Nets mess means Thunder not out of Lopez derby
USATSI
The Brook Lopez trade talk continues. Some might think that the Thunder are out of the derby because a seemingly imminent trade fell apart a few weeks ago, but the Thunder might not be out of it yet.
Here’s the scenario that Brooklyn is facing: the team is reportedly for sale, despite denials from all over the place. They are winning fewer than 40 percent of their games. They keep bobbing in and out of the Eastern Conference playoff picture despite a $90.6 million payroll. If that number holds until the end of the season, they would be on the hook for an additional $25.8 million in luxury taxes. Their payroll for next season could be at least $84.9 million, though it would likely be several million more than that. This would put them into a taxpayer situation for the fourth consecutive year.
The Nets paid $12.9 million in luxury tax in 2012-13. They followed that up with a league record $90.6 million tax bill last season. They will almost certainly be a tax payer this season, barring a small miracle. That would put the Nets into the repeater tax next season. It’s a territory few teams, if any, are expected to enter. It makes no sense for a floundering team to pay those escalated rates. Taxpaying teams also lose a lot of roster-building flexibility, so the Nets are essentially stuck right now.
Oh, and the Nets also forked over multiple future picks in order to dig the grave they currently lie in. The first round picks they do have can’t be traded because league rules prevent teams from going consecutive future years without a first round pick. Instead, the Nets have pick swap options in place for those years. In other words, the Hawks might wind up with a lottery pick this season while the Nets would get one of the last picks in the first round, all thanks to the Joe Johnson trade. And they still owe stuff to Boston because of the Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett deal.
The Nets are a mess, folks.
So if you laughed when you saw a reported offer of Kendrick Perkins and Jeremy Lamb for Brook Lopez, keep all of this in mind (a previously reported version of this deal would have included Perry Jones and the legendary Lance Thomas instead of Lamb). Such a deal would potentially shave $13 million off of the Nets’ payroll for next season. A few other additional moves could get the Nets under the tax line. That would begin to get their financial house in order and make the team more attractive to potential buyers. And for those that think none of this matters to someone worth $18 billion dollars, then answer me these questions: why is Mikhail Prokhorov reportedly ready to sell the team? And why has the team been shaving millions off the payroll since July?
Remember, trades aren’t always about talent-for-talent. Each team has a goal they want to achieve, and deals are about leverage. While I’m sure the Nets don’t want to just give Lopez away, they might have to do so and accept that their day of reckoning has arrived. The Nets aren’t in a position to demand a current or future All-Star for Lopez. They are probably doing their due diligence in case a better deal is out there, but they may not find much.
The Nuggets reportedly offered a package for Lopez that would include J.J. Hickson, Javale McGee and a first round pick (likely the one Oklahoma City traded for Dion Waiters, which wound up in Denver via the Timofey Mozgov deal). The Nets declined it, and it might have to do with the fact that it would add an additional $1 million to next season’s payroll. The Nuggets may not be out of it yet, though. Darrell Arthur is in the last season of his deal, and Randy Foye’s $3.135M salary for next season is non-guaranteed. Adding those two in place of Hickson or McGee might appeal more to the Nets, but then consider Denver’s side: that could send them deep into tax waters next season. That may be why they are trying to match 2015-16 dollars in such a deal.
Other teams could get involved for Lopez. The Lakers can offer future salary relief in a trade for Lopez, but they don’t have much in the way of prospects. Houston reportedly expressed interest in Lopez but that may have been an attempt to run interference. And truthfully, the Rockets might be better off sticking with Donatas Motiejunas and Terrence Jones. If Dwight Howard’s knee injury proves to be more of a long-term thing, that could potentially change things.
The Spurs could be a wildcard in this race as well, but they can’t offer future financial relief and their best prospects are Cory Joseph and Kyle Anderson. Their best bet would be to try and assemble a multi-team trade if they had any interest in Lopez at all.
This is why the Thunder can afford to sit back and see how this plays out. They could be holding back on a better offer. Steven Adams and Serge Ibaka appear to be off limits. While some think Reggie Jackson could appeal to the Nets, the finances say otherwise since Jackson could be up for an eight figure deal this summer.
The Thunder could include the rights to 7’1” Tibor Pleiss. After all, if the Thunder acquired Lopez and kept Adams, they don’t have much need for Pleiss. Though his stats for FC Barceolna ths season aren’t overwhelming — 5.7 points and 3.5 rebounds and 58% shooting in 13.3 minutes per game — the outlook on him is considered mostly positive. Euro stats don’t always translate. For example, FC Barcelona’s leading scorer is this guy named Alex Abrines, and he’s averaging only 11.9 points per game. Pleiss is also backing up one-time Jazz prospect and long-time Euroleague star Ante Tomic, which is limiting his opportunities.
The trade deadline is two and a half weeks away. When trying to figure out what to make of trade rumors, remember what Deep Throat said in “All The President’s Men”: follow the money.
