In Pundits' Latest Off-Season Grades, Brooklyn Gets an A, A- and B+

In the latest punditry on the off-season, Ben Golliver of CBS Sports gives the Nets an A-, noting that the grade is more about what they could have been while John Schuhmann of NBA.com thinks they aced it...except for their defense. Chad Ford revises his grades, but doesn't change his original grade, B+.

Golliver writes the Nets avoided disaster.

To grade this series of moves, one must look back at the 2011-12 Nets (the Nets are now way better than that group) and what the 2012-13 Nets could have looked like if this summer had played out in its worst case scenario (Williams leaves, Wallace leaves, Lopez re-signs for mini-max and no other marquee free agents are added, leaving the Nets as a Charlotte Bobcats level terrible team for the next 3-5 years).

Schuhmann thinks they're "most improved" but questions their defense.

Defense will determine just how good the Nets will be. We know they'll be able to put points on the board, but Wallace may be the only good defender in their rotation. In their final year in New Jersey, the Nets were truly awful on that end of the floor, and it's up to Avery Johnson to change the defensive culture.:

Golliver's (and Chad Ford's) biggest complaint is how much the Nets spent, in some cases "outrageously" he writes. But he notes as well the special circumstances that required them to spend: putting a good team on the court November 1 when Barclays Center opens. Another CBS report suggests the Nets could best cap off their off-season by signing Kenyon Martin.

• NBA Offseason Report: Brooklyn Nets - Ben Golliver - CBS Sports
• Martin would make Nets even tougher under basket - CBS Sports
  
• Nets Summer Report Card - John Schuhmann - NBA.com
• Updated offseason grades for every team - Chad Ford - ESPN Insider
• Let’s Rank the NBA’s Eastern Conference - Stephen Brotherson - HoopsWorld
• Seven teams with intriguing offseasons - Zach Lowe - Sports Illustrated