Landry Shamet could be the Nets' odd man out after James Harden trade
After trading for James Harden, the Brooklyn Nets have a roster that may feel a bit like the game musical chairs over the next few weeks.
As part of the deal, in addition to the cumbersome amount of draft picks that were moved, the Nets moved Caris LeVert, Jarrett Allen, Taurean Prince and Rodions Kurucs. That leaves Joe Harris and Spencer Dinwiddie as the only players remaining on Brooklyn from the roster the season before last in just 2018-19.
The front office still has plenty of work to do re-tooling the roster after the move left the Nets especially thin in the frontcourt. There are several options available who are currently free agents and Brooklyn is expected to be active in the eventual buyout market as well.
But don’t be surprised if there are more trades on the horizon for the Nets. According to Brian Windhorst, one such player who could be on the move is 23-year-old combo guard Landry Shamet (via ESPN):
“I don’t know what sort of trade value that they have left on their roster. I talked to two different teams that the Nets offered Landry Shamet to in the last week, attempting to get a first-round pick. They were trying to keep Jarrett Allen, as you can imagine. So to get the fourth first-round pick, they were trying to find a team that would give them anything and so they shopped Landry Shamet pretty hard, from what I understand.”
The former Wichita State standout was 42.2 percent from three-point range during his first season in the league back in 2018-19, playing well for the Philadelphia 76ers before he was traded to the L.A. Clippers as part of the package for Tobias Harris.
Brooklyn acquired Shamet from the Clippers as part of a three-team trade that occurred on the night of the 2020 NBA draft. The sharpshooter projected as an ideal fit for the Nets considering how many open looks he would get on the floor alongside Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
Shamet is a shooting specialist who does not provide a ton of extra value as a playmaker or on defense. But he is currently averaging a career-worst 5.4 points per game. Similarly, his three-pointers per game (1.1) and three-point percentage (30.6 percent) are both the lowest marks of his career. Meanwhile, he is down from 27.4 minutes per game last season to just 17.6 minutes per game so far in 2020-21.
Perhaps the Nets get a reinvigorated version of Shamet, who can get even more open looks now that Harden is in the fold. But considering they have surplus options on the perimeter and could use more rim protection, Shamet may end up on his fourth team in just his third year in the league.