ESPN’s Kevin Pelton: Nets should ‘sell high’ on Spencer Dinwiddie, Joe Harris

Kevin Pelton, the ESPN trade maven, thinks it’s time for the Nets to sell high and take some profits on their development investments, suggesting that Spencer Dinwiddie and Joe Harris, both of whom blossomed with the Nets, could reap big returns if the Nets marketed them.

Pelton thinks Dinwiddie, with his good numbers and great contract, might be able to fetch a pick in the 15 to 20 range of this year’s draft. As for Harris, he says the shooting guard’s development, while not as flashy as Dinwiddie, is real. He doesn’t suggest an asking price but notes that the Nets would still have Nik Stauskas as an off-the-bench shooter if Harris is dealt.

Here’s his ESPN Insider breakdown. Of the seven “sell high” candidates he points to, two are on the Nets...

Spencer Dinwiddie | Brooklyn Nets | guard

Given how starved the Nets have been for talent during their rebuilding process, the idea of trading Dinwiddie just as he’s broken through as a starting-caliber point guard is a particularly tough sell. To Dinwiddie’s credit, nothing about his play this season seems particularly fluky. He’s actually shooting worse from 3-point range than 2016-17. Still, Dinwiddie has gone from an acceptable backup to top 15 in the entire league in ESPN’s real plus-minus (RPM), and that’s going to be tough to maintain.

Another team might also benefit more than Brooklyn from Dinwiddie’s bargain contract, which pays him just $1.5 million this season and $1.7 million in 2018-19. A tax-strapped team could trade a pick that falls in the 15-20 range of next year’s draft for Dinwiddie and likely save money in the process. I’m not sure there’s a taker for that kind of trade -- the Denver Nuggets, the most logical candidate, are probably out of the market with Jamal Murray’s development -- but I’d explore it if I were running the Nets.

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Joe Harris | Brooklyn Nets | guard

Though Harris is a sharpshooter, 3-point shooting has little to do with his improvement this year. He’s making 37.9 percent of his 3s, nearly identical to last year’s 38.5 percent mark. Inside the arc, however, Harris has gone from 48.9 percent accuracy on 2-pointers to 61.0 percent. Second Spectrum data suggests Harris’ attempts have gotten only marginally easier (his qSQ, the accuracy we’d expect from an average player given the location and type of the shots and nearby defenders, has gone from 53.4 percent to 53.8 percent), so this is probably something of a fluke.

Harris could be an alternative for teams that strike out on Marco Belinelli, the top shooter available as a rental and a sell-high candidate in his own right, or need a cheaper option. The Nets should feel comfortable moving on, particularly if they think they can get similar production from newcomer Nik Stauskas.

In his discussion with WFAN Monday, Marks heaped praise on Dinwiddie and talked about developing the Nets own players. He wasn’t asked about Harris.

• Top seven sell-high players heading into the trade deadline - Kevin Pelton - ESPN Insider