The consensus among pundits is that this year’s free agent class is not the best, putting aside the mystery of where LeBron James suits up. That said, the Nets have more than enough cap space to make significant offers for whoever is out there plus draft assets that could be put to use in sign-and-trades.
That said, Tim Bontemps of ESPN is out Thursday with his assessment of where the top eight free agents could win up when the bidding begins in a little more than a month. Among the eight are a couple
of players the Nets have had reported interest, including Denver’s Peyton Watson and Minnesota’s Ayo Dosunmu, Bontemps doesn’t mention Brooklyn as potential suitors for those two, but he thinks they could be a player in the player most who will likely wind up with the biggest payday outside of James: his Laker teammate Austin Reaves, the 6’5” 27-year-old shooting guard who would add needed punch to Jordi Fernandez’s offense.
One potential bidder to watch this summer, sources said, is the Brooklyn Nets, who will enter the offseason with more than enough salary cap space to accommodate a max-type player.
While other writers have listed the Nets on the list of potential suitors, Bontemps singles them — and only them — as an LAL competitor for Reaves’ services. Bontemps does note that getting Reaves on the roster would not be cheap.
The majority opinion is that Reaves will remain in Los Angeles — and on a massive raise. But after playing on one of the best value contracts in the league the past few seasons, what number gets that done?
Several scouts and executives predict something in the range of five years, $200 million, but below his five-year max of $239 million, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks.
“I’d be pretty surprised if the first year starts with a 3 instead of a 4,” an East scout said, “but the Lakers need to keep him, and by all accounts he wants to be there, so I think they make it work.”
Indeed, Reaves is coming off a four-year, $53.8 million contract with Los Angeles Lakers. He also reportedly was offered and declined a four-year $89 million extension from the Lakers, expecting a big payday this summer. Despite missing 31 games, mostly to an oblique strain, Reaves managed to put up big numbers again: 23.3 points on 49/36/87 shooting splits. He also averaged around five assists and five rebounds as well. In his two previous seasons, he missed a total of nine games.
Although he’s not been named to an All-Star team in his time with L.A., he’s seen as one of the franchise’s future keystone pieces along with Luka Doncic. Since he’s an unrestricted agent, the Lakers would not be able to match any bid from the Nets or other teams.
Although Bontemps did not mention the Nets as a team that could pursue Watson but notes that the Nuggets will have to make several moves in order to find the financial resources to keep him.
retaining Watson and keeping the current roster intact would push Denver far into the luxury tax.
The Nuggets have never been big spenders, which is why the belief around the league is that Cameron Johnson (on an expiring $23 million deal) or Christian Braun (on a five-year, $125 million extension signed in the fall) is likely to be moved to create enough room to give Watson something in the per-year range of those players.
Bontemps, a former Nets beat writer for the Post, also cites a Western Conference scout suggesting Watson’s recurring hamstring issues could hurt him.
“They could easily just pay him and pay the tax, but we know how the Kroenkes operate,” a West scout said. “That means sending out either Johnson or Braun, and I don’t know where that lands. The injury stuff is a concern, but so is how they struggled without him.”
Watson is also close to Michael Porter Jr.
In his assessments the off-season possibilities of the Nets’ 27 teams no longer in contention for the O’Brien Trophy, Bontemps’ colleague Bobby Marks noted that the Nets will likely have about $34 million in cap space assuming they deal with the team options for Day-Ron Sharpe and Ziaire Williams (both $6.3 million) and Josh Minott ($2.6 million). He also noted that Malachi Smith who the Nets signed to a multi-year deal at the end of the season has a $2.1 million team option, indicating the contract isn’t guaranteed.
Bobby Marks laid out some territory familiar to Nets fans as he assessed the franchise that employed him for more than two decades. He found both optimism and pessimism, but mostly a lot of questions.
From an evaluation standpoint, the Nets currently have the look of an expansion tea… The offseason presents an opportunity for Brooklyn to improve significantly, with the No. 6 pick in the draft and cap flexibility this summer..
Marks (again no relation to the Nets GM) wrote that the big question other than their draft pick at No. 6 will be what to do with MPJ, whether they should keep him or trade him for even more assets as well and if they don’t what they should pay him … and how.
[T]he Nets must decide whether to build around Porter or to explore trades. Acquired last offseason from Denver along with an 2032 unprotected first-rounder, Porter averaged a career-high 24.2 points per game and shot 36.3% on 3s. It was his fourth consecutive season shooting greater than 36% from deep. He is on an expiring $40.8 million contract and is eligible for four additional years and up to $234 million.
Porter’s impact on the court, durability and age — he will turn 28 in June — should warrant discussions on a new contract. (Prior to suffering a strained left hamstring last month, Porter Jr. had missed just 14 games since the 2023-24 season.)
Because Brooklyn will have cap space, it could also increase his current salary and then decrease the first year of the extension by up to 40%. For example, Porter would earn $49 million this season and then $30 million next year.
Would a team with Porter, Reaves (admittedly pure speculation) along with the Flatbush 5 and the No. 6 pick help the Nets move into respectability if not playoff contention? The Nets, of course, have no interest in tanking again this year. They will have to swap their first rounder with the Rockets if they finish below Houston in the standings come next April.
Marks also looks into the Nets other free agency this summer, that of Noah Clowney who is looking for an extension beyond 2026-27, the final year of his rookie contract. Marks notes that Clowney had an up-and-down season that could hurt his bargaing position.
Clowney remains an inefficient shooter. For a second straight season, Clowney is shooting below 40% on field goals and 34% on 3s. Defensively, opponents shot 49.9% against Clowney. That ranks fourth worst of any player to contest 750 shots this season.
One final footnote from Marks: “The Nets will have the $9.4 million room midlevel exception available after cap space is used.” That could work out to $29.9 million over three years. Not an insignificant sum.
