3. Great Fits
Taurean Prince – RFA 2020
Taurean Prince has the rare honor of going from a young, up-and-coming team to one with championship aspirations as soon as 2020. If he is still around, that is. He was traded as part of a deal to get Allen Crabbe‘s deal off the Nets books. He is coming off of two straight seasons of scoring 13-plus points with the Atlanta Hawks.
The question is how much is too much for Brooklyn to match when he hits restricted free agency next summer? If he performs well in his audition, we could find out. With what he has already done and with what he will have a chance to do with the Nets, it’s not hard to imagine Prince being one of the hot names in 2020 free agency despite his restricted status.
Kelly Oubre Jr. – UFA 2021
Don’t let his extended stay on the open market cloud your judgment, Kelly Oubre is an extremely talented player. That’s why he was rewarded with a two-year deal with $30 million from the Phoenix Suns this off-season. He had already shown signs of growth with the Washington Wizards, but he showed there’s even more to his game yet to be uncovered.
His career-high in starts is only 19 and came just last year but he was in the 90th in minutes per game. And his scoring output jumped from 11.8 points per game in 2017 to 15.2 in 2018 (16.9 with the Suns). On defense, he is the archetype teams are looking for, a perimeter guy with switchability from 1-4. He could be a savvy add as a UFA in 2021.
Caris LeVert – RFA 2020
A dislocated foot sapped 42 games from Caris LeVert‘s season. He began the campaign averaging 18.4/4.3/3.7 starting all 14 games for the Nets to begin the year. He returned in February and only made 11 more starts in 26 appearances. His numbers also dropped as he put up 11.2/3.5/4 over that span.
In the playoffs, it was 21/4.6/3 in five games (two starts). That and how he began the season are likely better indicators than how he played upon returning from injury. He gets his chance to prove it this season with Kevin Durant out. But the bidding could too expensive because he put up another solid effort, and baby Durant‘s ball-handling could look nice dishing to Zach and Lauri for three.
Jaylen Brown – RFA 2020
The Celtics, like the Nets, have the ‘problem’ of too many good players and not enough ball (or money) to go around. Enter Jaylen Brown, who is definitely a more realistic target than his teammate, though both made Bleacher Report’s 23 Under 23 list. Brown is a big guard, but he started his career at small forward before Tatum and Gordon Hayward came to Boston.
He actually outscored Tatum during the much-discussed 2017-18 season and while he took a step back this season, much of that can be attributed to going from 70 starts to 25. When given the larger opportunity, Brown slashed .464/.395/.644. That free throw percentage is troubling, but that actually improved some to .658 this year. He’d look great in the Bulls lineup.
Stats and info by Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com unless otherwise noted. Contract info by Spotrac.com.