ANALYST: How FAST Can The Brooklyn Nets Make The PLAYOFFS? What Moves Should They Make This Summer?

It's the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.

This is Nick Gangsta with the Lockdown Mavericks Podcast.

This message is a paid partnership with Apple Card.

I love that I can run up to 3% daily cash back on every purchase of my Apple Card, which

can be automatically sent to my high yield savings account through Apple Card right in the

wallet app.

With my iPhone, I can use Apple Card with Apple Pay basically everywhere I go.

You can apply for Apple Card too, right in the wallet app on your iPhone.

Subject to credit approval, savings is available to Apple Card owners, subject to eligibility,

savings in Apple Card by Goldman Sachsbank, USA Salt Lake City Branch member FDIC, terms

and more at AppleCard.com.

This is Wes Goldberg from Lockdown NBA and Lockdown Heat with a message from Dell.

Dell PCs with Intel Insider built for the moments that you plan for, and the ones you

don't.

The moments that you're working from a cafe and realize, every out let's take in, or the

times that you're deep in your flow and can't be interrupted for an auto update.

That's why Dell builds tech that adapts to you, with long lasting battery and built in

intelligence that makes updates around your schedule, not in the middle of it.

Find technology built for the way you work at Dell.com slash XPS, built for you.

On today's show, slow and steady wins the race.

It's an adage Brooklyn fans may not want to hear about the team's rebuild, but it's

180 to its step.

I'll tell you why on today's episode of Lockdown Net.

You are Lockdown Net, your daily Brooklyn Net podcast, part of the Lockdown podcast network,

your team every day.

Welcome in to Lockdown Net right here on the Lockdown podcast network.

Now the number one sports podcast network, it's your team, the Brooklyn nets every single

day.

I'm Eric Slater, Brooklyn.

That's Be Your Reporter for Couchpoints.com.

Thank you for making me your first listener of the day.

Today's episode is brought to you by Fandall.

Fandall is giving you a way to turn that energy into even bigger potential wins with a college

basketball, parlay, profit boost at defandall.com to get started.

That's Fandall.com Fandall, play your game.

Now today's episode, it's Fand take Friday.

I took questions and takes from listeners on a wide range of subjects, going to be a

two-parter because we got another jam packed mail bag and part one, going to be talking

about the net's rebuild path and it's rebuild outlook and specifically.

How far away is this net's team from competing, from potentially making a push for the playoffs?

So first question, the nets have shown what their rookies are capable of doing.

You believe this team can actually make a play in or even may I say a playoff push next

season.

That's from Justin Valdevi and similar question.

What are the chances that nets make the playoff next year?

How long do you think it's going to take for us to at least compete for a play in spot

at the minimum?

That's from Johnson and also RJ.

Yes, this is a question that I continuously have gotten throughout this season.

What is the outlook for next season?

Can the nets make the playoffs?

What kind of a leap can we expect from them?

I think it's clear throughout this season that the net have a lot of promising pieces

like some of the rookies have shown promise.

There's other guys veterans who I think are rotation caliber players.

There's some middleing middle of the road younger guys who I think have shown promise.

But despite that, I'd say that net's going to see the temper of their expectations.

This is a team that had title aspirations was a title favorite just four or five short

years ago.

And since then, it really has been three pretty painful seasons last year with the

tanking season and the two kind of transitional seasons before that.

It hasn't.

It's been a extended period.

And despite that, the nets are still early in this rebuild.

Like they kind of spent those two seasons in that transitional period where they were kind

of trying to still go for it or still be in a competitive playoff situation when they

probably should have just ripped the bandaid off and tore it down and they'd be a little

bit further along in their rebuild if they had done that.

But given that, you know, this is really, this is your two of the net's rebuild.

It's really your one of the net's rebuild because last year, they didn't really have a

lot of young pieces on this team that they were going to build forward with this with

the five rookie first round picks.

This is your one of a rebuild and rebuilds take time.

And so if the question is, can the nets make the playoffs next year?

Look, I'm not going to put it past them and say they can't do it.

They could get really aggressive.

The answer to that question is ultimately going to be, you know, how aggressive do they

get in these off-season moves?

How much, you know, internal improvement do they get from the rookies this year?

And how ready is the draft pick that they bring in?

How ready is he to contribute to winning next year?

So all of that, you know, hinges on those questions, but my perspective on it is that

I do not think that the nets are going to be a playoff team next year.

I think that they could be much better, but I don't think there would be a playoff team

that's just based on the fact that, you know, nearly half of the roster is going to

be, you know, 19, 20 years older, younger.

Like you look at it, they have five rookie first-round picks this year.

They're bringing in another guy that's almost half the roster.

And like very rarely in the NBA nowadays are sophomore players ready to contribute

to like a playoff caliber rotation.

That's going to have five of those guys.

And I know that everybody's hyped off the fact that they're going to bring in

potentially a top talent, a top three type talent.

And there are guys, you know, in that group, I do think can be significant

in needle movers, even in their rookie season, but they're still rookies.

It's very hard to contribute to winning, to elevate a team from one of the worst teams

in the league to, you know, a playoff, you know, caliber team.

It's very hard to do that for kids who are 19 years old.

So, you know, just based on where the nets timeline is, I don't expect them to play

off team next year.

I do think they can be much better, but question is, can they be a play-in team?

I definitely think that's a possibility, but ultimately, a lot of this is also going

to depend on the moves that the nets make outside of the draft, and that brings me to

the next question.

Do you think the nets are going to contend next season or continue to rebuild?

If we contend, how do you see a reworking of this roster going?

That's from pre-selected currency.

That's going to be a huge question, because the nets, obviously, there's been the storyline

or the talking point that they don't own their first round pick next year.

That is a swap that they owe to the Houston Rockets.

So with that, they obviously don't have an incentive to tank.

A lot of people saying, no, the nets don't own their pick.

They have to be better.

They have to make the playoffs.

They can't give the Rockets another top pick.

And that's not really the way that they should be operating.

I've said this, that pick is a sunk cost, and that's fans by now should know a lot about

sunk costs.

I mean, they've made several of these trades where they've given up, you know, picks very

far into the future.

And does that mean that the nets shouldn't try to be better?

They should try to be better, but they should try to be better on their own terms.

They should try to be better on their own timeline and, you know, on their own, you know,

given their own incentives.

That pick, I'm not naive.

It's going to be an incentive.

It's going to factor into their decision making somewhat because optically, you don't want

to give like the number one pick or, you know, a top three pick again away, but it really

shouldn't have any factor or calculus into their decision making.

So do I think the nets are going to contend next season or continue to rebuild?

They're not contending next season.

I mean, these words are kind of semantics.

They're going to be rebuilding.

The question is, how much do they put the foot on the gas next season?

That's the question.

And do they mortgage some of maybe, you know, what would be in their best long-term interest

in terms of how they're building forward mortgage some of the future capital to try to make

some short-term gains?

That's going to be the question, and I don't think that it would be, you know, wise for

them to do so.

As I said, that pick is a sunk cost, and I think that they should be building at their

own pace.

We've seen the nets do the quick fixes.

We've seen them do it since Brooklyn.

It's really all they've done.

You had the D-wheel trade into the KG, Paul Pierce trade.

You had the big three-error them going for that.

I'm not saying that the big three-error was necessarily a wrong move, but it was, you're

the quick fix kind of mentality that we're putting it all together on the fly, and there's

been a lack of continuity, a lack of, you know, sustainable success, a lack of just overall

structure and stability.

And that's what this net's team should be looking for, and that's going to come through

building through the draft.

Look, I understand the temptation for net sense to question after three disappointing seasons

in a row.

Can they make the playoffs next year?

I understand that, and I'm not saying that it's completely out of the question, but

I'm saying you can find wins outside of necessarily making the playoffs.

They're going to want to see improvement.

They're going to want to hopefully maybe get into the play, and maybe that can be a goal.

But that doesn't necessarily need to be like to end all be all of your offend.

You can look for, you know, is this going on a trend line where we can see it being

sustainable and building in the right direction?

I know that fans don't want to hear that right now.

Some fans, but that is what the net should be going for.

So we'll see what, you know, offseason moves they make outside of that, but I think that

the focus about this rebuild, the focus of the net's front office should have is building

this out in a way that is the most sustainable way of building it, getting the most stability

into this organization and putting forth, you know, a structure and a framework and a

baseline that you can build forward from as opposed to trying to kind of mortgage the

future, trying to get these short-term games when we know that that is not in the team's

best interest based off of, you know, previous experiences.

And I said a lot of this is going to depend on the offseason moves in the next make and

next question.

Any realistic trade options this offseason, we don't have our pick next year.

So it will make sense to finally take advantage of the cap space we've accumulated.

I've heard the likes of Paolo Bankero floating around.

So I'm hoping we make a push.

And the next question also, would you try to trade for Paolo Bankero next season?

That's from Languid and Gunner 99 and just on the question of what potential offseason

moves can the net's make.

There's so many offseason moves that they can make.

Like it's right now it's tough to even go to names or, you know, names specific people.

You know, I think that you look at the avenues and the nets are going to have to bring

in talent.

It's going to be the draft.

It's going to have a top pick in the draft.

And then it's going to be the cap space that they have free agency potentially and then

trades.

And if you look at all those routes, I'm not necessarily going to talk about so much

specific players is I think they should target as the specific player, you know, as the

specific archetype or type of players that I think they should be targeting.

And the way that I think that they should be going about it, look, if they wanted to

bring a veteran in who they feel like can be a bridge guy who can kind of help this

team take that next step, but not necessarily mortgage the future for him.

I'm all in for that.

There's a lot of those by low candidates that we've talked about throughout the season.

The guys that I would like to see the nets go after are some of, you know, the by low

candidates are, you know, guys that are maybe younger who they see that younger who they

see in situations where maybe they don't have the potential to show all that they can

right now.

And that's maybe think with added opportunity, those kinds of guys can pop and they think

you look at a lot of the teams around the league, you look at the Oklahoma City Thunder,

a team that has a surplus of talent, you look at, you know, whatever other teams you

want to name, whatever other contenders that have teams, what they have guys that maybe

necessarily aren't getting the opportunity that they would, if not for if they weren't

on a contender along those lines, you can look at those guys, you can get those guys for,

you know, they'll still cost something, but you can get them on a discounted price, you

know, in the sense that maybe with added opportunity, they can show more or have more

potential than they have in the position that they do right now.

So those are the kind of moves that I would like to see the nets make that, you know,

would be targeting younger guys who fit their timeline.

It doesn't mean that they have to be 21, 22, 23 years old, but not going after, you know,

veterans who are getting to like kind of the prime or, you know, approaching over the

hill in their career.

I don't think that that makes sense unless you can get those guys at a very discounted

rate.

But guys who can fit the timeline who maybe have potential to show more than they have

been.

And I'm the question of Paulo Bancaro.

I mean, could he be one of those guys, I'm not the biggest Paulo Bancaro guy just based

off of the amount that the nets would potentially have to give up for him, the amount that he's

making on his contract.

I don't hate the idea like I understand the, you know, the appeal.

But at the end of the day, he's a guy that really hasn't been that efficient, offensively

struggles as a three point shooter has been a very high usage ball dominant guy throughout

his career.

And I don't necessarily think that he's shown the offensive efficiency to warrant that.

So I'm not totally out on it, but I'm not sure that that's the move that makes the most

sense for the nets.

There's a lot of other questions about potential offseason moves, Jordi Fernandez.

What is his coaching future look like?

How does he factor into the way that the nets are going to build this team in the coming

years?

So again, to all that when I continue locked on nets after a quick break.

College basketball is nonstop big games tight spreads momentum swings every single night.

From early tip offs to late night, West Coast shootouts.

There's always action on the board.

And now Fandals giving you a way to turn that energy into even bigger potential wins with

the college basketball parlay profit boost.

You can build any college who's parlay you want, rivalry games, ranked matchups, whatever

fits your read.

You can mix spreads, totals and player props to match how you see the slate playing out.

Then you can apply the profit boost and instantly bump up the potential payout.

Guys, go save, go bold, ride with the team.

You've been following all season.

It's your parlay, your style now with more upside behind it had to fandal.com to get

started.

That's fandal.com fandal.

Play your game.

This is Nick Gangsta with the Lockdown Mavericks podcast.

This message is a paid partnership with Applecard.

I love that I can run up to 3% daily cash back on every purchase of my Applecard, which

can be automatically sent to my high yield savings account through Applecard right in the

wallet app.

With my iPhone, I can use Applecard with Apple Pay basically everywhere I go.

You can apply for Applecard too, right in the wallet app on your iPhone, subject to credit

approval, savings is available to Applecard owners, subject to eligibility, savings and

Applecard by Goldman Sachsbank, USA, Salt Lake City Branch, member FDIC, terms and more

at Applecard.com.

Coming back from the break, continuing today is Lockdown Nets episode on this fan take,

Friday, rolling on through all of your takes and questions.

Next question, assuming the Nets keep ya, Gordon, Nolan, MPJ or Clacks, their first

round pick this year and their own first going forward.

Would you trade for Yannis or another way to ask what is the trade package that would

get Yannis without jeopardizing the future?

That's from Hickson.

So talking about a potential trade package for Yannis, a lot of questions about this

throughout the year.

You said assuming the Nets keep ya, Gordon, Nolan, MPJ or Clacks, their first round picks

this year and their first round picks going forward.

What else do they have to trade?

I mean, you got to give up something to get something.

I mean, Yannis and Tendekumpo, I know that he's an older guy at this point.

He's still a top four, five player in the league.

You're not going to keep all of that and get Yannis.

So if the question is, what is the trade package that could get Yannis without jeopardizing

the future?

I think that you look at the two premium assets that the Nets have right now.

Yagor Dillman in terms of like the top young prospect that they have.

Yagor Dillman and their 2026 first round pick.

If the Nets are going into trade conversations, in my opinion, for Yannis, both of those

assets should be off the table.

No, you might not be able to get a deal done without including either of those assets.

And if that's the case, you don't get a deal done.

Like, that's fine.

But if you're asking, what's the package that the Nets could give up without jeopardizing

their future?

There really isn't one no matter what the Nets do, in terms of a Yannis package, they're

going to jeopardize their future because they're going to be getting up a boatload of draft

picks.

That's just the bottom line.

So you're asking, what is the package for Yannis and the Nets could put together without

completely mortgaging the future?

I'd say if you're trying to keep Yagor and you're trying to keep Nolan Chorey, I would

assume you want to keep MPJ if you're going after Yannis because you want to have that guy

that he can play alongside, the package would be Nick Claxton as the main salary filler,

Nolan Chorey, maybe one other prospect, or player salary filler, those guys in terms

of the trade.

And then a lot of first-round picks.

It would be like four or five first-round picks, plus swaps, and that is kind of mortgaging

the future.

It's not fully mortgaging the future, you're trying to do the two timeline thing in that

scenario a little bit, which I don't think is prudent.

So that's the kind of package that I could see.

If you could get something clacks, Nolan, maybe you just throw Terrence Mann and there's

a salary filler and you give up a shitload of draft picks.

That would be the package that I think would make at least some sense for the Nets.

I don't think that it's something that they should do, but that's the package that wouldn't

completely mortgage the future that you could at least have talks about if you're a team

like the Bucks.

Next question, who are some free agents or restrictive free agents that might look into

acquiring this offseason?

That's from Pino, and I have to go through the free agent list, but, man, if you go through

the free agent list, it's very dry.

I mean, free agency, it's not what it used to be.

I mean, it's more or less the thing in the past, and you look at some of the guys, like

it's kind of similar to what I said with, you know, kind of the younger guys that could

potentially pop.

You look at the RFAs that you can potentially overpay for and get them in the door, like

that is the most realistic route for Brooklyn, like the star level guys hitting free agency.

It doesn't happen anymore because guys are locking in their contracts first, and then

if they want to change a scenery, they just ask out, that's how it's going now.

But if you talk about free agents like Peyton Watson with the nuggets has been a guy that

a lot of people have talked about because after trading for Cam Johnson and just with their

financial situations, the nuggets are going to be pushing up against the luxury tax, the

aprons.

They're going to have a hard time, you know, with having to re-sign Cam Johnson potentially

with keeping a guy like Peyton Watson.

And that's a guy that the nets could go after and potentially overpay for and potentially

kind of pry him away.

And I think that if you're looking for, you know, free agents that the nets could realistically

get, you kind of want to look at some of the apron teams.

Like you look at the teams that are pressed up against the apron who have some young guys

who are intriguing and they can't necessarily afford to overpay for those guys.

You talk about teams, you know, like the nuggets, you talk about teams like the Cavaliers,

the Knicks, like those types of teams that are pressing up towards the aprons that can't

afford.

And you can kind of overpay slightly to take guys away from them because they don't have

the financial flexibility to keep those guys.

So I'm not getting into a ton of specific names, Tari Esen with the Houston Rockets and

other guy that people have talked about, but I'm not sure the Rockets let him get out

with door.

But those are the types of players that I think the nets will be looking for.

And I think it's younger players who have potential who because the nets have all of this

financial flexibility.

They have the luxury of time in their rebuild.

You can afford to overpay for those guys a little bit to get them in your building, you

know, and pay them things that other teams cannot.

So other teams that are contenders right now cannot.

So that's what I would say.

And you know, I think we'll get into more specific guys as we get further along towards

the offseason.

The last question before another break is Jordy Fernandez, the coach of the nets two

years from now.

That's from Jeff Shapiro.

And I think definitely yes.

I think that the nets have had problems identifying coaches throughout this Brooklyn tenure.

They've changed coaches like nine times during this Brooklyn tenure.

That's the main black mark, I think on Sean Marx, you know, after it seems like he kind

of got pushed into fire in Kenny Ackinson by the stars.

They really missed on the next two head coaches with Steve Nash and then Jacques Vaughan.

They won an e-mail adoka.

They didn't get him.

But now it finally seems like they hit on a coach in Jordy Fernandez, who has shown

some really encouraging qualities during his first two seasons and has a plan in place.

But the nets seem to, you know, wholly believe in.

So if you're moving forward, the net just made five first round picks in this last draft.

They're going to make another top pick in this next draft.

You're making those picks in the vision that Jordy Fernandez has set forth.

Now, obviously, the net's front office has their own vision.

They have their own principles, but Jordy Fernandez is a big part.

We heard all offseason about the collaboration between Jordy and the front office in regards

to the draft process.

So if that's the case, with the early returns, the promising returns that Jordy has shown

through two tanking seasons and with the amount that he is probably influencing, you know,

these some of these picks, they're going to give him an extended runway to build out

with the vision, you know, that he sees fit in the front office, he's fit.

So I definitely think that Jordy will be the net's coach two years from now.

Last questions we got on this part one of the fan take Friday have to do with some

of the current guys on the net's team, Michael Porter, Jr., Nick Claxton, could they potentially

be on the move this offseason?

How should the net's approach that?

I'll get into all that when I close out locked on nets after a quick break.

Welcome to the five hour energy flavor draft we're looking at every aspect of the draft

to let you know which tasty flavors are the best and which just might be sleepers.

The board is set.

The flavors are ready and only one is going to take the top spot guys five hour energy

has a wide variety of flavors.

They've got something for everyone, some of my favorite flavors, tropical burst.

It's tasty.

It's fruity flow that gives off island vibes, sour apple, crisp, tangy taste, delicious

tart, just so good.

There are other flavors that are definitely sleepers, confetti craze, fruity rainbow, cotton

candy, whatever you like, they've gotten option and most of them are great.

So find your new favorite flavor of five hour energy shots available online at fivehourenergy.com

or Amazon.

Workplace chaos deadline stacking up inbox overflowing and the one position you have to

fill still sitting open.

And the pressure is on and you need the right hire.

That's a job for indeed sponsor jobs indeed sponsor jobs helps you reach people who actually

fit what you're looking for skills experience location.

So you're not just hoping the right candidates stumbles across your post and here's a stab

that says it all in the middle I've been talking to you companies like yours made twenty

seven hires on indeed according to indeed data worldwide.

So if you're hiring spend less time searching and more time actually interviewing candidates

who check all your boxes less time less stress more results when you need the right person

to come through the chaos.

That's a job for indeed sponsor jobs and listeners of this show will get a seventy five dollar

sponsor job credit to help get your job.

The premium status it deserves at Indie.com slash podcast just go to Indie.com slash podcast

right now and support our show by saying you heard about indeed on this podcast Indie.com

slash podcast terms and conditions apply need to hire.

That's a job for indeed sponsor jobs.

Coming back from the break closing out today is locked on that's episode part one of this

fan tape Friday rolling on through all your remaining takes and questions next question.

Sean marks made a crucial mistake in not trading MPJ before the trade deadline is value

is at an all time high with the potential to first round pick return marks has a history

of holding players too long and their value diminishes example DFS that's from Ethan

Gans and look if you think that the next should have traded Michael Porter junior at this

trade deadline.

I could see why you would hold that opinion, but it's also difficult for fans to have

that opinion without having any idea of what the market was or what the potential offers

were like you put in this this isn't a question you put in this statement or this take his

value is at an all time high with a potential to first round pick return and my response

would be, you know, how do you know like you're not in front offices, you know, you're

not hearing all of the offers at the net tap of the table.

Maybe you are maybe, you know, I maybe I don't know what kind of connections you have,

but, you know, it's tough to say that marks should have traded him without knowing the

potential returns.

So I would say that from things that I've heard I've said this on this pod numerous times

the nets weren't so much actively shopping Michael Porter junior they were trying to kind

of, you know, deal in a position of leverage they were taking calls from a few interested

teams.

They had a high asking price and I think that they had an asking price and if that asking

price was met, they probably would have traded them PJ, but they didn't and they held

them into the off season and the second point of marks as a history of holding players

too long and their value diminishes the example DFS I talked about this on a recent podcast

and it's kind of from my perspective a weird take to have because the last few trades

like the last biggest, the last few biggest trades that Sean Marx has made, he's knocked

out of the park and holding those players for an extended period was a big part of that

whether you talk about the Kevin Durant trade, the McHale Bridges trade, the Cam Johnson

trade and I just did a podcast about this earlier this week and I said that, you know, the

Michael Porter junior, the Michael Porter junior Cam Johnson trade.

I think the way the net's handled that is going to inform the way that they handle this

current situation.

I think that it's a good comparison because I think that they're similar type players,

you know, they're older players MPJ obviously younger than CJ in a rebuild who are, you

know, had career seasons with the nets.

How do they handle that?

And we heard a lot of the same messaging with Cam Johnson at last year's trade deadline

that we did that I did to Michael Porter junior at this year's trade deadline.

So that's are going to go into the off season.

I think that they're going to get a sense of where their pick is, but I'd say that it's

also easier to trade in the off season teams have a better sense of where they are.

There's more picks to be available to be traded around the draft.

So I would say that, you know, Michael Porter junior, you know, if you wanted the net to

trade him at the deadline, I hear you, but I would say that I think that they're going

to revisit trade conversations in the off season.

I do think that there's a decent chance that they get a good offer and that they will seriously

consider it.

Now, it brings me to the next question.

What is the likelihood we see an MPJ or Nick claxon trade come the off season in your

opinion?

That's from Blaine Rose and starting on both of those Michael Porter junior.

I would say I think that there is a decent to good chance that Michael Porter junior could

be traded during the off season because from things I've heard, the potential extension

for Michael Porter junior, the potential seeing him as a long term fit, the nets have put

out that messaging that they do view him as a guy that they can build forward with.

I've heard from some people kind of throwing cold water on that that, you know, they see

that this is the value, you know, this is an all time high potential value that they could

get for him right now and the potential of extending him and holding him.

That might not be the way that the nets are looking at this from things that I've heard.

So I think there's a good chance that you could see a Michael Porter junior trade in

regard to Nick claxon.

I also think it's definitely a possibility.

I mean, I've spoken about it.

You look at it.

You have Nick claxon and Deirons sharp.

I think at some point, they're going to face the decision between those two guys.

They don't have to, but I think that they will, you know, be in a position where it will

probably be prudent to decide between those two guys because you have claxon making,

you know, $21, $22 million a year.

Hopefully, the nets can extend Deirons because he's had a very good last two seasons.

You can get him at a value contract.

You could keep both of them.

I'm not saying it's out of the question, but I think with some of the limitations that

Nick claxon has shown, I'm just not sure if he's the center of the future for this team.

So I could definitely see a Nick claxon trade coming at some point, but it doesn't have

to be this season because we just talked about Sean Marx will hold guys and Nick claxon

has two years left on his contract after this year.

It is descending.

I think that's part of the reason that's in trade claxon this year's deadline is because

I think his deal is going to be more attractive in the last two years because it's descending.

It's getting down to 13% of the cap next season and 11.5% of the cap in the final season.

So the nets could trade Nick claxon this off season, but they also don't have to.

Like there's no deadline on it, and that's also going to want to be better next season

and they have a lot of cap flexibility moving forward.

So they could send Deirons this off season and have Nick claxon and Deirons on the roster

in the early portion of this rebuild that's not going to hurt them long term.

So I do think at some point we're going to see a decision made between Nick claxon and

Deirons sharp.

And I'm not saying that that means that Deirons sharp is going to be the starting center

or the long term option at center.

I'm just saying, I don't think it's going to make sense to keep both of these guys for

the long haul moving forward.

And with that, there could be a decision on Nick claxon this off season.

It could be at the next trade deadline after that.

It could be the following off season after this coming off season when Nick claxon has

one year left on his contract.

So that's what I would say about that last question of this part one.

It seems your predominant stance on MPJ's future is a binary decision between trading

or extending him this summer.

Personally, I am rooting for the nets to keep him given his positional size and proven

capability playing alongside on ball star creators.

I think he's closer to the timeline than you give him credit for given he's 27 and

we can't feel the team of all 21 year olds.

If we hope to compete in the next few years, should a net's role into his contract year

unless they get a sweetheart extension value that is from Ryan D.

Yeah, so I've had a lot of comments on this.

I think that, you know, an incentive from my reporter, Junior, I haven't said I'm completely

out on it.

But I think that I'd be very wary of it, depending on what the number is.

But if I'm MPJ's camp, I'm coming off a season where I was very close to making all

star team.

It was a career best season.

I can scale up a usage, be efficient for the majority of the season.

I was healthy for the majority of the season.

I think that they're going to be asking for a very big extension.

Are they able to get it?

Do they have leverage?

That's another conversation.

But I just think that if you're the nets, you know, for me, it's not that I don't necessarily

think that he can't fit the timeline.

You know, he's 27.

He's going to be 28 next season.

It's young enough.

He could be like a bridge guy for sure.

For me, it's the opportunity cost and it's the risk associated with keeping MPJ and

it's sending him.

If you're talking about, you know, answering the primary part of your question, if you're

talking about should the net just roll into his contract here without trading him or without

it's sending him, I don't think so.

I mean, I think that you're going to want to cash in for him.

I mean, can they trade him at the deadline, potentially, sure, but I mean, I wouldn't

get into next the following off season after this coming off season without trading him

or it's sending him.

I mean, that would be a major risk.

And I don't think that would make any sense whatsoever.

So to me, there is a question of, you either trade him in the next couple of extension,

a next couple of transaction cycles, or you would send him.

And if I'm the net's, you know, just given the risk associated with it, sending him.

I mean, we've seen MPJ, he had a really good year this year.

He was very efficient.

He had an impact on winning, you know, earlier in the season, we're seeing a taper off as

of late.

So there's going to be the question, how much do you weigh the first half of the season

versus the second half of the season?

There's also the injury concerns and the timeline concerns.

Like, yeah, he's going to be 28 years old.

He's young enough, but he's still an older guy who has had three back surgeries throughout

his career.

There's no guarantee that he's going to age well or be healthy, you know, moving forward.

So that's a big risk.

And then you couple that risk with the opportunity cost and the sense that this is probably the

highest his trade value was ever going to get just from the sense of the only as one

year left on his deal.

There's going to be teams who are able to get to that number and able to take him on without

necessarily, you know, making a huge long-term commitment.

And also he's coming off from a career best season.

Like he had a really good year this year.

So is his trade value ever going to be more valuable than it is right now?

If you would stand him on an absorbent number, is his trade value going to be more value

than once you get further into the deal and he's older?

I don't think so.

So I just think that if I'm the next big decision on MPJ, unless they have a lot of conviction

that he's the guy, you know, he's a guy, a main guy that they want to be, they want

to be one of the highest paid players on their roster for the next few seasons.

And they're comfortable with that.

They have all the medicals.

They think that, you know, that's a route that could give them success.

Sure, you can do it then.

But outside of that, I mean, if you have any reservations, the value is probably not

going to be higher than it is right now.

So that would be a guy who I would seriously consider trading.

And I think that that's not because I don't like Michael Porter Jr. as a player.

I think that he's proven that he can be a winner.

I think he brings a lot of valuable things to the table.

It's just where the nets are at in their timeline.

You do need some good players, but you would like those players to fit the timeline a little

bit better and not to have significant injury histories.

Not there to be still questions about what he, you know, what his capabilities are offensively

in terms of, you know, how he can be like a driver of offense.

Is he more of a behind the scenes guy?

How can he do this in a number one role long term?

Like a lot of those questions, despite some of the things that Michael Porter Jr. did during

the first half of those season, they are questions.

That's all I got for you guys.

I'm part one of this FANTAKE Friday.

If you guys do not already, make sure to subscribe to Lockdown.

That's on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts, whether Apple podcasts or Spotify.

If you enjoy my content, take a second right now.

Smash that like button.

Leave a comment.

Leave a five star review.

Anything you can do to engage is much appreciated.

But I got part two of this week's FANTAKE Friday coming.

I'm going to talk about some of the nets.

Rookie's some of their 20, 26 draft possibilities.

So again, to all that, when I'm back tomorrow, talking more Brooklyn, that's basketball.

This podcast is brought to you by Colgate Total.

We take oral health as seriously as you take sports.

That's why Colgate Total Active Prevention uses advanced technology to help prevent oral

health problems like cavities and gingivitis before they start.

It's clinically proven to provide 24-hour antibacterial protection with twice-telly brushing

after four weeks of use, so get a winning routine and prevent oral health problems before

they start.

Shop Colgate Total Active Prevention at a retailer near you.

You're juggling a lot, but you can still squeeze in a financial plan.

With the Northwestern Mutual Financial Advisor as your partner, it's not only possible,

it's personalized.

So if you're tying the knot, closing on a house, or welcoming a little one, you'll be

ready for whatever life tosses your way.

It's the right time to feel less stressed and more certain.

That's a better way to money.

Let's get started at nm.com.

The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

This episode is brought to you by Marvel Television's Daredevil, born again, season 2, streaming

March 24th on Disney Plus.

Charlie Cox and Vincent Denofrio are back, and Kristen Ritter makes her highly anticipated

return as Jessica Jones in an all-new season.

As Mayor Fist tightens his grip on New York City, he marks Daredevil as his top target.

That Murdoch fights from the shadows, hoping to bring down Fist corrupt empire and reclaim

his city.

Don't miss Daredevil, born again, season 2, streaming March 24th only on Disney Plus.