Needing to rebuild without the benefit of their own future draft picks, the Nets’ plan has been to strategically target young restricted free agents they can pry away.
They reached an agreement with one Sunday in Miami’s Tyler Johnson, and may still be in pursuit of another in Portland’s Allen Crabbe.
Brooklyn dipped into its huge salary-cap cache and agreed with Johnson on a four-year, $50 million offer sheet that multiple reports from Florida say the Heat won’t match. League sources denied a report the Nets agreed to a four-year, $70 million deal with Crabbe that Portland declined to match, saying “not true at this time.”
But with Crabbe set to meet with the Nets Tuesday, it’s obvious they’re still talking and he’s still listening. And it’s also clear Brooklyn general manager Sean Marks is sticking with the blueprint of prudent spending and calculated long-term plays for the future to help rebuild a 21-61 team which does not control its own first-round pick until 2019.
Both Johnson and Crabbe are 24-year-old wings, but somewhat different.
The Nets view Johnson as a player who can play shooting guard but also be groomed as a point, despite the fact that up to this point scouts say his defense, energy and athleticism outstrip his ball-handling and playmaking. He can’t officially sign the offer sheet — first reported by the Vertical and confirmed by The Post — until the moratorium ends Thursday, after which time the Heat will have three days to match.
But will they? Miami is still pursuing Kevin Durant, and hoping to convince Dwyane Wade to re-sign. And thanks to the Gilbert Arenas provision in the collective bargaining agreement, the Nets gave Johnson to a poison-pill deal that’ll be tough for Miami to swallow, the cap hit escalating from just $5.6 million and $5.8 million in the first two seasons to $18.8 million and $19.6 million in the last two.
With Johnson only qualifying for early Bird rights, Miami would have to use cap space to match. Both the Miami Herald and Associated Press deemed that unlikely, with Heat players Hassan Whiteside, Josh Richardson and Wade all wishing their farewells on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/youngwhiteside/status/749649977471827968
https://twitter.com/DwyaneWade/status/749647915027722240
Johnson represents a testament to hard work, undrafted and toiling in the D-League in 2015. But he improved last season, averaging 8.7 points on .486 shooting — .380 from beyond the 3-point arc — in 24 minutes despite shoulder woes that limited him to just 36 games.
But Johnson — who was being pursued by the Pelicans, Bulls and Hornets, rejecting a better deal from New Orleans — also represents a nice young piece added to a core that coach Kenny Atkinson can groom, along with Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Chris McCullough, Caris LeVert and Isaiah Whitehead.
“He’s a terrific athlete. His athleticism and defense are things he’s already proven at the NBA level. Shooting is OK, he’s got to improve that, and he will. He’s a worker. … He’s not a point. … But he’s got a strong base, can keep guys from posting up. He can guard guys 6-7 and still hold up,’’ ex-Knick scout Scott Maguire said of Johnson. “It’s going to take time. The ranks are depleted. But Johnson will be a factor.’’
The 6-foot-6 Crabbe averaged 10.3 points, .459 shooting from the field and .393 from deep, with the expectation the Blazers would match any offer up to four years, $70 million, which is exactly what they paid Evan Turner. Would they tie up $140 million in two young swingmen, especially while still pursuing Pau Gasol?
Atkinson filled his staff by adding Cavalier assistant Brett Brielmaier, according to the Vertical.