On the eve of the NBA Draft, Nets general manager Billy King downplayed his chances of getting himself into a draft in which the team currently does not have a pick.
“I’d like [to trade into it], just because I think you can get a good player,” King said Wednesday at the team’s New Jersey practice facility. “I don’t know if we will. … I doubt we’ll get into the first round. There’s a chance we can get a second-round pick, but we’re going to be patient. So I’d say the odds on the first [round are] not good, second round possible.”
Despite King’s public stance, it seems likely the Nets will move into the draft for at least one pick Thursday night. With $2 million to spend, they will be able to buy at least one second-round pick, and if they dangle the rights to Euro-stash Bojan Bogdanovic, they potentially could move into the latter part of the first round, where several teams are likely trying to get out of the draft.
But, as always, where the Nets will end up will depend upon the price to do so.
“We can get [into the first round],” King said, “but what do you have to give up to get there? So you weigh the player you may have to trade or the cash you may have to spend and you find out, is it worth it? Is that player you’re going to get better than what you’re giving up?”
If King’s history is any guide, he will wind up doing something. During his time as general manager with the Nets and 76ers, he has made a draft-night trade almost every year. King made draft-pick trades with the Nets in 2011 and 2012 before putting together the massive blockbuster with the Celtics for Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce on draft night a year ago.
King said he still is expecting Kevin Garnett to return for his 20th NBA season.
“He’s under contract, and I expect him to be back next season,” King said.
King also said the Nets were expecting Alan Anderson to opt out of his deal, as he did earlier this week, and are hoping to retain him. King added he was happy Andrei Kirilenko chose to opt-in.
“You never know until it happens,” he said. “[But] I was excited to have him [come back].”
As for Pierce and Shaun Livingston, King said the Nets will have a better idea of the market value for both players on July 1, when free agency begins. Pierce is expected to return, while Livingston’s future is up-in-the-air after a strong season in Brooklyn.
“[July 1] is when everybody can start making offers, and you get a feel for where the market is going to be,” King said. “Right now, you can speculate and have ideas of who may pay and what they may do. Once you start, then guys end up getting paid and, if they leave, then we go to Plan B.”
The Nets also will unveil the site of their practice facility in Industry City in Brooklyn on Thursday morning. The facility is expected to be completed in time for the start of the 2015-16 season.