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The Brooklyn Nets will be once again pushers during this NBA free agency period, pushing for the likes of Houston Rockets center Clint Capela and Los Angeles Lakers forward Julius Randle, according to ESPN's Steven A. Smith (via Anthony Puccio of Nets Daily).
“Expect the Brooklyn Nets, it's quite possible they might make an offer to Clint Capela,” said Smith. “We thought it was gonna be the Phoenix Suns — they drafted DeAndre Ayton, they don't need Capela the way they once did, since they'll revolve around Ayton and Booker. As a result, Clint Capela was expecting a max offer from Phoenix, the likelihood is that is not going to happen.”
Fake news 🤔 #Nets pic.twitter.com/AXblSHX6Sd
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The Nets have tried their hand at luring free agents before, notoriously doing it with Allen Crabbe, who they obtained a year later in a trade with the Portland Trail Blazers.
Capela and Randle are two free agents that will prove tough to keep to their respective teams, as Houston will have to honor its promise to Chris Paul for a max contract, while Los Angeles is pushing hard to sign two max-level free agents, making it a much tougher task to retain Randle.
“Houston is hoping for a hometown discount, even though they're gonna have to pay that man,” said Smith. “You got Brooklyn — they might look at a Clint Capela, or they might look at Julius Randle, who is a restricted free agent. Remember: You offer him a boatload of money, you force the Lakers to match that offer, because they don't wanna lose Julius Randle and then as a result that might compromise some of the cap dollars that you have.”
Brooklyn has found a way to slowly grind away at their competition by freeing cap space, dumping salaries (as they will through a buyout with Dwight Howard), and boasting the right numbers to make competitive offers to big-time free agents like Randle and Capela, which could have a poison-pill like effect in these Western Conference powerhouses.
