NBA Off Season Update, Part 1: Atlantic Division – August 20th

Jan 12, 2015; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez (11) controls the ball defended by Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard (12) during the third quarter at the Barclays Center. The Rockets defeated the Nets 113-99. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports

Brooklyn Nets

ROOKIES: 

• Juan Vaulet  selected with the 39th pick of second round by Charlotte for 2 future second round picks
• Rondae Hollis-Jefferson selected by Portland with 23rd pick of first round and traded to Nets for Mason Plumlee

FREE AGENTS SIGNED:

• Brook Lopez 3-years – $60M (re-signed)
• Thaddeus Young 4 years $50M both(re-signed)
• Shane Larkin  2 – years – $3M
• Andrea Bargnani  2 years no financial terms released
• Wayne Ellington   1 year – $1.5M
• Willie Reed  1 year deal undisclosed financial terms
• Thomas Robinson  $2 years – veteran’s minimum

Brook Lopez re-signs with the Nets, 3 years and $60 million. #NBAFreeAgency

— Jefferson Matthews (@matthie15) July 1, 2015

TRADED TO NETS:

• Steve Blake

FREE AGENTS LOST:

• Alan Anderson
• Mirza Teletovic

Brooklyn will send Mason Plumlee and Pat Connaughton to the Blazers for Hollis-Jefferson and Blake, league sources tell Yahoo.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) June 26, 2015

TRADED FROM NETS:

• Mason Plumlee as part of the swap for the Rondae Hollis-Jefferson
• Chris McCullough  selected with the 41st pick of second round and traded to Portland
  

WAIVED:

• Darius Morris
• Deron Williams – Nets reached an agreement to buy out DWills contract sending him to the Mavericks

FREE AGENTS UN-SIGNED:

• Jerome Jordan – remains unsigned

Report: Joe Johnson 'pumped' about the Deron Williams buyout: Joe Johnson is a quiet, introverted g… http://t.co/bmn3m1oa8A #NBA #Nets

— NBA (@NBA_Links) July 31, 2015

BIG MOVE:

The buyout is reported to be for $27.37M over 5-years as per Tim Bontemps of the New York Post and Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. Full details in Bleacher Report article.  

Sending Williams out via the buyout will help lower the Nets luxury tax payment and free up cap space for next summer. While the other albatross salary of Joe Johnson ($24.9M) remains on the roster don’t be surprised if he ends the season elsewhere. Teams may look to grab Johnson at the trade deadline on a short term rental for the post season since he’s in the final year of his contract.

The Nets did do what mattered most by signing Lopez and Young who injected some speed and athleticism immediately upon joining the Nets. They’ve added some youth but are still in short supply of youth and talent.  For now the signing of Larkin and Robinson is a step in the right direction.

Next: Jackson Begins Revamp