NetsDaily Off-Season Report — No. 5
Photo by Gregory Fisher/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
We’ll be updating the Nets’ off-season weekly, with bits and pieces of information, gossip, and everything in between to help fans get ready for ... anything. In some ways, the off-season is in full swing.
On Monday morning, Shams Charania got on FanDuel TV and discussed a conversation he had with LeBron James’ agent and close friend, Klutch Sports founding father Rich Paul, relaying that Paul said, “LeBron James and JJ Redick, they do a podcast together. That does not mean he wants JJ Redick as his head coach, but he’s leaving it up to the organization,” of the Los Angeles Lakers’ ongoing search for a head coach. Which is perhaps the most off-season sentence possible.
And yet, we were treated to two Game 7s the day before, where many Brooklyn Nets fans were overjoyed at a New York Knicks loss before watching a guard-changing comeback by the Minnesota Timberwolves in Denver.
In any case, the Nets and their fans are waiting. Of course, they haven’t played basketball for five weeks now, but also hired their new head coach Jordi Fernández immediately after season’s end. The NBA playoffs are only halfway over, so other than morsels of rumors, free agency and #TradeSeason are still a ways away.
Still, news persists.
Phoenix poaches Matt Tellem from BK
We published a full accounting of this report from ESPN’s Tim MacMahon earlier this week, but it bears repeating that the Phoenix Suns have hired Matt Tellem away from Brooklyn, to serve in their front office.
Following MacMahon’s report, John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports reported that Tellem is slated to serve as the Assistant GM under James Jones...
A deal to make former Nets executive Matt Tellem the new Assistant General Manager of the Phoenix Suns is close to being finalized. Tellem is considered an outside the box thinker who will help with cap/strategy/pro personnel. Really good at 3 team deals and manipulating the cap.— John Gambadoro (@Gambo987) May 18, 2024
As Gambadoro notes, Tellem is lauded for his understanding of the salary cap and how to maneuver within its constraints, a valuable skill for a Suns team battling the harshest cap restraints ever included in a CBA.
Per Tellem’s very own (not updated) LinkedIn page, he was hired by Brooklyn in May of 2011, staying with the team for 13 years. And just prior to the start of this season, he was promoted to Vice President of Strategy, holding the role for a mere eight months before heading to the desert.
His departure is the third major one since the end of the regular season following those of assistant GM Jeff Peterson and basketball operations director Ryan Gisriel, both of whom joined the Charlotte Hornets.
Cleveland Cavaliers eliminated .. and dissected
The Cleveland Cavaliers were eliminated by the Boston Celtics in the East semis on Wednesday, and they didn’t go quietly, putting up a real fight against the heavily favored Celtics on the road, missing three of their top six rotation players.
But they really didn’t go quietly in the hours after the final buzzer sounded. Shams Charania dropped an article detailing the end to their season and what might be next before the Cavs even boarded the flight home.
In there, Charania raised serious questions about the long-term future of just about every important member of the organization, from guards Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland, to bigs Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, to Head Coach JB Bickerstaff. The sky isn’t quite falling in Cleveland yet, but it’s certainly cracked.
Brian Windhorst elucidated the connection this has to the Brooklyn Nets on ESPN soon after Cleveland’s elimination, saying once again that Brooklyn would be among the inner-circle contenders for Mitchell’s services, if Cleveland indeed moves the star guard this summer (while he is up for a lucrative extension).
Three teams will be "at the top of the list" of Donovan Mitchell trade suitors if he doesn’t extend in Cleveland, per @WindhorstESPN:LakersHeatNetsWindhorst notes that Mitchell will be able to somewhat direct a trade with one year left on his contract. pic.twitter.com/3L1lxJcwir— Erik Slater (@erikslater_) May 15, 2024
And while there’s been no reporting attaching Brooklyn to Garland, should he depart this summer, it may make sense for the Nets to pursue that angle if Cleveland decides to keep Mitchell. A mega-talented point guard coming off a down season where he fought through injury after injury, even breaking his jaw, but still just 24 years old ... could be a potentially enticing trade target for the Nets.
New York Liberty off to races
The New York Liberty have started their season 3-0, but the wins aren’t coming solely on the court.
Co-owner of the Nets and Liberty, Clara Wu Tsai, spoke to the Harvard Business School’s New York alumni club on Friday and spoke of her prediction for major jumps in financial valuations for all things related to the W.
“Lucrative media deals will follow as will more expansion teams, more institutional investors, more owners with an investment mentality and further globalization of the game.”
“All of these factors will increase team revenues many times over and expand valuation multiples and putting it all together, I believe that within 10 years, or less, I’ll be able to come back here to tell you about how we turned the New York Liberty into the first billion dollar women’s sports franchise.”
Of course, aside from hinting at a long-term investment the Tsais plan to have in the Nets and Liberty, it would be a remarkably quick turnaround for the franchise. Clara Wu and Joe bought the Libs from James Dolan, reportedly for the assumption of debt and a promise of shared future profits.
Draft Sleeper of the Week - Daniss Jenkins of St. Johns
The Nets under Sean Marks are notorious for being close-mouthed about Draft prospects and this year, the process of working out college and overseas players is even more mysterious since the Nets don’t have a pick “yet” as Marks told fans last month. So not only don’t we know, for the most part, who’s been in for workouts, but whether the front office is considering acquiring first or second rounders ... or just surveying Exhibit 9/10 candidates.
However, earlier this month, the Nets brought a local project, Daniss Jenkins, a 6’3” shooting guard who has played for St. John’s and Iona the last two seasons. Rick Pitino revealed the workout in a tweet, the Jenkins confirmed it, as Sharif Phillips-Keaton of Nets Wire wrote recently.
Congrats to @Djenkinss5 on killing his first workout with the Nets. No surprise, the young man is the best worker and leader that I have seen in a very long time.— Rick Pitino (@RealPitino) May 8, 2024
And Jenkins seemingly confirmed his visit to HSS Training Center, not that far of a ride from the Johnnies’ Queens campus.
The legend!! Thanks coach https://t.co/umA5LlkUjL— Daniss Jenkins (@Djenkinss5) May 8, 2024
At 6’3” and 165, Jenkins is a bit undersized for the NBA but teams spend millions of dollars to improve players’ strength and conditioning. He’s also a lot older that most draft prospects at 24, having played at the U. of Pacific as well as the two New York schools.
Still, he has his advocates beyond his head coach. including Corey Taluba of NBA Draft Dude....
Daniss Jenkins had an underrated senior season for St.John’s. Creative three level scorer with an NBA style pull-up game, elite pace, and advanced playmaking ability. - Hit 70+ dribble jumpers at 43.5%- Connected on 47.4% of unguarded 1/2 court C&S 3PA- 90th percentile P&R… pic.twitter.com/I2DHDy63IT— NBA Draft Dude (@CoreyTulaba) March 28, 2024
Is it likely that the Nets will spend some case to get into the draft and take the Dallas native? No, but the Nets will need to fill out their Summer League and G League rosters and Jenkins knows his way around New York.
Good news for Jordi Fernandez
Jamal Murray won’t be playing anymore this off-season, having been part of the Nuggets demise vs. the Timberwolves, but after that Game 7 debacle, Murray announced that he will be playing for Team Canada in Paris.
The addition of the 6’4” two-way player will be a big help to the Nets’ new head coach who will spend much of the summer molding the Canadian squad. In addition to Murray, the Maple Leaf roster will feature Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, R.J. Barrett, Kelly Olynyk, Dwight Powell, Lu Dort, Dillon Brooks and Zach Edey. That’s nine NBA players (once Edey gets drafted and signed.)
Team Canada will face off vs. Team USA in a nationally televised “friendly,” that is exhibition, game, July 10 in Las Vegas, two days before the Nets Summer League entry, begins its Vegas tour. Fernandez will not be doing double duty. It’s expected that the lead assistant, Steve Hetzel, will handle the Summer League chores. The two North American squads will then head for the City of Light.
Tracking Cam Thomas improvements
We have a rare collaboration between NetsDaily and the team we cover!
Don’t worry, there’s no conflict of interest. I merely had the opportunity to work with Brooklyn’s fantastic team of video editors to produce this eight-minute video diving into the improvements Cam Thomas made this season, which were, no matter your opinion of his overall game, bright spots of Brooklyn’s 32-50 campaign.
Of course, I’ve written about such improvements here on ND, but this is a concise re-telling of his growth as both an on-ball playmaker this season, as well as a willing catch-and-shoot guard off of it.
Enjoy!
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