The Brooklyn Nets have their Big 3 after acquiring James Harden to join Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. Now, the hard work begins for the organization’s front office. They have the NBA stars in place, how will you fill out the roster with complementary players around them? That is what Sean Marks and company will have to figure out.
Brooklyn is most certainly not finished retooling their roster. It costs a lot to land a player of Harden’s caliber, as they traded away key rotation pieces in Caris LeVert, Jarrett Allen and Taurean Prince. In addition to Spencer Dinwiddie being sidelined by injury, the Nets depth took a major hit.
Since the trade, the Nets have already begun filling out the roster. Former lottery pick Noah Vonleh was signed to help shore up the frontcourt. Vonleh hasn’t found consistent minutes outside of the 2018-19 season with the New York Knicks, but he has a diverse skill set that should help the team in a pinch.
The next player they signed is another former Knick, Iman Shumpert. Shumpert was a key rotation member of the Cleveland Cavaliers 2016 NBA Final Championship winning team. He knows what it takes to win and a Nets team with championship aspirations needs as much of that as they can get. The former Georgia Tech product can play defense, something the Nets desperately need, but he isn’t a consistent 3-point shooter.
Iman Shumpert also spent 13 games with the Nets during the 2019-20 season. That is probably as big of a reason as the team went with him over other candidates, such as Andre Roberson.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Nets actually considered a deal with Andre Roberson before deciding to sign Shumpert. Charania mentioned that Roberson was being considered because of his ability to play defense and provide the team with experience. He showed that he was healthy to the Nets, but they ultimately went in another direction.
Roberson, the former Oklahoma City Thunder wing, appeared in seven games with the team last season. That was the first time he appeared in an NBA game since January 2018 when he ruptured the patellar tendon in his right knee.
Now that he has shown that he is healthy and ready to play again, he is someone veteran teams will undoubtedly check in with.
