Brooklyn Nets: CBS, Fox Hand Out Offseason Grades

The Brooklyn Nets are coming off of an offseason where the franchise, led by Sean Marks, has done their best to add veterans while establishing a young core. But as far as letter grades are concerned, how did the Nets fare according to two major publications?

CBS Sports and Fox Sports published their offseason letter grades for each of the 30 NBA teams. Overall, it’s probably easy to guess that the Golden State Warriors, thanks to their signing of Kevin Durant, largely won the offseason.

The Boston Celtics and a handful of other teams also garnered “A” grades on the A to F scale. But what about the Brooklyn Nets?

When it comes to CBS and Fox, the two nearly saw eye-to-eye as it pertained to the Nets. Fox knocked Brooklyn for something that was, for the most part, out of the Nets’ control.

You can view Fox’s full grades here, and CBS’ full grades here.

Let’s break down the two grades.

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For the “Player’s In” (additions) section, Fox only noted Jeremy Lin and Trevor Booker. Yes, those are two of the notable additions, but Brooklyn’s other additions included Caris LeVert, Isaiah Whitehead, Anthony Bennett, Randy Foye, and Justin Hamilton. It’s worth noting that CBS mentioned all of these players.

Fox estimated Brooklyn’s Net WAR (wins above replacement) at 1.64 with all of their roster changes factored in. However, Fox handed Brooklyn a “C” for their offseason efforts. The main knock from Fox was that Brooklyn had offer sheets matched on Allen Crabbe and Tyler Johnson. Fox even notes that the Nets were, “in line for a ‘B'” before the offer sheets were matched. That seems a bit harsh. It’s correct that Brooklyn missed out on both Crabbe and Johnson, but the front office structured offer sheets to best fit the Nets’ cap. It’s out of their control that both Portland and Miami respectively matched the offer sheets.

Overall, though, the tone of Fox’s excerpt on the Nets is positive. It’s clear that Sean Marks drew praise, especially for the additions of Lin and Booker.

Much like Fox, CBS notes that Brooklyn made an attempt to bring in both Crabbe and Johnson, but CBS doesn’t mark the Nets down for the fact that the offers were matched. CBS calls Jeremy Lin, “(Brooklyn’s) prized signing,” and notes what a large draw he is. CBS also praised the addition of Booker, asserting that he should be a valuable piece off the bench. At this point, it seems unclear exactly how Booker will be used. Still, though, he’s viewed as a solid addition.

In CBS’ grade book, Brooklyn earned a “B.”

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In his first offseason as Nets’ general manager, Sean Marks added respected veterans, and a few intriguing young players as well. Certainly, Brooklyn would have liked to add Allen Crabbe and Tyler Johnson, as evidenced by their offers. But all things considered, a “B” grade seems fair for the Brooklyn Nets.