Real mark of Nets' success is becoming a free agent destination
By Brian Lewis
April 4, 2019 | 3:30pm
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The Nets are still hell-bent on making the postseason, but even if they don't, it's not expected to ruin their offseason.
Before Wednesday's game against the Raptors, both the oddmakers and the analysts were predicting the Nets, who entered the day in seventh place in the Eastern Conference, would hold on and reach the playoffs. But the talk around the NBA — from front office executives to players — was that even falling short in the hunt for the playoffs won't doom the Nets in the hunt for free agents.
"I don't think so," Ed Davis told The Post. "We've competed and won enough games this year that they know that all we need is another All-Star, another dynamic player to take the franchise over the top. I think that's what those top-tier free agents that's what goes through their minds. That's how they think."
The Nets came into the game 31-21 since Dec. 7, the fourth-best record during that stretch in the NBA, showing enough in terms of talent, coaching and infrastructure to put themselves in position to be in the running for even the best max free agents.
"For sure. [General manager Sean] Marks just has to do his job now," Davis said with a smile. "That's why they pay him all the big bucks."
And that should be the case whether they make the playoffs or miss them by a game.
Falling a game short would give the Nets a 0.7 percent chance — worse than a 1-in-100 chance — of winning the draft lottery. It probably wouldn't make that much difference in landing a star like Kevin Durant or Kyrie Irving of Jimmy Butler.
"You see a guy like LeBron [James] go to a team like the Lakers. They didn't make the playoffs last year so I don't necessarily think it's a playoff thing," Caris LeVert said. "They see the talent here. Living situation honestly is a big thing. Los Angeles, New York, those are really popular destinations to live in, so I think a lot of things play a roll, not just the playoffs."
Multiple sources throughout the league told The Post that the Nets — once anathema to most free agents when playing in the swamps of East Rutherford, N.J. — have impressed with their coaching, culture, training staff and support structure.
"I don't think Brooklyn missing or making the playoffs will tilt the needle when it comes to free agency," former Nets assistant GM and current ESPN analyst Bobby Marks told The Post. "The body of work this season of the current roster, having an All-Star in [D'Angelo Russell] is a great selling point."
LeVert agreed, saying Russell could be a selling point to Durant or other stars.
"[Russell's] played at an All-Star level," LeVert said. "Everybody wants to play with a great point guard, a great floor general, and he's put himself in that conversation for sure. That lessens the load for a guy like Kevin Durant or another superstar who wants to come play with us. … That's very attractive that D'Angelo has elevated himself to that level to play with."
The Nets actually can afford to keep Russell and add another All-Star. Even if forced to match a near-max offer to Russell, who will be a restricted free agent, they should have more than $30 million in cap room. LeVert, Jarrett Allen, Spencer Dinwiddie, Joe Harris and Rodions Kurucs provide nice complementary pieces.
A source told The Post that Irving — who grew up in West Orange, N.J., rooting for the Nets — would give them consideration in free agency. And David Griffin, who was the Cavaliers' GM while Irving played in Cleveland, recently said the point guard would prefer the Nets' situation to that of the Knicks.
After Butler reportedly put the Nets on his short list of teams he'd like to be traded to, the New York Times reported Brooklyn would be in on the veteran wing.
The Nets are still clawing toward the playoffs — but don't think not making the postseason will scuttle their offseason.
Filed under brooklyn nets , kyrie irving , nba free agency , 4/4/19
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