Nets can avoid bursting
After signing Crawford, Brooklyn has three spots to fill for Disney
There are only 11 healthy Nets players making the trip to the Orlando bubble. They are: Caris LeVert, Joe Harris, Jarrett Allen, Garrett Temple, Tyler Johnson, Timothe LuwawuCabarrot, Rodions Kurucs, Dzanan Musa, Chris Chiozza (two-way), Jeremiah Martin (two-way) and the newly signed Jamal Crawford.
Crawford was signed to an undisclosed deal, according to a report by The Athletic.
With Kyrie Irving and Spencer Dinwiddie out for the rest of the season, the Nets are sorely lacking when it comes to options at the point guard spot. Adding a veteran scorer and ballhandler in Crawford could help to alleviate some of those concerns.
The 40-year-old Crawford last played for the Suns during the 2018-19 season, averaging 7.9 points and 3.6 assists in 19 minutes per game. Though he was utilized more as a scorer off the bench in recent years, Crawford did average a careerhigh 6.8 assists per 36 minutes with Phoenix, demonstrating that he still has the ability to make plays when he needs to.
Still, the Nets need to do more ahead of the NBA’s 22-team resumption of the regular season at Walt Disney World Resorts.
They have three open roster slots and myriad needs to address as they look to retain their standing as an Eastern Conference playoff team. Pickings are slim, but there is some help out there on the open market.
Here are a few more moves Nets general manager Sean Marks could do to help his team win in Orlando.
(Note: Teams are unable to sign any players who were waived after March 1)
Justin Anderson
Anderson is re-signing with the Nets, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, but the deal is not yet official and no contract has been signed. Anderson appeared in Brooklyn on a 10-day contract earlier this season. He did not play much and did not make a three, but did display the hustle and grit typical of Brooklyn Nets basketball.
Anderson and Nets sharpshooter Joe Harris played college basketball at Virginia together. On a recent conference call, Harris went in-depth about what his potential teammate brings to the court.
“Justin is an athletic, active presence on both ends of the floor,” he said. “He adds a lot of value obviously with his size, his length, his defensive ability. I think offensively he’s extremely talented as well. He provides another talented player that’s able to help us on both ends of the floor.”
Iman Shumpert
The Nets arguably should have done this the instant David Nwaba went down with a season-ending ruptured Achilles.
The Nets signed Shumpert when Kyrie Irving and Caris LeVert went down with injuries in November. They were subsequently forced to waive him when Wilson Chandler returned from his 25-game suspension for failing a drug test at the beginning of the season.
Shumpert was one of the Nets’ more dynamic defenders. His issue was efficiency; In 13 games, he shot 33% from the field and 24% from three.
The Nets can forget about trying to outscore anyone. They’ll be lucky to reach 100 points in any game in Orlando. But this isn’t new territory. They had a similarly injury-riddled roster earlier in the season and won games by playing defense even when the offense faltered. Shumpert, if anything, is an energetic defender and hustle play-maker.
It is unclear whether Shumpert has interest in returning to the NBA amid the coronavirus pandemic; he has a family and is currently pursuing a career as a hip hop artist.
Donta Hall or Deyonta Davis
The Nets are in an interesting position. Yes, they have four open roster slots, but let’s be real, they have as much a shot at winning a championship — let alone getting out of the first round of the playoffs — as most four-footers do at getting drafted.
For that reason, it’s going to be a hard sell for veterans like Pau Gasol, Marcin Gortat or Amir Johnson — big men in their 30s who may only consider a trip to the Orlando bubble and risk exposure to the coronavirus for a team with at least a puncher’s chance at reaching the NBA Finals.
The Nets currently have one true center available in Orlando: Jarrett Allen. The next tallest players on the roster are Rodions Kurucs and Dzanan Musa, both of whom are 6-9, but neither of whom have the size to handle big men on the interior.
Marks has been known to go after reclamation projects — players that didn’t work out in one market but may have more left in the tank than meets the eye. One such player available on the free agent market is Deyonta Davis.
Davis battled injuries his rookie and sophomore seasons in the NBA. In Year 3, the Hawks waived him nine games in. Still, Davis is an athletic, 6-11 big man with two-way potential of rim-running and protecting. It’s slim pickings, but the Nets could take a flier on the embattled big man.
Donta Hall has also been a popular vote on social media, and for good reason: The 6-9 forward-center averaged 15 points, 10 rebounds, a block and a steal per game for Detroit’s G-League affiliate Grand Rapids Drive team this season. This could be an audition for a longer-term opportunity, especially if the Nets are active on the trade market over the summer.
(Note: DeMarcus Cousins is a free agent but will not play in the Orlando bubble. Instead he will continue rehabbing his torn ACL.)
(Another note: Isaiah Hartenstein is a free agent, but the Rockets waived him after
March 1, making him ineligible to sign with another team for the Orlando bubble.)
Tim Frazier or Isaiah Thomas
Let’s be clear about one thing: Both Tim Frazier and Isaiah Thomas belong in the NBA. Both are undersized, yet can do two things the Nets need — shoot the three and move the ball.
Frazier has career averages of five points and four assists, but he’s shown the capability to produce in the past. In a 16game sample with the Pelicans in the 2015-16 season, he averaged more than 13 points and seven assists while shooting 42% from three and 45% from the field.
Frazier is a player who could benefit from playing in Orlando, and the Nets are thin at the point guard slot with Chiozza as the only true one on the roster.
Thomas is another player who could benefit from extended play time in the bubble.