Day 179

Fresh Start_179: Starting a championship pursuit
Brooklyn needs to start their “rebuilding project” at the 2017 Trade Deadline. With assets that could be turned into potential lottery draft picks and turn the Nets from the laughing stock of the NBA to a legit rebuilding team with good young talent and picks. With the worst record in the NBA (9-47),
no lottery picks in the 2018 Draft (this draft is considered one of the best classes to date), and the shadow of Billy King’s deplorable trade that started this whole mess still hanging over Brooklyn, it’s time for change.

The two players that could bring back the most return on the Nets is guard Bojan Bogdanovic and star center Brook Lopez. Starting with Bojan, the 3rd year guard is having his best season statistically; averaging 14 points, 3 rebounds, while shooting 36% from 3-point range. Bogdanovic also has an extremely friendly contract, only being owed $4.4 Million for just one more year. With a player like Bogdanovic the return wouldn’t necessarily be the best return, but a couple of mid-round picks wouldn’t be too much to ask for from teams like Miami, Dallas, Milwaukee, or even Toronto. The cherry on top of all of this is, Bogdanovic is only 27, so the team that would trade for him would be getting the prime years of his career. While Bogdanovic is a nice player to have at the moment, he isn’t a cornerstone piece of the franchise. Plus, with the increasing salary cap, the Nets won’t be able to retain him for the price he will be asking for.

Bogdanovic could really help a border line playoff team down the stretch with his 3-point shooting ability and the ability to create his own shot. On top of that, Bogdanovic hasn’t had any players that could create shoots for him in his career. With better talent, Bogdanovic could become an X-Factor in a playoff run that could help win a championship.

On the other side, Brook Lopez is a player that you could get a package of lottery picks out of. The best shouters for me would be Phoenix and Minnesota with their need of a dominate big man. If Minnesota could play Towns at the four, it would make their chances of making the playoffs that much greater. Lopez is having his best season of his career, averaging just over 20 points and 5 rebounds. Lopez has also added the 3-pointer to his game shooting 34% from behind the arc, while also shooting his best from the free throw line (83%), and averaging 2.5 assists per game. Brook Lopez is everything you want in a stretch center and doesn’t have a drop off on defense either. However, the kicker with Lopez is that he is owed $22.6 Million next season so Brooklyn would have to take some of that salary. But, a player like Lopez warrants a package of two 1st round picks (with at least one being a lottery pick), and a player that can provide something off the bench. If the Nets added a future early 2nd rounder, that trade could produce that package.

Lopez is a dominate big-man, one of the only true centers left, even with his game expanding past the 3-point line. What Lopez could bring a team is a cornerstone piece that an up and coming team could build around. While personally I would love for Lopez to be on the team that hoists the Finals Trophy up in Brooklyn, I can see the writing on the walls and I know that his team in Brooklyn is up, and the return we get back needs to resemble a package for a star player.

The NBA isn’t going to sit around and just make the Nets a decent team again, the new front office needs to work the phones before the deadline and ship Bogdanovic and Lopez to new teams. The business end of the game has to kick in at some point, and if the Nets don’t want to be the worst franchise in the NBA for the next 5-10 years, they’ll start now.
Sources:(espn.com, spotrac.com)

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