With Jarrett Jack out for the season following knee surgery, the Brooklyn Nets are starting Donald Sloan at the point and bringing Shane Larkin off the bench behind him. They could use some help at the point?
How about Detroit’s Brandon Jennings?
One day after Pistons coach/GM/Big Kahuna Stan Van Gundy said they were not seriously considering any deals, Chris Sheridan of Sheridanhoops.com posted just that rumor.Brandon Jennings could very well end up in Brooklyn two weeks from now in a trade that would send Thaddeus Young to the Detroit Pistons, sources tell SheridanHoops.com.
There are several teams looking to acquire Jennings, who has been a starter most of his career but is currently stuck behind Reggie Jackson on Detroit’s depth chart. He will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.
There is an internal logic to this: Brooklyn needs help at the point, while the Pistons would like to upgrade from Ersan Ilyasova at the four next to Andre Drummond. Plus Jennings is a free agent this summer so there has long been a buzz around the league that Detroit would want to move him and get something for him before he walks.
But there are a few problems here, starting with Brooklyn does not currently have a GM. This is the kind of move that is made because the rebuild is starting and the new GM/front office has picked a direction. That has not yet happened in Brooklyn.
Plus, that price seems steep, especially considering Brooklyn would have to throw in another player (Shane Larkin?) just to make the salaries balance. Jennings is coming off a ruptured Achilles and is not near back all the way — 6.6 points per game on 35 percent shooting this season — so any team with him is betting on his long-term recovery.
Finally, this only works for Brooklyn if it has assurances it can re-sign the free agent Jennings this summer — as a free agent in a thin market he will have multiple offers and likely get overpaid. Does Brooklyn want to do that and pair him with Brook Lopez long term?
All of which is to say, don’t bet on it.
