Thaddeus Young is now averaging 14.4 points per game and shooting 53.3 percent from three since joining the Nets 15 games ago in the deadline day deal that sent Kevin Garnett to the Timberwolves. In Friday night's seemingly never-ending triple overtime win, he had 24 points, five rebounds, three assists and shot 3-of-5 from deep. Not bad.
And as Marc Stein reports Saturday, the deal also saved the Nets around $7 million in luxury taxes.
The trade that sent Kevin Garnett back to Minnesota for Thaddeus Young shaved Brooklyn's luxury-tax bill from slightly more than $26 million to $19,687,385. The Nets, you'll recall, paid a whopping $90.57 million in luxury tax after last season's $190 million chase of a championship. ...
Add the disparity in salary -- $2,339,131 -- and the Nets total savings come to nearly $10 million. Moreover, Brooklyn also came away with a $2,439,131 trade exception, the disparity in salary between KG and Young plus $100,000. The Nets can use the TE in a trade through next year's trade deadline.
Young can opt out of the final year of his contract, but says he hasn't decided whether to do that (or wait a year until the NBA TV deal floods the free agent market. He also said the Nets want him to stay "and the feeling is mutual."
Meanwhile, KG has missed seven straight games with a sore knee.
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Marc Stein checks in with news from the NBA grapevine - Marc Stein - ESPN