The league landscape has quietly changed this season, and the competition in the East has become more and more fierce, including the Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls, Brooklyn Nets, Milwaukee Bucks and Cleveland Cavaliers, with no more than 2 wins and losses, and has become a huge first echelon in the East. Behind them, the Philadelphia 76ers and Charlotte Hornets are also quite competitive, in other words, no team in the East is considered a weak team except for the Long-Established Orlando Magic and Detroit Pistons.
Due to Kelly Irving's long absence from the game, coupled with a wave of serious injuries, the Nets' lack of depth in the lineup began to be exposed. Especially now that the star Kevin Durant will be absent for a long time, the impact on the Nets will be very large. Combined with the age of the lineup and the salary structure, the Nets are unlikely and unable to continue to plan heavy operations, but some high-quality role players with low salaries and short-term contracts are exactly what the Nets need now. The US media listed several players that the Nets could consider pursuing before the deadline, including San Antonio Spurs center Jacob Peltel, Dallas Mavericks forward Dorian Finney Smith and Oklahoma Thunder's high-altitude battery Mike Muscala. There are differences in the strength and playing style of these three people, but there is also a common point, that is, all the frontcourt players who are more than 2 meters can effectively enhance the depth of the Nets' lineup.
Pelter was also from the Lottery show, and he played for the Raptors at the beginning of his career, but did not have many opportunities to perform until Leonard forced the palace to leave, and Pelter came to the Spurs with DeRozan as a chip. In the summer of 2020, the Spurs renewed a three-year, $26 million contract with Pelter, but the center was really easy to use, and the last two seasons of Pelter have improved very quickly, although his ceiling is not particularly high, but it is also the league's top interior blue-collar worker. This season, Pelter has averaged 12.7 points, 9 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.7 blocks per game, and the shooting rate has reached nearly 60%.
For the current Nets, they seem to have a lot of people inside, but there have always been big problems with the starting number five position. People like LaMarcus Aldridge and Blake Griffin are both offensive and defensive players, and they are indeed old. Nicholas Clarkston is athletically excellent, but too inexperienced. Pollertel seems to be one of the most suitable centers for the Nets, and on the offensive end, he is only responsible for blocking the cover and eating under the basket, while Pelter's excellent rim protection and rebounding protection ability is bound to provide great help to the Nets.
Dorian Finney Smith has been playing for the Dallas Mavericks since joining the league, and as a draft-induced player, Dorian Finney Smith's career is undoubtedly very inspiring. Although his annual salary is only $4 million, he has already sat in the position of the lone ranger's starting small forward, and he may be talented and not a top forward, but he has done his best.
This season, Dorian Finney Smith averaged 10.3 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2 assists per game, the best performance of his career so far. But the Lone Ranger also has difficulties, that is, with Doncic's super big contract coming into effect, the team salary pressure will be very large, like Dorian Finney Smith and Jaylen Brunson, are likely to receive a good offer this summer, the Lone Ranger may not be able to meet, and selling them early is also an option. Instead, the Nets desperately need forward players with both good shooting and defensive skills, and the 28-year-old Dorian Finney Smith is at his peak, and if the cooperation is enjoyable, the two sides can still seek the possibility of contract extension.
The last one is Mike Muscala, he is a tramp, the 30-year-old Muscala has played for the Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76 and Los Angeles Lakers and other teams, until the 19-20 season Muscara turned to the Thunder, but he did not expect him to usher in the peak of his career, especially last season he averaged 9.7 points and 3.8 rebounds per game, a number of career highs.
Although Muscala signed a two-year contract extension with the Thunder last summer, having team options next season will create more room to operate. Don't look at Muscara is 30 years old, but combined with his style of play, Muscara should not fall off a cliff if he does not have serious injuries. He has hit key balls many times this season, and many Thunder fans have teased Muscala as a team's swinging pioneer. Although the function is relatively single, the Nets are actually quite short of pitchers now, and the space-type interior line is very popular. If you imagine that when he is on the court at the same time as the Big Three of the Nets, Muscara will undoubtedly get a lot of opportunities to shoot easily, in this case, once the opponent lets him go, he will inevitably pay a terrible price, and this is exactly the terrible thing about a player like Muscara on the court.