5 Fresh Trade Scenarios as Brooklyn Nets Shop Their Stars
The Brooklyn Nets are all over trade rumors.
Will they deal Deron Williams or Joe Johnson? How about Jarrett Jack and Mason Plumlee?
Job security is not something that exists for anyone wearing black and white and calling the Barclays Center home. And it should be that way, considering that Brooklyn is coming off a 38-44 season with an overpriced roster and without many draft picks in its future.
We know the obvious trades people have discussed, whether they involve sending Johnson to the Charlotte Hornets or Williams to the Sacramento Kings, both reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.
But what about some new ones I've cooked up, a skillet of crispy, just-out-of-the-oven deals that may or may not be burnt enough that they've lost their taste? It's about time for the weirdo trades to find their ways into Nets fans' vernaculars.
The Detroit Pistons Deal
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Nets receive: Brandon Jennings, Jodie Meeks
Pistons receive: Joe Johnson
The famed Joe Johnson-to-the-Hornets trade is now off the table. Sure, Johnson could end up going to Charlotte in some fashion, but it's not going to be the swap we heard in the middle of this past season after the Hornets traded Lance Stephenson to the Los Angeles Clippers on June 15.
So the Nets need to find another way to unload their starting shooting guard, who has one year and about $24.9 million remaining on his contract. Why not look toward Detroit?
The Pistons have a bunch of cap room open, with Greg Monroe and Reggie Jackson hitting the free-agent market. They actually wouldn't need to match salary, considering their cap position (if this deal were made after the start of free agency), and they could use Johnson's contract as an excuse to clear up their point guard situation.
Brandon Jennings was having a down season until 16 games before he suffered a season-ending torn Achilles. He averaged an efficient 19.8 points and 7.0 assists during those 16 contests before the injury. But after he went down, Detroit acquired Jackson, who performed well as head coach and president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy's guy during the second half of the season.
Jackson is restricted this summer, so Detroit has the final say on bringing him back. Presumptively, it would prefer to move forward without two clashing 1-guards. So why not ship out Jennings and Jodie Meeks to bring in a wing who can do a little bit of everything, including providing some spacing and offense on the perimeter?
As for the Nets, they get back a possibly capable point guard (though Jennings would start the year injured) and an extra shooter on the perimeter, which they desperately need, considering that Brooklyn finished 26th in the league in three-point percentage this past season.
Of course, bringing in a possible starting point guard would have to correspond with trading either Jack or Williams.
The Washington Wizards Deal
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Nets receive: Martell Webster, lottery-protected 2016 first-round pick
Wizards receive: Jarrett Jack
We worry about the Nets' draft-pick situation. Thus, maybe they shouldn't concern themselves with bringing back talent in all these deals. Maybe the move is to get at least one pick out of them.
Jack has two more seasons left on his contract after this one. So does Webster, meaning Brooklyn isn't assuming any more long-term money in this trade.
Actually, Webster makes about $600,000 a year fewer than Jack does for the next couple of seasons, and the final year of his deal (like Jack's) is only partially guaranteed. The problem, of course, is that he's become a far less effective player than the Nets' backup point guard.
Back surgery will do that to you. Multiple back surgeries, as Webster has undergone, certainly will. The Washington wing averaged just 11.0 minutes a night in his 32 appearances during 2014-15. He wasn't even part of head coach Randy Wittman's rotation.
If he could recapture some of the magic that made him a satisfactory defender and consistent three-point shooter (especially from the corners) just two years ago, this could be a steal for Brooklyn, considering that the team would be bringing back a 2016 first-rounder.
But the safer assumption here is that Washington would acquire most of the present-day basketball talent, a nice fit considering that Jack grew up in the D.C. area. The biggest question mark for the Wiz in the deal is this: Would Washington want to take on more money for 2016, when it could be making a run at Kevin Durant?
The Milwaukee Bucks Deal
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Nets receive: Shawne Williams, No. 17 pick in 2015 draft
Bucks receive: Mason Plumlee, No. 29 pick in 2015 draft
This might be the best-case scenario for all parties involved.
The Nets move up in the draft to earn a pick that is more in line with where they finished in the NBA standings. The Bucks receive a young, athletic big man who could play within their aggressive defensive schemes. Plumlee goes to play with his brother, Miles, and for head coach Jason Kidd, a man he knows well and with whom he already has experience.
Surely, you didn't forget that Plumdog Millionaire was playing for the former Nets coach just 14 months ago, before Kidd bolted Brooklyn for Milwaukee.
Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News reported last week that Brooklyn could use Plumlee as a tool to move up in the draft. Isn't this the exact trade that would work for the Nets?
Plumlee's struggle is playing next to Brook Lopez. If Brooklyn could deal the second-year big and prioritize bringing Lopez back, something we know is No. 1 on its to-do list, the team has to consider it a success.
Plus, wouldn't the NBA be better if both Plumlees were on the same team?
The Indiana Pacers Deal
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Nets receive: Damjan Rudez, No. 11 pick in 2015 draft
Pacers receive: Mason Plumlee, No. 29 pick in 2015 draft
This is a better deal than the Milwaukee one, but it's also far less realistic.
There are reasons why the Bucks would want to pull off that deal for Plumlee: his connections with Kidd, his fit within the roster, their need for another athletic big. And they wouldn't be giving up a ton, only that 17th pick.
For the Pacers, it's a different story.
Indy would be trading a selection that's six spots higher than Milwaukee's. It would also be sending off Damjan Rudez, who didn't play much as a 28-year-old rookie in 2014-15 but has the potential to be a more helpful player than Shawne Williams next season.
"Damo" is still a shooter who sank just over 40 percent of his threes.
Unlike with the Milwaukee deal, though, Brooklyn would be taking on Rudez's money: two years of about $2.3 million. Of course, that's a cheap salary for a guy who could contribute as a three-point threat off the bench, but Brooklyn isn't trying to take on long-term dollars.
And if it's purely about the dough, Williams' nonguaranteed one year of $1.4 million could sway the opinion back in Milwaukee's direction.
The Huge Denver Nuggets Deal
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Nets receive: Danilo Gallinari, J.J. Hickson, Randy Foye, Jamaal Franklin
Nuggets receive: Joe Johnson, Mason Plumlee
If the Nuggets are trying to unload their big pieces, they might as well go all the way with it. They have new management and a new coaching staff. With them come new rumors.
So Ty Lawson is on the block. Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders also notes that Kenneth Faried might be right there beside him (h/t NBC Sports). Wilson Chandler could be gone as well, according to Chris Mannix of SI.com (h/t CBS Sports).
If you're blowing it up, you might as well make sure that all you have left is the rubble.
We know that new front-office leader Pete D'Alessandro and shiny new coach Mike Malone are Plumlee fans. They tried to trade for him during the Deron Williams negotiations when they were general manager and coach, respectively, of the Kings back in December.
If the Nugs were to get back present pieces for Lawson and Faried, Johnson would make sense on a roster trying to contend for a year before taking loads of cap space into the 2016 offseason, when the cap will skyrocket by more than $20 million.
The Nets, meanwhile, get pieces (and shooters) for the present in Danilo Gallinari and Randy Foye, a big man who can play both the 4 and 5 in J.J. Hickson and a nonguaranteed contract in Jamaal Franklin. All that comes to Brooklyn without the team taking on any money past this upcoming season.
If Denver finds itself in the proper spot, a trade with these bones could help both teams. But the Nuggets have to first put themselves in a position to make coinciding Lawson and Faried deals for the big picture to make sense.
Follow Fred Katz on Twitter at @FredKatz.
All quotes obtained firsthand unless noted otherwise. Unless otherwise noted, all statistics are current as of June 21 and are courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com.
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