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Brooklyn Nets Rumors: Mason Plumlee On The Block?

By Kenneth Teape

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Brooklyn Nets Rumors: Is Mason Plumlee Being Offered For Chance To Move Up In The Draft?

The Brooklyn Nets have one of the bleaker outlooks of any team currently in the NBA. They have a lot of aging players signed to big contracts, very little in the way of young players and assets, and their best player, Brook Lopez, could opt out of his contract and become a free agent. Thaddeus Young already did that, putting the Nets in a predicament where they may need to overpay him to retain his services.

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One way for the Nets to improve their outlook would be making some trades today during the draft. Armed with the 29th and 41st overall picks, the Nets will be hard pressed to add a player that can contribute right away. One way they could change that is find a way to move up in the draft order. One possible way to do that is trading young center Mason Plumlee.

Plumlee had a tough Sophomore season under first year head coach Lionel Hollins, as he could never find a consistent role with the team. With Kevin Garnett on the last legs of his career, and Lopez missing time early in the season, Plumlee had a chance to carve out a significant role for himself. He was unable to do that though, as he couldn’t find traction this year as he did in his rookie season.

While he was able to raise his scoring and rebounding averages to 8.7 and 6.2 per game, his efficiency took a nosedive. His shooting percentage dropped from 65.9 percent as a rookie to 57.3 this past season, and his free throw shooting suffered shooting as well, dropping from 62.6 to 49.5. That drop could scare some people off, but learning a third system in three years could be trying on a young player.

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One positive he brings though is that he is durable, as he was the only player to appear in all 82 regular season games for the Nets, something that has become tougher and tougher to get out of a player as teams regularly rest players throughout the season.

Having an energy guy like Plumlee off the bench every night with the capability to step into the starting lineup in a pinch is a nice luxury to have. It is one the Nets are willing to move if the price is right. They will not just ship Plumlee off for anything, as he is the only real asset they currently have. If he is to be traded tonight, it will have to be to make a big jump up in the draft.

To get into the lottery, the Nets will more than likely have to attach their 29th pick with Plumlee to jump up into 14 spots. It is fair to question if Plumlee is enough to move the Nets up into that range in the first round, as some of the other names swirling in trade rumors are clearly superior players to Plumlee.

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But, the Nets wouldn’t be doing their job if they did not do their due diligence to see what they could get for Plumlee. You never know how things will work out on draft day, there could be a team that changes their mind late in the lottery and wants to trade out to save money; that is where the Nets will look to strike. They need to add some youth to their team, especially on the perimeter, and that is what they would target if they are to move up or sit still at 29.

Next: Is Jason Kidd trying to sign Brook Lopez?

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