Nets ‘comfortable’ offering RFA Cam Johnson 4-year, $84 million deal “People following his (Cam Johnson) free agency believe the Nets will be comfortable offering Johnson a four year deal worth north of $84 million dollars… People following Johnson’s free agency believe that a team will step up and offer Johnson a big time offer sheet. Whether it’s Houston, who he’s been tied to through various reports, or Detroit, who NBA reporter Marc Stein tied Johnson to recently. They (the people following Johnson’s free-agency) feel that a team is going to step up (to) sign Johnson to that offer sheet and force the Nets to match that offer sheet. Now, I would assume that Nets match it because they acquired Johnson in the Kevin Durant trade with Phoenix.”
If that’s what ime wants than so be it. But to me it’s obvious that the team is better off with KPJ off the ball, and with some veteran leadership at the point guard position. The thought of another year of KPJ dominating the ball is too much for me. Just my opinion.
He won’t be dominating the ball, that’s my point. He will bring the ball up and hand it to Sengun. He then becomes and off the ball scorer. This is Ime’s plan. He shared it with us a long time ago. A guard rotation of KPJ, Jalen, Amen, and a vet like Reeves will be a really good fit on how this team wants to play. If KPJ reverts to ball hogging or doesn’t play defense he will be gone. If Amen looks like he is going to take years to develop, then they may hit the market for a backup PG.
I think the Rockets have an incentive to increase that number. The Rockets need to offer $25-27M. Not matching would leave them with the MLE to fill the hole. They aren't going to be able to replace him with that. The Rockets' offer needs to push the Nets significantly into the luxury tax to make them really think about matching. It would be a win-win for the Rockets. Signing him makes us better and makes them worse, which improves the picks they owe us. If they match, it is going to cap their team out and possibly force them to make cuts elsewhere. The Rockets would be really dumb not to make an offer that at least forces the Nets into the luxury tax if they match.
Brook Lopez is the only guy on that list worth giving big money to, and the contract length could still be sketchy. Dillon Brooks is an interesting buy-low target. Austin Reaves is a nice player too with some upside, but paying anything more than $24mil a year starts getting scary. The Rockets should not break the bank on washed up vets like Middleton and overrated guys like FVV. Fill out the roster, replacing scrubs like Nix & Christopher, with cheap vets who are good locker room influences on our young core.
Now that the Pacers have Myles Turner locked up, they have a glut at center. I'd make them an offer for Isaiah Jackson.
Running List Of Changes In NBA's New Collective Bargaining Agreement | Hoops Rumors Teams below the minimum salary floor (90% of the cap) on the first day of the regular season will not receive an end-of-season tax distribution from the league’s taxpaying teams.
"The Houston Rockets continue to be mentioned as a likely leading suitor for [Dillon] Brooks once the free agent market opens... The idea that James Harden will re-sign with Philadelphia in free agency rather than return to Houston for a second stint with the Rockets has gained momentum over the past week or two."
Not a bad thought, but what's stopping them from saying "Tari Eason or no deal"? They appear pretty close in value and Tari would be a heck of a fit on their roster. Maybe KJ + a Brooklyn pick could do it, but I'm a bit skeptical they'll accept that.
If we’re not willing to swap Tari for him, then shot-blocking center isn’t as big of a need as we’re making it out to be.
That’s just so much money for a player who’s just a great shooter that plays decent defense. He’s already 27 in his prime and had the green light to shoot as much as he wanted and it’s still 16ppg with some average defense. Most alarming part to me is he only has 4 seasons of experience and has played only 57 (bubble), 60, 66 and 42 games. That’s without high usage or minutes. That’s not a win-win imo. We’re taking a hit and a bad contract to hurt the Nets. That’s a lose-lose. We’re taking on a significant risk to marginally hurt them. We are starting a pure scorer at the 2. Our 3 is going to have to guard the best wings every single night. Johnson is not that guy. We need a more defensive minded guy who can shoot at the 3. I also don’t believe they will get materially worse without him. They sucked really bad with him. At $20m/season I’m in because it’s at least a safe contract then. They need to keep the asset so badly I can see them overpaying him. For us to overpay on top of their overpay is a dangerous strategy.
I think he'd be a good pickup in combination with another low-cost big. He's too slow to be the only center off the bench these days, but he's still good enough at stopping bigger, stronger centers. Maybe if you can combine him with a skinny PF/C type like Mike Muscala or Chris Boucher who can space the floor a little bit and switch better onto perimeter players, to form a situational duo off the bench?
