Fresh Trade Scenarios for the Brooklyn Nets' Available Stars
The Brooklyn Nets are trying to unload, but no one will help them.
General manager Billy King has been shopping around Deron Williams, Brook Lopez and Joe Johnson ever since December, but so far, he hasn't seen anything he's liked enough to pull the trigger.
We've heard Williams-to-Sacramento rumors, per ESPN.com's Mike Mazzeo and Ohm Youngmisuk. Nothing stuck.
We've seen that Lopez would be heading out to Denver or Oklahoma City or Charlotte, as reported by ESPN.com's Marc Stein. It didn't happen.
Then, Johnson was going to Charlotte for Lance Stephenson, via Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski. No deal there, either.
That's what happens when overpaid guys underperform. It's the way the NBA world—nay, the business world—works.
Brooklyn hasn't exactly helped itself by benching two-thirds of its highly paid trio, either. Williams has dealt with injury issues and has started to come off the bench under head coach Lionel Hollins. Mason Plumlee has overtaken Lopez in the starting lineup as well, with Hollins leaning more toward a defensive duo of the second-year Plumlee and Kevin Garnett in his first unit.
Lopez is still producing at a high level, though. So is Johnson. It's just about fit, salary and how much a team is willing to put up with great pay for good play.
There's always someone out there. Now, it's time for the Nets to find their partner.
The Crazy Threeway
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Nets receive: Marvin Williams, Gerald Henderson, Jamal Crawford, Spencer Hawes
Charlotte Hornets receive: Joe Johnson, Ekpe Udoh
Los Angeles Clippers receive: Lance Stephenson, Bismack Biyombo
This trade is fun.
It's a variation of the rumored Johnson-to-Charlotte deal we keep hearing in the rumor mill, one that would net Brooklyn Stephenson, Henderson and Williams. In reality, do the Nets actually want that deal, though?
Stephenson, a Brooklyn native, has found locker room trouble and distractions at all his destinations—from University of Cincinnati to the Indiana Pacers to Charlotte. Why should coming home be any different? In fact, couldn't it be even worse?
The Hornets are desperately trying to get rid of him, and you'd have to imagine they would take back less than Johnson to do so (if money allowed for it). So, the Hornets get their two-way wing who can handle the ball, run pick-and-roll and drain three-pointers.
The Clippers, meanwhile, pick up the wing defender they so furiously desire and put Lance in a role he's thrived in before, as a fourth-best player on a contending team. Biyombo adds on to act as a rim protector off the bench.
Brooklyn gets back needed shooters and versatility.
Williams can play the 3 or stretch the floor at the 4, a necessary attribute with Mirza Teletovic done for the year. Crawford can help as a ball-handler and shooter off the bench, giving the Nets a reason not to have the rock in the hands of Jarrett Jack or Williams at all times. Henderson can defend the perimeter, and Hawes, though he's having a down year, can add stretch from a big man position, as well.
The Sacramento Trade
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Nets receive: Darren Collison, Jason Thompson, Derrick Williams
Sacramento Kings receive: Deron Williams
This trade fell apart earlier in the season because Sacramento wanted Plumlee involved, according to ESPN The Magazine's Chris Broussard, to which the Nets backed out, as they should have.
Plumlee has been playing legitimately quality basketball over the past two months, but it's hard to say exactly if even Sacramento wants to take on Williams' contract, and this is the organization whose philosophy is to take on bad contracts that it thinks make a player "undervalued."
(Actually, it's not hard to say. They obviously don't want Williams' contract. Plus, Collison may be better than Williams now, anyway.)
So, if even Sacramento doesn't want D. Will, what do the Nets do?
They ram the most expensive backup point guard in the league down general manager Pete D'Alessandro's and owner Vivek Ranadive's throats. It's the only way.
Vivek, you know you want to make another splash. It's been at least a month since you've so. Do this. You'll feel better.
Off to Los Angeles
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Nets receive: Ed Davis, Jeremy Lin, Steve Nash
Los Angeles Lakers receive: Deron Williams
Why would the Lakers make this deal, you ask? Because it's their way of getting a big-name player to appease Kobe Bryant, naturally. Or because the Lakers are a somewhat behind organization who are seemingly OK with overpaying for overvalued talent. Either one.
The Nets aren't actually getting Nash in this deal. They're getting the idea of Nash, his contract purely to make the money work.
Steve Nash isn't playing this season whether he stays on the Lakers or not, and he hits free agency over the summer, so a team like Brooklyn might as well use him to grease the finances of a tricky deal.
There are a couple of reunions in this trade, too.
Lin comes back to New York, the city in which he played his best basketball. (Did you know Jeremy Lin used to play in the Big Apple? He did a really good job. They had a whole catch phrase for the three weeks he was great and everything.)
Davis has his own reunion of sorts, also, re-teaming with Hollins, for whom he played with the Memphis Grizzlies. Though it's possible Hollins wouldn't want Davis since the big man lost loads of playing time in Memphis after the Grizzlies acquired him in the Rudy Gay trade.
Two Bad Situations Make a Good One
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Nets receive: Eric Gordon, Alexis Ajinca, Luke Babbitt
New Orleans Pelicans receive: Brook Lopez
New Orleans doesn't really have draft picks or cap room to improve for next season, so it has to get creative on the trade market, and couldn't a Lopez-Anthony Davis frontcourt work really nicely?
Both guys can shoot out to 21 or 22 feet consistently. Davis provides the rare rim protection you'd prefer in a power forward next to a slow-footed Lopez. It's a complementary duo, and it would allow the Pelicans to flip soon-to-be free-agent Omer Asik to a team on the prowl for a defensive-minded center.
Brooklyn shouldn't be fooled by Gordon's slow start to the season. He's actually been dominant of late, posting a 47-48-89 shooting line over his past 14 games, bringing his overall three-point production over 40 percent on the season.
Gordon may be troubled with injury issues (sound familiar?), but he's a shooter who can actually play competent defense on the other end. Considering how much the Nets are playing Alan Anderson right now for those reasons alone, he could be a nice addition for Hollins.
Don't sleep on Ajinca, either. When he gets minutes, he produces. He's averaging 16.4 points and 13.0 rebounds per 36 minutes to complement his surprisingly superb 20.8 PER.
The Other, Slightly Less Crazy Threeway
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Nets receive: David West, Jeremy Lamb, Solomon Hill
Indiana Pacers receive: Kendrick Perkins, Reggie Jackson
Oklahoma City Thunder receive: Brook Lopez
The Thunder possibly won't re-sign Jackson when he hits free agency over the summer.
They just acquired Dion Waiters, giving them another ball-handler who loves to pound, pound, pound. So, that means, of your six or seven most prominent players, four of them are Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Jackson and Waiters, all of whom want/need the ball.
That's not a good recipe, and it hasn't been particularly tasty since Waiters has come over from Cleveland. In an ideal world, one of them goes.
Like with a Lopez-Davis combination, a Lopez-Serge Ibaka duo would be perfectly complementary because the Thunder power forward provides legitimate rim protection, which is rarer than you might think from that position.
The Pacers, meanwhile, get a young point guard who allows them to dish George Hill for pieces if they so desire.
As for the Nets, they get back a competent shooting power forward who plays defense in West. He would also allow the team to play Garnett more at center, where he is more effective.
Solomon Hill, meanwhile, has developed into a legitimate perimeter stopper. Trading for him would be the Nets' best way at acquiring any sort of youth since the team is out of high draft picks for the foreseeable future.
Fred Katz averaged almost one point per game in fifth grade but maintains that his per-36-minute numbers were astonishing. Find more of his work on ESPN's TrueHoop Network at ClipperBlog.com. Follow him on Twitter at @FredKatz.
Unless otherwise noted, all statistics are current as of Feb. 5 and are courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com.
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