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Draft and Summer League Review

After a torrid pace to start the offseason, things have slowed down into a positive and fairly quiet few weeks. In fact, Wizkid was so quiet that he didn't even attend the draft.

Although draft night didn't go exactly as the Nets expected, they did end up with one big and one big guard out of their back to back late first rounders. Many expected them to fill their need for a third center with one of the picks and possibly a wing that wouldn't come over this year with the other. Instead, Frenchman Guerschon Yabusele fell from just a projection at just outside the lottery more than 10 picks to where they were sitting. Many GMs around the league seemed put off by the combination of a lack of pre-draft buzz and that he may stay abroad for a year. The Nets, who scouted the player in very limited fashion, saw the possibility of developing overseas as a positive in the short term and couldn't pass up a guy with his combination of size and skills. The other pick is a guy that was more on their radar in Caris LeVert. He struggled through a lot of injuries in the last couple of years, but the Nets were in a place to swing for the fences with both of these picks. Neither will most likely play many minutes for the Nets in the coming season due to their depth, but they give some intrigue to keep an eye on in the future.

Since the draft, the main thing occupying the minds of the fans has been NBA Summer League - an annual event that has the world feeling overly optimistic (or sometime pessimistic) about the teams' youngest players. The Nets are no different, having four players participating in the event. Josh Huestis and Yabusele both had lukewarm performances in summer league. Huestis showed his defensive capabilities and a little bit of range, but also that he's far too limited offensively for the Nets to expect much from him this season. With Yabusele, he showed a surprising amount of skill and versatility for someone that isn't that far from 300 pounds, however it looks like he's still another year of fairly high-level European competition from making any impact himself.

Brooklyn players did manage to bring home some hardware, however. Jordan McRae continued to show both his scoring ability and all-around performance by putting up 25/5/2, earning himself a spot on the first team All-Summer League team. Not to be outdone, last year's lone first round pick, Tyus Jones, took home Summer League MVP. Tyus was playing with a bunch of guys that probably won't get an NBA shot in most games, so took on a very different role getting 19/4/6 on very good percentages. Both of these guards showed why the team has been so high on them over the course of the last year. They most likely guaranteed their spot on the roster, but it will be a very tall order to try and crack the rotation with all of the returning talent as well as the new comers.

Free agency has also been generally kind to the Nets. It was initially looking like it could be a daunting way to end the summer, but nearly every bounce has gone their way. Jeremy Lamb and Danilo Gallinari both made it easy on Wizkid, publicly expressing their desire to get a deal done as early as possible and it looks like the Nets will happily oblige.

Terrence Jones and Austin Rivers weren't as kind to the fans that have watched them grow - looking elsewhere early and often to see what kind of money and role they could find on their way to on another team. Austin finally told the Nets last week that he'd be willing to come back if given a role on the bench and huge contract starting at over $10 million. Rivers was a mainstay in the Nets' second unit, often the first one off the bench, but the price tag is still high. Rumors are that as of now, the team will pony up the money to bring back one of their best bench options, but with 5 players already making in the mid-teens and another handful in the 5-7 million range, adding Rivers' contract to that number will prove burdensome. Terrence Jones did make it a little more do-able however. The young big looks like he wants to start somewhere, and with all of the forwards hanging out in Brooklyn that looks almost impossible. But Terrence has expressed regret over two up and down seasons in Brooklyn and wants to see that righted - to the degree that he may be willing to come back for the minimum. If Jones came back for the minimum, not only would it be easily the value signing of the summer, it would round out the roster nicely and put the Nets in a position that they really don't have to make any moves, while still having the assets to make something happened if they wanted to.

July may be a quiet time around here, but for Brooklyn it looks like it could be drawing nearer to the moment the fans have been waiting for.

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