The Nets, providing further evidence they are in win-now mode, traded away the 19th-overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft on Wednesday to get Clippers shooting guard Landry Shamet.
As part of a three-team deal, the Nets acquired Shamet from the Clippers and shipped their first-round pick (which ended up being used on Villanova’s Saddiq Bey) to Detroit, while the Pistons’ Luke Kennard was moved to the Clippers. The deal won’t become official until approved by the NBA, but it underscores the Nets’ all-in mindset.
The acquisition of the 23-year-old Shamet gives the Nets another shooter. The analytics-driven Nets hoisted up the fifth-most 3-pointers in 2019-20, but were the sixth-worst team in terms of accuracy. Shamet, a career 40.2 percent shooter from deep (14th best among all active players), should help in that regard, and should be a perfect complement off the bench for stars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
“We’re trying to contend and win a championship. I think it’s something we’re not going to shy away from,” new Nets coach Steve Nash said on ESPN. “We realize that there’s a long path towards that. We have to take this process and build a team that is cohesive, connected, has an incredible spirit, because it’s not all not just about the names on the roster.
Landry ShametGetty Images“It’s about how we compete together, so I think that’s first and foremost on all of our minds. It’s, ‘How do we build a team with spirit that’s going to compete?’ It’s so competitive at the top end of the league to get over the hump. And we realize that’s going to take time, it’s going to take patience and it’s going to take a lot of hard work.”
After averaging 9.1 points on scalding 42.2 percent shooting from deep as a rookie in 2018-19, Shamet followed that up this past season by averaging 9.3 points and 37.5 percent from behind the arc.
The move gives the Nets some security should they lose Joe Harris in free agency, although the feeling around the league is that the unrestricted free agent will re-sign with Brooklyn. It does raise the question of where the Nets stand on veteran off-guard Garrett Temple, who has a $5 million team option and is both older and pricier than Shamet.
Shamet will be under contract for just $2.1 million this upcoming season, with a team option of $3.8 million in 2021-22.
The Nets entered Wednesday with the 55th pick, but moved down two spots in a swap with the Clippers. They took 6-foot-10, 250 pound Mississippi State forward Reggie Perry. He was SEC’s co-Player of the Year after averaging 17.4 points and 10.1 boards, even developing a jumper as we went along.
The Nets drafted JUCO Player of the Year Jay Scrubb, and sent him to the Clippers for Perry in a deal that will be finalized by the NBA.
With the 52nd pick, Kenyon Martin Jr. — the son of Kenyon Martin, the Nets’ top-overall pick from 2000 — was taken by the Kings.




