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With the completion of the Nets-Hawks trade, Brooklyn will have three Euro-stashes, Juan Pablo Vaulet, drafted by the Nets in 2015; Aleksandar Vezenkov, drafted by the Nets in 2017 and now Isaia Cordinier, traded to the Nets on Friday night.
For those Nets fans who didn’t know Cordinier, Adrian Wojnarowski provided them with a less-than-optimistic introduction.
In the Jeremy Lin deal, Atlanta sends the Nets the rights to 2016 second-round pick Isaia Cordinier (you'll probably never see him). Atlanta gets a 2025 second-round pick and the right to swap picks with Nets in 2023.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 13, 2018
In fact, Cordinier has been hurt this past season after surgery on both knees to cure recurring tendinitis.
So who is this guy? For starters, he was the Hawks second found pick —at No. 44— in the 2016 Draft, taken two spots after Isaiah Whitehead. He’s French, athletic, 6’5”, a shooting guard and someone the Nets had interest in. They even worked him out. Moreover, he’s repped by CAA, the big sports agency that has several Nets on its books, and he’s been trained by Julien Espinosa, a top French coach who the Nets brought over in 2016 to help out with the summer league. So, did the Nets ask that he be included in the deal?
Sam Vecenie of The Athletic, in his analysis of the trade, suggests Brooklyn does see some value in the 21-year-old...
The Nets also acquired Cordinier, a shooting guard prospect out of France. In his prep days, Cordinier was seen as a potential NBA shooting guard due to his combination of athleticism and shot-making potential. He was selected No. 44 overall, and moved up from the second league in France to Pro A for Antibes. He struggled in that first season, shooting just 35.7 percent from the field and 23 percent from 3. Then, he missed the entire 2017-18 season with knee tendinitis that eventually required surgery. Given that he’s only 21 years old and the Nets didn’t have to acquire him for this trade to go through, I’d imagine that they see him as something of an asset.
Before he got hurt, he showed a lot of potential as a combo guard.
Cordinier, as Draft Express reported, had tried to correct the tendinitis short of surgery, but ultimately decided to go for the knife. In January of this year, Cordinier underwent surgery on both knees. Rehab should take four to nine months, jeopardizing the start of the current season as well. Known for his mental toughness and work ethic, Cordinier’s social media is filled with video of him rehabbing and his team has re-signed him for this season.
With all the other moving parts of Friday morning’s events, it’s unlikely that the Nets will provide any update on Cordinier in the near future. Still, there’s enough to suggest they want to take the risk, particularly since there is little downside.