2015 Brooklyn Nets

Written by Paul Banks of the Washington Times, David Kay and Peter Christian of the The Sports Bank. Send Paul an e-mail here: paulb05 AT hotmail DOT com.
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Brooklyn Nets (Last Year: 38-44)

2015-16 Projected Depth Chart:

C: ^Brook Lopez/Mason Plumlee/*Jerome Jordan

PF: #Thaddeus Young/*Mirza Teletovic/Cory Jefferson

SF: Joe Johnson/^Alan Anderson/Earl Clark

SG: Bojan Bogdanovic/Markel Brown/Sergey Karasev

PG: Deron Williams/Jarrett Jack

NBA Free Agents:

^C-Brook Lopez (PO)

^SF-Alan Anderson (PO)

#PF-Thaddeus Young (ETO)

*PF-Mirza Teletovic (RFA)

*C-Jerome Jordan (RFA)

2015-16 Team Salary: Approximately $86.5 million

NBA Offseason Team Needs:

1. Figure Out Frontcourt: With both Brook Lopez and Thaddues Young able to become free agents this summer, the Nets need to have a gameplan ready in case both guys opt out of the final year of their contracts. If Lopez and Young decide to test the market, does Brooklyn try to re-sign one of them or both guys? Do the Nets move in a different direction, though that might be difficult since they don’t have a ton of cap flexibility for free agency?

2. Starting Wing: Brooklyn used four different wings to start alongside Joe Johnson throughout this past season. Bogdanovic was the most effective, and while still young, he is more of a role player coming off the bench than the long-term answer. Therefore, the Nets should actively use their mid-level exception to seek a starting two or three to play alongside Johnson.

3. Find a Direction: The Nets went all in a couple of seasons ago, but those big moves never paid off. Now, the franchise is close to meeting a fork in the road in terms of which direction to go. Lopez, Johnson and Young could be all off the books next summer, while Deron Williams is eating up a huge chunk of the organization’s cap for two more seasons. Brooklyn has the ability to attract big-name free agents next summer when the cap is expected to make a major leap, so the Nets might be better off maintaining a hold pattern this offseason rather than making some rash decisions that would hurt their long-term flexibility.