As the Brooklyn Nets begin to sell merchandise, they only have four players whose destiny they control: Anthony Morrow, Johan Petro, MarShon Brooks, and Damion James. I will describe and rank these players in terms of their value as trade assets. This does not mean that I want them to be traded.
#4: Johan Petro
The Nets would rather not have ‘The Pet.’ He is terrible and will eat up $3 million of cap space next season. He has some very weird habits that do not serve him well. These include fade away, one handed jump shots from 15 fifteen feet away from the basket. He also has a strange tendency to attempt awkward lay-ups when he could simply dunk the ball. Even though he is a seven footer, he is a liability on defense because he is slow, uncoordinated, and has a ridiculously low basketball IQ. Expect to see him involved in many trade rumors while sitting on the end of the bench next season.
#3: Damion James
Damion James is not ‘guaranteed’ to be a Net next season because his contract was created with a ‘team option’ this offseason. The Nets can release him at no cost or retain him at a very low cost. His contract also features a ‘team option’ next offseason, so even if the Nets keep him this year, they can cut him next offseason at no cost. This is a very friendly contract because it is cheap and it essentially expires each of the next two seasons. I expect the Nets to retain James because his contract is so manageable.
Unfortunately, James does not really belong in the NBA. He is a forward who is small and has no shot. Since he has no shot, he can never be a good small forward. Since he is small, he can never be a good power forward who scores from the post and rebounds consistently. He is not particularly fast or athletic, either.
#2: Anthony Morrow
Morrow does one thing and does it very well: shoot the ball. Defense, rebounding, passing, and dribbling are not things he can do at a high level. Still, sharpshooters are very useful in the league today and Morrow may become popular in Brooklyn. Morrow was inconsistent last season, but he still had some very special games which indicate that he has not lost his shooting touch. One such game was his 42 point performance in a close loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. He had a four point play in crunch time and single-handedly carried the Nets on offense. One big reason why he is not the most valuable player on this list is he gets paid much more than MarShon Brooks. Morrow will eat up $4 million of cap space next season while Brooks will only get paid $1.2 million.
#1: MarShon Brooks
MarShon has yet to prove his worth in the NBA. He had some really encouraging games, especially when the Nets were injury plagued towards the beginning of the season. He has a huge wing span and is a very creative scorer. Unfortunately, he has some bad habits that limit his efficiency. He tends to take too many contested jump shots and plays absolutely awful defense. Also, too many of his lay-ups were easily blocked last season. Still, he is young, has a lot of potential, and has a contract that is very friendly to the Nets’ salary cap.