Nets could add another notable ex-All-Star in free agency?
Mar 31, 2018; San Antonio, TX, USA; Former basketball player Steve Nash speaks during the NBA Hall of Fame press conference at the Alamodome. Mandatory Credit: Shanna Lockwood-USA TODAY Sports
The Brooklyn Nets were the duds of the Eastern Conference this season, but they may be trying to do something about it in free agency.
Sean Deveney of Heavy.com spoke this week with an anonymous Eastern executive who believes that the Nets are a more likely landing spot for ten-time All-Star Carmelo Anthony than the New York Knicks are.
“Melo needs to go to a better team [than the Knicks] where he [will] not [be] a distraction,” the executive was quoted as saying. “If he leaves L.A., Brooklyn is a lot more of a possibility.”
While the Knicks have recently been linked to a potential Anthony reunion, the executive notes that Anthony’s defensive flaws make him incompatible with Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau. Meanwhile, Nets star Kevin Durant previously tried to recruit Anthony, the executive also points out.
Anthony, a Brooklyn native, is already 38 years old. But he can still fill it up off the bench, having just averaged 13.3 points per game on 37.5 percent shooting from deep for the L.A. Lakers. Beyond Patty Mills (who himself started 48 games), the Nets had a third-rate second unit this season.
Nobody will mistake Anthony for a missing piece that suddenly transforms Brooklyn into a championship contender. But he might be a nice get for a team starved for some shot-making outside of Durant and Kyrie Irving (unless these more formidable teams get to Anthony first).
