Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
Scotto: There was this (narrative) that the Nets let Jeff Green go, and they went for Patty Mills instead. At the time, the Nets wanted to give Green the minimum, which wasn’t going to fly. Green went to Denver and got a similar deal that he had with the Nets.
Mills has a player option. I don’t know what he’s going to do there. He’s pretty appropriately valued, in my opinion.
Winfield: I think he (Mills) stays, especially if Ben Simmons is staying. Everything Patty has said of Ben has been in support of him.
Scotto: Bruce Brown’s value is going to be interesting. Does he get more than the non-taxpayer mid-level exception and go above $10 million?
Winfield: It’s tough. In my mind, I’m considering you’re probably going to have to pay Nicolas Claxton. If you’re paying him and you have Simmons, you can play Simmons and Brown on the floor at the same time, but I wouldn’t look to see many of those minutes because I’d want to have as many shooters around the floor. I know Brown has had a breakout season from three-point range, but part of me still wants to see it under duress. We saw him shoot a lot of wide-open threes because defenders didn’t respect his shot.
He’s played such a hybrid role… We’ve seen him thrive setting screens and rolling to the rim and making decisions out of that short roll. That’s a pretty unique need for a guy at his size. I’m just wondering how many teams would really want to weave that into their game plans… If I had to bet, I think he’s gone, and someone gives him a lot of money.
Scotto: Nicolas Claxton was mentioned in trade talks close to the deadline when the Nets were targeting wing help (Dorian Finney-Smith and Royce O’Neale, as noted above). There was a belief the Nets could’ve gotten a first-round pick as part of a trade package for Claxton from Toronto at the deadline, but the Raptors went with Thaddeus Young instead. I’m told that the first-round pick would’ve potentially been dangled as part of a trade package for Finney-Smith before he signed his extension. I’m not sure who the other player would’ve been because the Nets would’ve had to put more than a pick for Finney-Smith, given how much Dallas values him.
Claxton is a guy they’re really going to have to consider keeping. Claxton will be restricted, which helps them. Mitchell Robinson is going to be unrestricted. I touched on HoopsHype that he’s valued at around $12-13 million for executives. Could he hit $15 million? Maybe. Claxton and Mo Bamba will be restricted. The importance of keeping Claxton is magnified because Andre Drummond, Blake Griffin and LaMarcus Aldridge are all unrestricted free agents.
Winfield: I think the Nets make Claxton their center of the future. I think Blake and LaMarcus are gone. I think Andre is going to get money elsewhere because he played well in a short spurt for the Nets before he got to the playoffs. I think teams will remember how dominant of a rebounder he was.
Scotto: Goran Dragic said he loves basketball, and he still wants to play another two or three years. Steve Nash is his guy. You’d think the Nets would have dibs on him. As I previously reported on HoopsHype, if Nash didn’t heavily recruit Dragic to the Nets, he was going to pick between the Los Angeles Clippers and the Milwaukee Bucks.
Kessler Edwards has a team option. I think the team brings back Edwards. They like him, and they need young and cheap guys to fill out the roster. I think he stays as a 3-and-D guy.
You can follow Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) and Kristian Winfield (@Krisplashed) on Twitter.
