In the last edition for the Brooklyn Nets draft big board series, I’ll provide my full list of players the Nets could target.
Woj Bomb
Before we begin, we must address the massive headline nobody saw coming. This obviously affects how the Nets will approach Thursday’s NBA Draft.
Lakers are trading Tim Mozgov and D'Angelo Russell to Nets for Brook Lopez and 27th pick Thursday, sources say.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 20, 2017
No more 27th pick. More backcourt depth. Less frontcourt depth. Many already expected the Nets to take a big at #22, and this should all but confirm that notion.
Will Mozgov take over as the starter? Who knows. The Nets will most likely look for frontcourt depth with the 22nd overall pick, and can dig through the free-agency market as well. Don’t forget, Brooklyn can still buy an additional second-round pick with their $3.425 million in ‘cash considerations.’ The Nets have been working out several players projected in the range of 30-40 (Kyle Kuzma, Caleb Swanigan, Jordan Bell, Thomas Bryant).
Will they buy a pick to move into that 30-40 tier? I’d be willing to bet they do.
With that being said, here’s the final version of our Brooklyn Nets draft big board. In case you missed them, versions 1.0 and 2.0 can be found here:
At the start of June, I began to rank players based upon where the Nets brass may value them. Like many others, I foresaw the Nets looking to add to the Power Forward and Center positions in the draft.
With Lopez out and Mozgov in, the Nets will certainly place significant value on players in those positions, in both rounds of the draft.
Warriors general manager Bob Myers says their front office puts a ‘B’ next to players they would consider buying a pick for in the second round. Something tells me the Nets have a similar model in place, and will be put to use on Thursday night.
Watch this short clip to hear him speak about how teams go about evaluating players, and how things can shake out on draft night.
Patrick McCaw, who Myers referenced, was selected 38th overall by Milwaukee in last year’s draft. The Warriors traded $2.4 million in cash considerations to the Bucks, in exchange for the UNLV product. Don’t be surprised to see Brooklyn pull a very similar move.
As of now, the Nets will select 22nd and 57th… but this could change.
Opposed to listing a few players the respective picks, I will unveil my full list of prospects for each pick in the final edition of this segment.