The Brooklyn Nets 2015-16 season is basically a wash at this point as they are one of the worst teams in the league and have virtually no chance of making a playoff push. With that in mind many people around the team, including fans, are starting to think about the future. There have already been reports about possible changes at the GM and coaching spots but the biggest issue with the team is the players. Brooklyn is expected to go hard after DeMar DeRozan in free agency this upcoming summer, according to Brian Lewis of the New York Post.
The Nets do not control their first round draft pick until 2019 so if they want to improve their roster and become more competitive they will likely have to do so through trades and free agency. The good thing for the Nets is that they are in a major market and will have plenty of cap space this upcoming summer. It is questionable whether marquee free agents will want to come to a team that has struggled so much but they have the room to be able to offer big time money.
DeRozan has an option to remain with the Toronto Raptors for next season at $10 million but he is fully expected to decline that option. The cap is set to skyrocket and DeRozan is having another All-Star caliber season so he will likely garner a max contract or something very close to it. As far as whether he would be willing to leave Toronto, that remains to be seen but he is reportedly a loyal guy and has said all of the right things regarding his upcoming free agency. The Nets though, will reportedly do everything they can to pry him away from the Raptors as they "covet" the 26-year-old shooting guard.
The Nets have plenty of needs to fill in the offseason but the backcourt is the most glaring. Joe Johnson is currently starting at small forward but he is in the final year of his contract and will be playing elsewhere next season, in all likelihood. DeRozan doesn't shoot the three ball well at all but he is a guy who can score with ease, as shown by his 22.6 points per game this season, and would be a really good get for the Nets.
Based on all of the reports coming out of Toronto it seems unlikely that DeRozan would leave the Raptors to join the Nets but he may be a little bit tempted to play in a major U.S. market. It is still way too early to know what might happen in free agency but expect the Nets to cast a wide net in the hopes of bringing in one or two big time players with all of the money they are expected to have available.
