Help is on the way for the Brooklyn Nets.
Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving should be healthy and ready next season to lead a roster that already features Caris LeVert, Joe Harris (if he re-signs), Spencer Dinwiddie and Jarrett Allen.
The Nets' offseason got underway in September with Brooklyn hiring Hall of Fame point guard Steve Nash as their next head coach. The Nets are expected to hire Mike D'Antoni and Ime Udoka as assistant coaches, according to a report by ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski -- reuniting Nash with D'Antoni, Nash's former coach with both the Suns and the Lakers. Nash had previously hired former Suns teammate Amar'e Stoudemire as an assistant coach.
From here, the attention will now turn to the free agency of Harris, a rookie extension for Allen and the expiring contract of Dinwiddie and the hopes of finding a third star to play with Durant and Irving.
Note: The financials in here are based on the salary cap and luxury tax holding at the 2019-20 levels, as expected. Dates are subject to adjustment.
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The cost of free agent Joe Harris
Joe Harris is a 3-point specialist -- shooting 38.5%, 41.9%, 47.4% and 42.1% from distance in his four years in Brooklyn -- but he has also developed a more complete overall game. This season, Harris has grabbed five or more rebounds 27 times, dished out four or more assists 12 times and grabbed two or more steals in 10 games.
Harris is an unrestricted free agent and will see an increase in his $7 million salary. The question becomes how much Brooklyn is willing to pay in a luxury tax penalty.
Harris will receive at least $9.3 million, the midlevel exception that teams over the cap have available. But would a rebuilding team with cap space such as Atlanta, Charlotte, Detroit or New York give him a more substantial offer in the range of $14-16 million?
Would the Nets allow him to shop for an offer from another team with the risk of losing him? GM Sean Marks told the YES Network that Harris ranks at the top of their offseason list of things to do.
"Priority No. 1," Marks said. "It's that simple, yeah. I think we've talked about [it] plenty of times. We're obviously very proud of where Joe has come from."
Brooklyn would have only the $5.7 million tax midlevel if Harris does not return. They would also lose a possible future trade asset that cannot be replaced. Harris has already established Bird rights with Brooklyn, meaning that the Nets can pay him up to 30% of the cap (which is very unlikely) and an additional five years.
If the luxury tax comes in at $132.7 million, the Nets would start the offseason $9.9 million over the threshold and with a $15.9 million penalty. A Harris contract starting at $12 million would push the Nets' tax bill to $49.9 million -- a combined $46 million in 2020-21 to retain the 28-year-old.
While a $50 million tax bill is substantial, Durant and Irving did not commit last summer for ownership to now go into cost-cutting mode.
The expiring contract of Spencer Dinwiddie
What the future holds for Spencer Dinwiddie is uncertain for multiple reasons. Dinwiddie is technically under contract for the next two seasons. However, because he has a $12.3 million player option for 2021-22, the Nets' guard will all but certainly become a free agent next offseason.
This past season, Dinwiddie became the ultimate insurance policy in the absence of Irving. He missed the Orlando restart after testing positive for the coronavirus, but before that, Dinwiddie in 64 games, including 49 starts, averaged a career high 20.5 points and 6.8 assists.
At a minimum, 10 teams are projected to have cap space of $15 million or more in the summer of 2021. Dinwiddie has established himself as a starting point guard, and the thinking is that he will see a more lucrative payday compared to what Brooklyn can offer him in an extension.
Starting in December, the Nets can offer a four-year, $62 million extension with a starting salary of $13.7 million in 2021. Dinwiddie does have Bird rights, and Brooklyn can offer him more years and money when he does become a free agent. However, is the front office comfortable paying Dinwiddie and starting point guard Irving a combined $50 million-plus per year in salary?
On the court, there is only a 20-game (8-12 in those games) and 305-minute sample to evaluate whether the Irving-Dinwiddie pairing works.
Factor in the emergence of LeVert, and Dinwiddie is a sixth man. Will he sacrifice in a contract year?
And what exactly is his trade value if Brooklyn makes him available? While a team trading for Dinwiddie inherits Bird rights, the same extension restrictions would apply (but six months after the trade).
Would a team give up a player and draft assets for someone it can sign with cap space? Or does a team that doesn't have cap space sacrifice assets without knowing if Dinwiddie will commit in the long term after the season?
Of course, the Nets can do nothing with a player as talented as Dinwiddie, and that's my recommendation: Let the 2020-21 season play out with a healthy Durant and Irving surrounded by the best possible roster.
The search for a third star
This is not where you will see a case made that Brooklyn should pursue the likes of Bradley Beal and Victor Oladipo. Instead, I'm making the argument that the third star Brooklyn wants already resides in their own locker room.
If the 51-point performance against Boston in early March was not confirmation, the play of LeVert in Orlando cemented why Brooklyn should not search externally for the third star to complement Durant and Irving. In the games in Orlando, including the playoffs, LeVert averaged a team-high 25.0 points, while grabbing 5.0 rebounds and handing out 6.7 assists.
Without Dinwiddie and Irving in Orlando, LeVert also showed how versatile he is, starting at point guard in the playoffs.
Durant indicated he has noticed. "He is definitely better than I thought," Durant said on a recent "Play for Keeps" podcast, "He's different. He can score that thing. He can pass it. He's quick. His thing is about being efficient, and I think that's what you're seeing. The shots he's taking now, it's like all of his lane. Not a lot of 3s, a lot in the midrange, getting to the cup. I think his IQ is what surprised me the most."
Compared to Oladipo, who is a free agent in 2021 and will command a big payday, LeVert is under contract through the 2022-23 season on a team-friendly salary: $16.2 in 2020-21, $17.5 in 2021-22 and $18.8 million in 2022-23.
If we remove LeVert, the list of Nets assets includes Dinwiddie, Harris (if he re-signs), Jarrett Allen, Taurean Prince and a first-round pick in each of the next seven years. But of course, if the Nets are looking to become buyers on the trade front, it comes with the risk of their depth now getting gutted.
To build that depth, the Nets have shown strong scouting acumen in finding under-the-radar players: Harris, Dinwiddie, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and Chris Chiozza are among the recent success stories.
Offseason cap breakdown
For the first time since GM Sean Marks took over in 2016, Brooklyn will be in the luxury tax. Including the first-round pick owed from Philadelphia, the Nets have $144 million in committed salary, $12 million above the luxury tax line.
The Nets will have the $6.0 million taxpayer midlevel exception available.
Depth chart
The resources available to build the roster
The draft: first- and second-round picks
$5.6 million to send or receive in a trade
Bird rights on free agent Joe Harris
$6.0 million tax midlevel exception
Dates to watch
The Nets have until the day prior to the start of free agency to exercise the $5.0 million team option of Garrett Temple. His veteran leadership, his on-court production and the fact that Brooklyn is backed into a corner financially will keep him on the roster once the deadline passes.
Luwawu-Cabarrot's $1.8 million contract is non-guaranteed.
Chris Chiozza has been a bright spot since Brooklyn signed him to a two-way contract in early January. Durant also commented on Chiozza in the same podcast: "He's surprised me a lot. We started playing 3-on-3 once I started getting back into shape a little bit, before the pandemic hit. Then he started getting more minutes in the games and then [was] knocking down 3s, just playing with pace. He's just looked good. He looked like he belonged out there. ... He really showed me that he can play in this league."
Because he is on a two-way contract, the Nets have until the day prior to the start of free agency to extend him a qualifying offer worth $50,000. Chiozza has accrued non-Bird rights, and Brooklyn can sign him for up to four seasons and a starting salary that can start at 120% of the minimum salary in 2020-21.
Restrictions
The poison-pill restrictions for LeVert and Prince expire before the start of free agency. Because both players signed rookie extensions last year, the average salary of 2019-20 and the new extension is used for incoming salary. For example, LeVert would count as $13.8 million as incoming salary for a team acquiring him and $2.7 million as outgoing salary. Because of the restriction, both players cannot be traded until after free agency starts.
For trade purposes, Luwawu-Cabarrot will count as $0 in outgoing salary. Only the amount protected is allowable in a trade.
Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving have a 15% trade bonus in their contract. The Durant bonus would be voided in the unlikely situation he is traded. Because the Irving salary is below the maximum allowed, the guard would receive $3 million in the unlikely situation he is moved.
Extension candidates
Allen is extension eligible and could sign a contract for four years (or five, but for only the max) up to the first day of the regular season. Allen proved he is extension worthy during the seeding games and playoffs. In six seeding games before the postseason began, the center averaged 15.7 points, 11.0 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.2 blocks.
However, because he will become a restricted free agent in 2021 and the team has the ability to match, Brooklyn could stay in a holding pattern until Allen agrees to a team-friendly extension (think $12-14 million) or wait until he becomes a free agent. As mentioned regarding Dinwiddie, teams should be flushed with cap space, but Allen is at a disadvantage because of the restricted tag.
There is a pattern of Brooklyn extending players on the last year of their rookie contract but on their own terms -- for example, LeVert's and Prince's deals could be considered team-friendly contracts. While a new contract would not impact the Nets' luxury tax bill in 2020-21 because it starts in 2021-22, Allen would become close to untradable because of the poison-pill restriction in his extension.
Besides Allen and Dinwiddie, former second-round pick Rodions Kurucs is extension eligible.
The draft assets
The Nets traded their own 2020 first-round pick to Atlanta (it now belongs to Minnesota) as part of the cap-clearing trade to remove Allen Crabbe's salary.
Brooklyn did replace its own first when it acquired the 76ers' 2020 first during last year's draft.
Here's how ESPN's Jonathan Givony and Mike Schmitz have Brooklyn selecting in November:
• No. 19 (via PHI): Jalen Smith | PF | Maryland
• No. 55 (via DEN): Kenyon Martin Jr. | SF/PF | IMG Academy
Brooklyn has its own first in future years.