Nothin' But Nets
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Brooklyn Nets: 5 free agents from 2nd tier to watch

By Phil Watson

Brooklyn Nets Tobias Harris Jimmy Butler. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
Brooklyn Nets Tobias Harris Jimmy Butler. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /
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Brooklyn Nets
Brooklyn Nets Tobias Harris Jimmy Butler. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /

The Brooklyn Nets have some lofty aspirations this offseason in free agency, with an eye on some of the elites. But these 2nd-tier players could also help.

With the new league year — and the start of free agency — still more than two months away, the Brooklyn Nets front office is already deep into the process of creating a list of targets.

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And after years of shopping out of the bargain bin in free agency (and landing some gems such as Ed Davis), the Nets and their success-starved fan base have their eyes on shopping Neiman Marcus this summer, with superstars aplenty getting ready to hit the open market.

There has already been a lot of speculation about the Nets’ ability to pursue one (or more) of the top-tier free agents, a list that will likely include Kevin Durant of the Golden State Warriors, Kawhi Leonard of the Toronto Raptors (player option), Kyrie Irving of the Boston Celtics (player option), Kemba Walker of the Charlotte Hornets and Klay Thompson of the Warriors.

Durant made waves this winter when his company moved to new office space in New York. Leonard has ties some ties to the Nets through a long association with former San Antonio Spurs executive and assistant coach Sean Marks, now the general manager in Brooklyn.

Irving grew up in New Jersey as a Jason Kidd-era Nets fan and Walker is a Bronx native who could be looking to play in his home city after venturing out first to the University of Connecticut and later to Charlotte.

But if the Nets aren’t able to land any of the big fish, there are still some upscale upgrades available outside of free agency’s big five.

Brooklyn’s salary cap situation for next season is complicated by the status of point guard D’Angelo Russell, set to become a restricted free agent and with mutual interest between player and team of keeping DLo in a Nets uniform.

The Nets could use Russell’s Bird rights to re-sign him without cap implications next season, but to do so, they’d have to keep his $21.06 million cap hold in place.

If they opt to renounce their rights to Russell and fellow restricted free agent Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, the Nets can open up close to $47 million under the cap for next season.

That doesn’t preclude them from keeping DLo, but it makes him unrestricted and he’d have to be re-signed into cap space at that point.

If Marks can find the right sweeteners to get a taker for the final season and $18.5 million of Allen Crabbe‘s contract, Brooklyn could open up to as much as $65.5 million under the cap — close to two max slots.

Here are five free agents on that next tier that could be outstanding fits in Brooklyn for 2019-20 and beyond.