I will roll the dice on a draft prospect any day, than (marginally) upgrade after a core that has shown little as of yet.
Well, you have the luck to witness a core.....that The dice has been rolled upon already Has shown little of yet (other than Sengün and Bari)
I do want to mention, I would be more protective of the 2025 and 2026 picks than this year's Brooklyn pick. Cooper Flagg, Cam Boozer, and AJ Dybantsa are all really special prospects coming out of the '25 and '26 classes. There is nobody like that in 2024, and once again, 2024 is just a weak draft in general. Doesn't mean it won't have some good players, but I don't see anybody who appears to be clearly above Amen or Cam Whitmore in talent level, and those two guys are already having to scrap for minutes with us.
8. Houston Rockets: F Matas Buzelis Ht./Wt.: 6-9, 212 pounds | G League Ignite Buzelis, like Holland, oozes with upside with his size and offensive skill. He's made strides defensively as a weak-side shot blocker and his handle continues to improve. The Ignite haven't won a game since Dec. 14, but Buzelis is still confident playing in the G League gives him an edge over other players in his draft class. "We've been through the struggles of playing against NBA players playing in the G League," Buzelis told Yahoo Sports in December. "Players in college don't get to go through that struggle and they don't know what it's like to play against professionals, so it's definitely different than playing in college."
Between our pick and the Brooklyn pick we have a combined 35.7% chance of a top 4 9.4% change of two top 10 picks 8% chance of number 1 overall 2.5% chance of two top 4 picks Keep the picks and roll the dice on potentially getting Sarr.
Yeah you guys might want to look at the Nets’ schedule for the next 15 games. My lord. Exciting times.
They'll win 3 or 4 games max before the deadline. No more. BKN is a sinking ship. It will be interesting, to say the least, seeing whether they're buyers or sellers once they're that deep in the hole.
Nets are conservative, they are neither buyers nor sellers, likely a smaller trade or a 3rd team facilitating a deal. Going for Harden and Durant (or KG and Pierce) were their bold moves. Dejounte, Kuzmer, Gafford, PJ Washington, Clint Capela, those are not the biggest names.....
We are celebrating these Nets losses but what’s lost in the shuffle is that Spencer Dimwiddie, Nic Claxton, Royce O’Neal, Dennis Smith and Lonnie Walker will all be free agents this summer. https://hoopshype.com/salaries/brooklyn_nets/ That’s 5 rotation players and some of their best players on the team. I expect they will resign some, like Claxton probably, but not all. This is a lottery team that has no upside (Phoenix looking good so those picks are trash), and potentially will be even worse year after year, when generational prospects will be coming out in 2025 (Cooper Flagg) and 2026 (Cam Boozer). So holding onto the picks can’t be a bad move. However do we accelerate their tank job and do a Jalen + 2024 bkn for Mikal bridges trade? That will instantly make them much worse, and we can hope that they won’t find a star in a weak 2024 draft class. (A rookie won’t be a winning player for a year or two anyways)
Claxton is going to be a free agent this summer and will want a big contract and starting role, the perfect center archetype for some people, but we know Alperen is here to stay. I like Day’ron Sharpe more, similar level production and impact on the game, underrated, and will be fine as a backup. As for the picks, I would give them 2024 unprotected to tempt them into going all in to tank this year. Any other bkn picks we attach I would put a top 4 protection on it. That way it is a catch 22 for the Nets, tank for this year, but then improve the other picks we still hold, plus we get Bridges.
