nets: Grading the Jeremy Lin and-then-some trades
By Alec Liebsch
TRADE ALERT: The Brooklyn Nets have traded two guards in two different trades on the same night. We grade the Jeremy Lin deal and Nuggets salary dump.
Just when you least expect it, the Brooklyn Nets are up to no good once again.
General manager Sean Marks and the gang have a knack for inconvenient timing. Shortly after the clock struck midnight on the east coast, Nets’ brass livened up an otherwise slow night. With NBA Summer League in full swing, the media’s watchful eye had strayed from the inner workings of team-building.
It’s a new season, but it’s the same shrewd antics for Marks and his gang. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Nets have offloaded Jeremy Lin’s contract to the Atlanta Hawks.
In the Jeremy Lin deal, Atlanta sends the Nets the rights to 2016 second-round pick Isaia Cordinier (you'll probably never see him). Atlanta gets a 2025 second-round pick and the right to swap picks with Nets in 2023.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 13, 2018
Why were the Nets exporting Lin for nothing, you ask? Well, Wojnarowski dropped an even bigger Woj Bomb to explain:
Denver unloads $21M in salary on the deal. Nuggets will waive Whitehead, sources tell ESPN. https://t.co/ot9P5TajeX
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 13, 2018
Kenneth Faried and Darrell Arthur aggregate to about $21 million in incoming salary, so getting rid of Lin’s contract was prerequisite. Meanwhile, the trade itself provides solid value for Brooklyn. They add another first round pick in 2019 (top-12 protected), marking the the first NBA Draft since 2012 that they will control their own first-rounder.
Additionally, and more importantly, they keep cap space open for the summer of 2019. They currently project to have $69 million of it for next offseason.
From Denver’s perspective, this is not about basketball whatsoever. After extending Will Barton, they needed to clear cap space somehow. Offloading a pick is part of the business for contenders to save money.
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One team’s trash is another team’s treasure. Faried fills a need as a combo big, and Arthur’s expiring contract is potential salary filler for a future deal. Most importantly though, that first round pick is the real prize.
As for the Lin trade, the Nets didn’t really lose much outside of Lin himself. His versatility as an on and off-ball guard will be missed, but someone had to go from this glut of guards (which is why Isaiah Whitehead is also gone via the Denver trade).
The pick swaps could go either way, and the 2025 second should be late in the round if Brooklyn continues to ascend. The Nets did it for the sole purpose of making the deal with Denver, so it’s imperative to examine the two trades in tandem.
In terms of net gain (I love puns): Brooklyn incurs about $9 million extra, loses a future second, and also loses swap rights to another future second; in return, they convert a positional surplus into a team need while also acquiring a first that will likely fall in the 15-22 range, plus two second-rounders in 2020.
Overall, the Nets made quite the night for themselves. With these trades, they’re probably done making moves for the foreseeable future. Not much more is on the docket now anyway; they are young, balanced and fun.
Next: 2018 NBA free agency tracker: Grades for every deal so far
Grade: B+