Brooklyn Nets Free Agent Target No. 4: Courtney Lee
In small doses, Courtney Lee could provide a lift to the Nets offense, but defensively he could be a liability, with the Daily News’ Winfield noting his inability to keep up with the smaller quicker guards in his recent piece.
If the Knicks end up with one of the final postseason spots, that would mean Lee would be unplayable against the likes of Immanuel Quickley and Dennis Smith Jr. if his G League stint goes well with Westchester. Cleveland holding onto a postseason slot means Lee couldn’t match up with Collin Sexton or Darius Garland. Charlotte would mean not being able to stick Terry Rozier or Devonte’ Graham.
And he list goes even longer (Miami with Kendrick Nunn, Orlando with Cole Anthony). If Lee can’t contribute in the first round of the postseason, it’s unlikely he would be given looks when the rosters shrink even further.
With experience playing in New York with the lesser team across the East River, and perhaps knowing his time is ticking in the NBA, Lee could be another player best suited to space the floor for James Harden during his patented isolation sets…but his shelf life seems likely to expire when the postseason begins.
Still, there are worse guys to have in your locker room in the most stressful season in league history.
Brooklyn Nets Free Agent Target No. 5: Troy Daniels
In what has become a recurring theme in this piece, Troy Daniels is yet another target for the second unit to run alongside James Harden. The career-journeyman has been on two teams since the start of the 2019-20 season but couldn’t land an offseason deal after having his 3-point conversion rate fall to 30% with the Denver Nuggets.
Perhaps career stop No. 8 could be the one he plays in and wins an NBA Championship series, since he technically won with the Lakers last year but was on their Western Conference Finals opponent’s roster (Denver) at the time.
Assuming last year was a down year and not the new normal, Daniels still has value to bring to Kings County in 2021 if his numbers can revert back to pre-2019-20 levels.