Two 3-point specialists floated as potential Bulls buyout targets

Joe Harris and Furkan Korkmaz were suggested as potential Chicago Bulls buyout targets.

Though some fans may not be happy with the Chicago Bulls’ decision to do nothing at the trade deadline, Arturas Karnisovas wants to make the playoffs. He values winning and didn’t want to shake up the roster, making it the third straight season that the Bulls did absolutely nothing. But they may as well commit now.

Adding players on the buyout market could help the Bulls push for the postseason this year, and since Karnisovas already committed to that goal, attacking the market in full force makes a ton of sense. Chicago should look to add guys who can help them in areas of need.

Sam Smith of NBA.com suggested a couple of potential three-point shooters the Bulls could target if they wanted to go that route.

“Though the Bulls shooting has improved lately with Ayo Dosunmu’s hot streak, it’s still streaky and I wouldn’t be surprised if they add a shooter,” Smith wrote in a mailbag article. “Joe Harris’ name has been speculated about. Maybe Furkan Korkmaz who had some good games against the Bulls.”

Adding either Harris or Korkmaz could help the Bulls’ three-point shooting. Harris is a veteran who may help with his experience, but Korkmaz is a younger guy who could continue to develop into a better player if given more opportunities.

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15 buyout candidates contending teams may consider signing after the 2024 NBA trade deadline

Some of the most interesting names include Spencer Dinwiddie and Kyle Lowry.

NOTE: This story was originally published on Feb. 8 and was updated.

The 2024 NBA trade deadline has passed and hoops fans saw a splattering of deals that could potentially shake up the race for the title.

But it isn’t just trades that potentially could impact the championship odds. After the deadline, once the dust settles, several contenders around the NBA typically make moves to add free agents from the buyout market as well.

Even though buyouts are unlikely to make a dramatic change for teams with legitimate title aspirations, these moves around the edges are still fascinating to follow for those who follow the league most closely.

Due to the CBA, per Yossi Gozlan, players with salaries above the $12.5 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception cannot sign with teams above the first tax apron. Those teams are the Boston Celtics, Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors, L.A. Clippers, Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, and Phoenix Suns.

Players who meet those thresholds are mentioned below in italics. They are permitted to sign with any other team. All players must sign with a team by March 1 to become eligible to make postseason rosters.

Otherwise, let’s take a look at some of the most notable names to emerge:

Grading the Brooklyn Nets trading Joe Harris and second-round picks for salary relief

Here is the grade for the Brooklyn Nets trading Joe Harris and two second-round picks to the Detroit Pistons.

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The Brooklyn Nets have begun the offseason strong as they have gotten through the 2023 NBA Draft without an issue and appear to have players that could be impactful for them down the line. Once the Nets took care of business with the draft, they moved on to free-agency where they made some nice moves.

One of those moves, per multiple reports on Friday, was trading guard Joe Harris and two second-round picks to the Detroit Pistons for salary relief essentially. Shams Charania later reported that Brooklyn was sending a 2027 second-round pick (via the Dallas Mavericks) and a 2029 second-round pick (via the Milwaukee Bucks) to the Pistons.

At the time, there was not any reporting as to what Brooklyn was receiving in return for Harris and the second-round picks. Later in the day, Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype tweeted that the trade allowed the Nets to re-sign Cam Johnson while opening up the $12.4 million mid-level exception to be used on a free-agent. Gozlan also pointed out that the deal generated a $19.9 million trade exception which could make it easier for Brooklyn to trade for someone with a large salary like Damian Lillard.

Ultimately, trading Harris gave the Nets more flexibility in terms of what they could do this offseason while signing their most important free-agent in Johnson. Plus, the exception could be handy later on this offseason.

Grade: B+

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Report: Brooklyn Nets trade Joe Harris and two second-round picks to Pistons for salary relief

Per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Brooklyn Nets are trading Joe Harris and two second-round picks to the Detroit Pistons for salary relief.

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Now that the 2023 NBA Draft is over and done with, the Brooklyn Nets have made their first big move in free-agency.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Nets are trading sharpshooter Joe Harris and two second-round picks to the Detroit Pistons. Essentially, Brooklyn clears Harris’ salary off of the books. He was owed a little over $19 million for 2023-24, and, per Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype, the deal generates a trade exception of $19.9 million and allows the Nets to use the $12.4 mid-level exception to re-sign restricted free-agent Cam Johnson.

Harris, 31, has been in the NBA for the past nine seasons and he spent the last seven of those years with Brooklyn. Harris had some of his best years with the Nets as he had two seasons where he led the league in three-point percentage (47.4% in 2018-29 and 47.5% in 2020-21). The former Virginia Cavalier came into the league as the 33rd overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft and ends his Nets tenure as the franchise leader in three-pointers made (984).

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Mock trade has Nets trading Joe Harris and Patty Mills for John Collins

This mock trade suggested by Bleacher Report could be one where the Brooklyn Nets finally get some depth in the frontcourt.

The Brooklyn Nets, like every other team that’s not playing right now in the NBA Finals, are thinking of ways to get better with the draft less than three weeks away. In this downtime between now and the draft, there have been mock trades that have been proposed throughout the internet.

For the Nets, trying to win now is probably their better option as opposed to rebuilding since the Houston Rockets own Brooklyn’s draft for the next few seasons. Various people within the NBA space have suggested that it’s better for the Nets to win as much as they can now since rebuilding wouldn’t benefit them much right now.

The mock trades involving the Nets have been deals in which Brooklyn gets a star-level player at the least in exchange for a valuable player like Mikal Bridges or restricted free-agent Cam Johnson. However, in this mock trade proposed by Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report, Brooklyn trades a couple of players for a guy who’s not very well-regarded right now:

2022-23 Brooklyn Nets player grades: Joe Harris

Here’s the review of Joe Harris’ 2022-23 season for the Brooklyn Nets.

The 2022-23 season was an interesting one for the Brooklyn Nets. In a season that started with championship expectations, the Nets’ season ended with just trying to hold on to a playoff spot after trading away Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving to end the superstar experiment once and for all.

At one point, Brooklyn was regarded as one of the main contenders in the Eastern Conference with Durant and Irving leading the way. Once the trade deadline came and went, the Nets had a completely different team led by budding star wing Mikal Bridges.

Not to mention, Brooklyn went through a coaching change after Steve Nash was fired following a 2-5 start to this season. Jacque Vaughn is now the head man of a team that is currently in flux thanks to the trades of Durant and Irving. While the offseason is still fresh, it’s a good time to review all of the Nets who played this season starting with: guard Joe Harris.

(All stats are courtesy of basketball-reference.com).

Round 1 Sixers vs. Nets preview: position by position break down

Here is a position-by-position breakdown for the Round 1 series between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Brooklyn Nets.

The Philadelphia 76ers and the Brooklyn Nets will begin their first round playoff series on Saturday with Game 1 from the Wells Fargo Center in South Philly. The Sixers will be looking to get off on the right foot as they prepare for what they expect to be a deep playoff run.

The Sixers are heavy favorites over the Nets in this series and it’s understandable. They are led by a powerful star duo in Joel Embiid and James Harden and they are expected to make quick work of the Nets who have solid players, but no star power.

In this preview edition, it’s time to break down each position and see who has the edge. From the starters down to the bench unit, it’s time to examine and give the advantage to either side.

Nets’ Joe Harris reacts to elite ball movement after win over Pistons

Joe Harris reacts to how well Brooklyn was moving the ball in Wednesday’s win over the Detroit Pistons.

Brooklyn Nets guard Joe Harris has been one of the more consistent players on the team in terms of his role. No matter the composition of the roster or the opponent, Harris’ job is to provide shooting and compete on the defensive end so that he isn’t enough of a liability that he has to be taken off the floor in critical moments.

In Wednesday’s 123-108 win over the Detroit Pistons, Harris performed his role perfectly. He scored 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting from behind the three-point shooting and all of those points came in the first quarter. When Harris first came in the game with 6:52 left in the first quarter as an injury replacement for Cam Johnson, Brooklyn was down 18-20. By the time the first quarter was over, and six three-pointers later, the Nets were leading the Pistons 47-34.

Brooklyn finished the decisive win with 36 assists on 45 made field-goals (80% assist percentage) and that is tied for the highest assist percentage by them this season. The other time Brooklyn had an assist percentage of 80% was a 109-107 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Nov. 17 when the Nets had 32 assists on 40 made field-goals. Harris spoke after the game about how the ball-movement was key to beating Detroit:

“Well, ball was really moving. Spence (Dinwiddie) did an unbelievable job there in the first quarter, facilitating. Finding not just me, but a lot of guys shots. That’s usually when I get a lot of shots up or make a lot of shots. It’s usually because the ball is moving, other guys are facilitating.”

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Nets’ Joe Harris praises team’s ‘luxury’ of shooters

Joe Harris gives credit to the amount of shooter Brooklyn plays on a given night.

NEW YORK — Brooklyn Nets guard Joe Harris has lasted on the Nets as long as he has because of his ability to shoot the three-ball. He has done that year in and year out, but he also acknowledges that while he doesn’t play as much as he used to during the Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving era, he knows that Brooklyn has enough shooting on the team to go around.

“Yeah, it’s definitely a luxury of this team,” Harris said after scoring 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting from the field and 3-of-6 shooting from three-point land in Friday’s 124-107 win over the Atlanta Hawks. Harris is now shooting 42.5% from behind the three-point line, including shooting 48.1% in the month of March. “A lot of space on the floor for primary ball handlers, facilitators, and then, you know, when the ball is moving, getting guys shots, it’s definitely a fun way to play,” Harris continued.

Brooklyn shot 15-of-33 (45.5%) from three-point range as a team and that is tied for the 14th-best three-point shooting performance by the team this season. Harris was one of three players to make at least three three’s as Mikal Bridges made five and Dorian Finney-Smith made four. “And you know, it’s an unselfish group. So, typically giving up good shots for great shots, making the extra pass. And you know, it’s always better to play that way,” Harris explained.

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Nets G Joe Harris reaches new 3-Pointer milestone vs. Cavs

Nets G Joe Harris reaches new 3-Pointer milestone vs. Cavs

The Brooklyn Nets are reeling from a devastating collapse in Thursday night’s loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Cleveland swept both games at Barclays Center and dropped the Nets further in the eastern conference playoff race with less than a month remaining in the regular season.

A positive moment from the defeat was the play of sharpshooter Joe Harris and his reaching a new career milestone. The longest-tenured Nets player connected five three-pointers for 15 points on Thursday night and, in the process, passed 1,000 makes in his career. Harris shared his thoughts on the personal accomplishment post-game with reporters while assessing the team’s mindset after the tough loss.

“To be honest, I didn’t know that and haven’t thought much about it until you just said it,” said Harris during the media scrum. “But I mean, I’ve been here a long time, and I shoot a lot of threes.”

Harris focused on the team’s struggles dropping their last five games and falling out of the top six in the eastern conference playoff picture.

“It’s definitely frustrating. But I think collectively across the board, you know, we are obviously aware of, you know, where we sit in the standings and the importance of every game here down the stretch.” Said Harris, “JV (Jacque Vaughn) has been great, where, you know, this is a tough loss for us. And I felt like we really should have won this game. We were in control for the game for the majority of the 48 minutes. You have a tough loss. Everybody’s feeling that. But at the same time, we have a big game coming up against Miami and in Orlando. So the focus has now shifted to that. And that’s what you know, tomorrow will be in terms of preparation, and then you hopefully go on the road and take advantage of two good opportunities.”

Harris has hit most of his career three-pointers during his seven years with the Nets. He ironically eclipsed the 1,000-made mark against the team that drafted him in 2014.