Brook’s Brooklyn
Plumlee deal means Nets pick Lopez to build around
If there were any doubt about whom the Nets were building around going into Thursday’s NBA draft, by the time the night was done there was no longer: It is Brook Lopez’s team now.
Although Lopez, on Friday afternoon, officially opted out of the $16.7 million he could have received for the 201516 season, according to multiple sources, the fact the Nets were willing to move Mason Plumlee to pick up a second firstround pick Thursday — which they used to snag Arizona swingman Rondae HollisJefferson — only reinforced a growing belief within the organization and around the league Lopez will resign with the Nets once free agency begins next month.
Nets general manager Billy King hasn’t shied away from the fact retaining Lopez and Thaddeus Young — who also opted out earlier this week — are his top priorities. All indications are both will be returning next season, allowing the Nets a chance to move forward with a pair of 27yearold big men who worked well together after the Nets acquired Young for Kevin Garnett at the February trade deadline.
“From Day 1, I said that’s our priority,” King said early Friday morning of keeping Lopez and Young. “They know it, and I think they want to be back.
“You get a vibe from guys, just being around, you get a vibe that they want to be a part of it. Still you’ve got to [sign them]. But like I’ve said, we have tools in our favor to keep them.”
It was fitting the Nets chose to move Plumlee on Thursday, if only because it was a symbol of just how dramatically things have changed, not only for the Nets but also for both players, over the past year.
At the draft a year ago, the Nets appeared certain to continue along the path of playing a spread, smallball approach. It had helped turn their season around under Jason Kidd after Lopez suffered his latest foot injury and was lost for the season. Plumlee thrived under that approach while Lopez seemed incapable of playing in that system. That combination, along with Lopez’s injury history, made it seem as if he, not Plumlee, would be the one departing.
Even after Kidd left a few days later and Lionel Hollins replaced him, it appeared that would still be the case. The Nets came close to trading Lopez twice before Hollins found the formula to maximize Lopez’s abilities. Playing alongside Young, after the AllStar break, Lopez averaged 19.7 points and 9.2 rebounds while shooting 52.5 percent from the floor.
That formula didn’t include Plumlee, however, as it became clear the two simply couldn’t play together — which the numbers and the eyetest backed up.
“Brook progressed and regained his form, and with him playing, Mason’s minutes went down, and he could never get back into the rotation,” King said.
“I think the way the league’s going, I don’t think you’re going to play two guys like that. You’re not going to have Mason at the four and have [Lopez] at the five. So if the goal is to resign Thaddeus,
that’s going to limit Mason’s minutes even more.” So with the knowledge they weren’t going to make Lopez and Plumlee work, the Nets used Plumlee to get HollisJefferson — who, along with No. 29 pick Chris McCullough, meant the Nets left the draft with a pair of athletic 20yearold forwards. They are trying to infuse an aging roster with more youth and athleticism to surround Lopez, one of the best scoring big men in the league.
Lopez, even after resigning with a multiyear max contract will still be the third highestpaid player on the roster behind Joe Johnson and Deron Williams, but the former Big Three has clearly devolved into a Big One, even if that might have happened more by circumstance than by design.
However the Nets have arrived here, after years of uncertainty surrounding his future, Thursday proved Brooklyn is Brook Lopez’s team now.