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Now that the Brooklyn Nets have hired their new head coach, they have to make whatever fortifications deemed necessary to have the right cast around Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving — whether that means re-signing players or bringing on new ones via trade or free agency.
The Nets could acquire pieces by utilizing one of or both of their 2020 NBA Draft picks, along with future ones. But Brooklyn still has quite a bit of time to assess the Class of 2020 with the NBA pushing the draft date back to November 18.
The Nets have Philadelphia’s first-round pick, which Brooklyn acquired when they sent the No. 27 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft — which wound up being Mfiondu Kabengele — to the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Nets’ second-round pick belongs to the Boston Celtics, but they have the Denver Nuggets’ second-round selection.
Right now, Brooklyn has the No. 19 and No. 55 picks.
Here’s a look at one player Brooklyn could take at No. 19:
Grant Riller | Charleston | Guard
STATS: 21.9 PPG | 5.1 RPG | 1.6 SPG
Riller’s a solid player who might be able to play at the NBA level for a while.
But him going to the Nets at No. 19 doesn’t make a ton of sense, despite DraftSite.com‘s projection. They have Brooklyn taking him over Vanderbilt’s sharpshooting wing, Aaron Nesmith, and Stanford’s cerebral guard, Tyrell Terry.
Riller is slipping as far back as mid-second round in other mock drafts. As much as he can do a bit of everything, the Nets should only be taking a point guard that has some greater upside, if it comes to that (i.e. RJ Hampton). They don’t need a finished point guard at that position right now.
All that being said, if the Nets were to trade Spencer Dinwiddie, drafting Riller would make much more sense.
Nets 2020 NBA mock draft radar:
Barcelona wing Leandro Bolmaro
Washington forward Isaiah Stewart
Stanford guard Tyrell Terry
Georgetown center Omer Yurtseven
Michigan State guard Cassius Winston
Arkansas wing Mason Jones
UNC guard Cole Anthony
Vanderbilt wing Aaron Nesmith
Alabama guard Kira Lewis
TCU guard Desmond Bane
Hapoel Tel Aviv guard Yam Madar
LSU guard Skylar Mays
Kansas guard Devon Dotson
New Zealand Breakers guard RJ Hampton
Texas Tech guard Jahmi’us Ramsey
Duke guard Tre Jones
Maryland forward Jalen Smith
Florida State wing Patrick Williams
Arizona wing Josh Green
Villanova wing Saddiq Bey
Colorado wing Tyler Bey
Florida State wing Devin Vassell
Seton Hall guard Myles Powell
Washington forward Jaden McDaniels
Ohio State center Kaleb Wesson
Oklahoma wing Kristian Doolittle
Pesaro forward Paul Eboua
Kentucky guard Tyrese Maxey
Olympiacos center Aleksej Pokusevski
Western Kentucky center Charles Bassey
Arizona guard Nico Mannion
ASVEL wing Theo Maledon
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