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CBS Sports: Nets to meet with Porter Monday ... and then?

By Net Income
New York Knicks v Brooklyn Nets Photo by Elsa/Getty Images

CBS Sports reports the Nets will meet Monday with Otto Porter, to pitch him their plans and their deal. But there’s no word yet on when Porter will make up his mind on which offer sheet he’ll accept or who the third team he’s meeting.

Sacramento met with the 6’8” small forward Sunday and offered him a max contract, four years at $106 million with a starting salary of $24.75 million. No word on what other incentives —disincentives for the Wizards— were attached. The 4/$106 million is the most any team can offer Porter, but teams can add other clauses, a 15 percent trade kicker, for example, that might make Washington think twice.

The Wizards have leaked that they will match any offer, but if they do, it will put them over the luxury tax for the first time ever. Wizards owner Ted Leonsis had an opportunity to lock Porter into a five-year deal on Saturday morning but talks between him and David Falk, Porter’s agent, fell through.

There’s speculation as to who the third team pursuing Porter might be, with the two most likely candidates being the Suns and Hawks. A team must have $24.75 million in cap space available when they tender an offer to the Georgetown product.

Should the Nets falter in getting Porter —either he decides to sign with another team or he accepts and Washington matches— the question is where the Nets go next. The most rumored possibility is Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, the Pistons’ 6’5” swingman who’s also a restricted free agent.

Like Washington, Detroit has let it be known they will match as well, but the Pistons drafted Luke Kennard, the 6’6” Duke sharpshooter, and signed Langston Galloway, the 6’2” combo guard, to a three-year, $21 million deal. Are they potential back-ups if owner Tom Gores has second thoughts about keeping KCP? Detroit also hard-capped itself with the Galloway deal and would have to make moves by July 8 before they could match.

There are other potential RFA’s available, if they are interested.

Here’s a list...

—Tim Hardaway Jr., a 6’6” swingman with the Hawks. A former Knick. Atlanta has plenty of cap room to match.

—Mason Plumlee, a 6’11” center with the Nuggets. The former Net traded for Rondae Hollis-Jefferson’s draft rights. With the signing of Paul Millsap to a three-year, $90 million deal, Denver has a surplus of bigs.

—Andre Roberson, a 6’7” swingman with the Thunder. One of the top defenders at the wing in the NBA but not an offensive threat. The sister of Arielle Roberson, Spencer Dinwiddie’s girlfriend.

—JaMychal Green, a 6’9” stretch 4 with the Grizzlies. A still developing 27-year-old who can rebound and shoot the three. Would Memphis be willing to match a big deal? Would Nets offer one?

—Jonathon Simmons, a 6’7” hyperathletic small forward with the Spurs. A little older than the rest, he turns 28 before the season begins. Signed by the Spurs off the Nets summer league team in 2015, he’s reportedly been offered a deal by the Spurs that starts at $9 million. He’s meeting with the Timberwolves, Clippers, and Kings.

—Kelly Olynyk, a 7-footer with the Celtics who can step out and shoot the three. If Boston can sign Gordon Hayward, they may renounce his rights, making him an unrestricted free agent ... and thus more attractive to any team.

—Bojan Bogdanovic, a 6’8” small forward with the Wizards who the Nets are very familiar with. He’s reportedly been talking to the Kings. He can shoot, but defend? Not so much.

Of course, the Nets are not limited to restricted free agents. They’ve been quiet about their strategy other than to say, as Sean Marks said Monday, they are still in “talent acquisition” mode. There’s the prospect of salary dumps and they scouted a lot of European players this spring and one of their top targets, 6’9” power forward Nicola Melli of Bamberg Brose, remains unsigned.

Would they consider Rudy Gay, the 31-year-old forward who could play PF for them? He’s coming off a torn ACL. He’s met with the Thunder.

One big question, of course, is how many of these players are willing to sign up for a rebuild that still has a couple of years to run?

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