Newest Nets Update: The Present and Future of Marks’ Recent Additions
Andrew Nicholson
In a situation where wins and losses don’t matter, it is shocking that Nicholson has not seen the court more. Granted, he is the oldest (27) of the Nets’ new faces and has the lowest ceiling of the three by far. Yet, it would be worthwhile to see how he fits in Atkinson’s offense, at the very least. Nicholson is logging less than 10 minutes a contest in his time with the Nets. Unless there is a drastic change in the rotation over the last nine games, it appears as if the Nets’ brass may not have a roster spot for the Saint Bonaventure alum in the future.
While there have been no rumors about a potential buyout of Nicholson’s four-year, $26 million deal yet, the warning signs for this scenario are already visible.
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If he is not able to log consistent minutes on a team as desperate to find undiscovered talent as the Nets are, then concerns about his future with the franchise will be front and center. Brooklyn is currently at (what one would imagine is the NBA equivalent of) rock bottom with no lottery pick until 2019 and little redeeming value on the court. It’s a safe bet to say the team can only go up from here, as they will have a plethora of cap space this summer and many enticing free agents available.
With the rebuilding process set to enter the next phase this summer, there have been no signs Nicholson will be part of the future. If he is unable to find minutes with this Nets squad, then it is hard to imagine him finding minutes on any Nets team in the future.
As for options to dump his remaining salary, there are several paths to choose from. Zach Lowe highlighted the easiest solution in using the stretch provision, similarly to what Billy King elected to do with Deron Williams in 2015.
They eat Nicholson's $$$, but they'll give him a look and can use the stretch provision to make it relatively painless if need be.
— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) February 22, 2017
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This provision, deemed the “Eddy Curry” rule by some, is a sneaky, useful way for teams to get out of bad contracts. Instead of paying the final $19.8 million of Nicholson’s contract over the next three seasons, the Nets could pay out smaller portions of that salary and have a smaller cap hit over several years.
For the sake of argument, let’s look at what the 6-foot-9 forward has done in his limited time on the court as a Net. His best outing was against Boston, in which he nailed a late three (one of only two as a Net) to keep the game competitive. He finished the night with 11 points and two steals.
With the exception of that contest, he hasn’t shown much else; only notching nine points and 10 boards in five other games where he saw court time. If he is part of the Nets’ future plans, then it will likely be as a (very expensive) third-stringer.