The Nets took another step toward building their foundation around youthful players with long-term development potential when they used the No. 29 pick to select 19-year-old Dzanan Musa on Thursday night in the NBA draft. Musa has been a pro since the age of 16 and has three years of experience in Croatia but reportedly wants to come to the NBA right away rather than be stashed in Europe.
This draft marked the final installment of the Nets' ill-fated 2013 trade with Boston for Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry. Boston traded the Nets' original pick to Cleveland last summer, and the Cavaliers used the No. 8 overall choice to select Alabama point guard Collin Sexton.
But thanks to the maneuvering of Nets general manager Sean Marks last July, the Nets did not go into the draft empty-handed. When they agreed to take on the final two years of DeMarre Carroll's contract worth $30 million, the Nets not only got a starter who had his best statistical season as a pro, but they also received the Raptors' first-round pick, which turned out to be No. 29 overall.
They used it to get a 6-foot-8 small forward who projects as a pure scorer. Musa is a native of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but he spent the past three seasons playing for Cedevita Zagreb in Croatia. Last season, he averaged 13.5 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists, but he shot only 30.9 percent from 3-point range.
That last figure might be misleading. Playing in the 2019 FIBA World Cup pre-qualifiers for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Musa averaged 22.8 points and shot 53.2 percent from the field, including 45 percent from 3-point range. He's considered a strong ballhandler and has a knack for getting to the foul line, where he shot 80.1 percent last season.
Earlier in the day, it became clear the Nets' trade on Wednesday for center Dwight Howard was just a clever way for Marks to get rid of the onerous contract of Timofey Mozgov. According to an ESPN report, Howard and the Nets are expected to negotiate a buyout of the final year of his contract valued at $23.8 million.
Charlotte took Mozgov, who has two years remaining on his deal worth $32.7 million, and got the No. 45 overall pick in Thursday night's draft, the Nets' second-round pick in 2021 and cash considerations. The move created salary-cap space for the Nets in 2019 that could range anywhere from $50 million to $80 million and allowed the Hornets to get below the luxury-tax threshold this year.
Howard told ESPN's Chris Haynes he was blindsided by the deal, which won't become official until the moratorium ends on July 6.
"I was just really in total shock because I wasn't expecting it to happen," Howard was quoted as saying by ESPN. "I thought this season was really good."
The ESPN report said Howard and the Nets have agreed to enter buyout talks and further quoted Howard saying, "I want to be in a situation where I have an opportunity to help a team win. All I need is a real chance and a clean slate where it's not people talking about my past."
The Nets would have been Howard's sixth team in the past eight seasons, and he has been widely described as a difficult locker-room presence. Although Howard certainly would have given the Nets a physical frontcourt presence, he's not the mobile type of center that fits their modern spread offense.
There also would have been questions about Howard's ability to fit into the culture of an organization that has spent the past two years under Marks rebuilding from the ground up. By contrast, Musa fits the Nets' forward-looking profile.
