Brooklyn Nets: Is Iman Shumpert a good fit?
By Akbar Best
Kyrie Irving isn’t even officially a member of the Brooklyn Nets and he’s been attempting to recruit players with title experience, such as Iman Shumpert.
Less than a month ago, I wrote that Brooklyn Nets fans should forget their concerns about Kyrie Irving?
That piece detailed Kyrie Irving not only wanting to be here, but was recruiting players to come with him. Kyrie Irving, not satisfied with just persuading Kevin Durant to come, reached out to other veterans around the league, one of them being Iman Shumpert.
Kyrie Irving has talked to some veteran role players to gauge their interest in joining Nets. I'm hearing Irving talked to Iman Shumpert to see if he'd want to join BKN. Irving and Shumpert played together in CLE and won title in 2016. Shumpert has interest from other teams too.
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) June 30, 2019
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Iman Shumpert is a player who has had a cult following since being drafted by the New York Knicks back in 2011. Throughout his career he has shown flashes of talent, but never seemed to quite live up to the standards the Knicks and their fans set for him, but then again, who could?
Although very athletic, he’s an extremely streaky shooter, never putting together strings of good shooting seasons. He is known more so for his defense, which is something the Nets could use. He is capable of guarding the 1 through 3.
He also brings an attitude and toughness with championship experience that would be admired by Brooklyn, a borough of the gritty and grimy. It seems Kyrie wouldn’t mind playing with his old teammate again.
I’m not in love with the move and am in no rush to see anyone saying NetsTape, but if there’s anyone who can unlock Shump’s offensive potential, it would be coach Kenny Atkinson and his developmental staff. I can also see Shump forming an immediate bond with Theo Pinson.
Both good-natured and energetic, Pinson can learn from under Shumpert’s wing and the bench dancing would surely benefit from the tandem.
With that being said, I’m not sure how plausible this can be. Iman Shumpert is coming off a season where he made around $11 million. He made more this year than DeAndre Jordan is reported to make next year playing for the Nets.
And the Nets may still be under the hard cap created by taking Durant in a sign-and-trade, but they are tight against it.
If Nets were to: (i) structure the Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving contracts as full maxes but with max unlikely bonuses, and (ii) give DeAndre Jordan exactly 4/$40M, they could be as little as $287K short on cap room if they retain everyone else. Something small needs to give.
— Albert Nahmad (@AlbertNahmad) July 1, 2019
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So with so little money to spend, Sean Marks and the Brooklyn Nets new star point guard must convince Iman to take the veteran’s minimum of $2.3 million, which still might be too steep for the up-against-the-apron Nets.