CASH & BURNED

AS NBA DOLES OUT OVER $1.5 BILLION IN NEW DEALS, JAX CANT FIND ANY TAKERS

The Nets did what was expected for weeks Wednesday, re-signing Brook Lopez and Thaddeus Young on the opening day of free agency.

Despite having little leverage — given the Nets didn’t have cap room to sign replacements for either player if they chose to leave — Brooklyn came away as big winners with both deals.

The sticker price of the respective contracts —about $60 million over three years for Lopez, and $50 million over four years for Young — jump off the page when compared to current and past salary-cap numbers. But you can’t look at contracts signed t hi s summer under that lens, given where the league is headed.

With the cap set to be around $90 million next year and — if there’s no lockout — somewhere near $110 million in 2017, the deals the Nets agreed to with Lopez, arguably the best scoring center in the league, and Young, a solid starting power forward, are more than reasonable.

Then there’s the fact the Nets went into the offseason with a goal — to bring back both of their top free agents — and accomplished it immediately. Instead of being in a situation like, say, the Clippers, who find themselves waiting to see if DeAndre Jordan will return to them, the Nets can move on to the rest of their summer plans without fear of things blowing up in their faces. And that, with Cory Jefferson as the only healthy big man under contract at the start of free agency after t rad in g Mason Plumlee on draft night, would have been the case had Lopez or Young left.

It also continues what has been a positive offseason for the Nets, who entered it with two main goals — to re-sign Lopez and Young and to get younger and more athletic. By picking up Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Chris McCullough with first-round picks and then signing Cliff Alexander, one of the most sought-after undrafted free agents, they also have begun to retool the roster with higher - upside players.

But Wednesday’s good news doesn’t mean the Nets can relax while the rest of the NBA goes around splashing the cash — which it did to the tune of more than $1 billion in future dollars being handed out Wednesday. While it’s clear Lopez is the piece the Nets plan on building around, they’re facing a combined payroll and luxury-tax bill of around $130 million. That’s with a need to likely sign two reserve big men to play behind Young and Lopez, as well as potentially adding more shooting.

That’s why there has been so much discussion about trading Deron Williams and /or Joe Johnson, who are making a combined $46 million and clearly are not part of the team’s longterm plans. While all sides would probably like to have a fresh start after a frustrating three years for Williams, the fact he’s got a player option worth $22.3 million for 2016-17 will likely make moving him prohibitive.

Johnson, on the other hand, has an expiring contract, and though it’s a massive one — $24.8 million, a salary second only to Kobe Bryant next season — he’s still an effective player, and it seems likely the Nets would be able to find a taker for him as free agency progresses and teams with cap space find ways to use it. There’s also the chance the Nets could flip Jarrett Jack for another piece — given they took on Steve Blake in the deal that brought them Hollis-Jefferson.

But all of those are secondary concerns for now. The Nets did what they had to do in bringing back Lopez and Young, and signing them to quality contracts to boot. It may not have been the most exciting opening day of free agency, but it was a very successful one.

tbontemps@nypost.com