1) Trade.
The Nets can trade for any player in the last year of his contract up to $5.25 million, or the non-taxpayer mid-level exception plus $100,000.
An important note: a player who is eligible for a qualifying offer is still considered in the final year of his contract, meaning that the Nets theoretically could have swallowed Jordan Crawford’s contract into the DPE, had the Celtics decided they didn’t want anything back for Crawford. However, they can’t trade for a player who has a non-guaranteed contract next year, like Andre Miller’s, because he’s not technically in the last year of his contract.
Here’s the full list of 47 players that the Nets could at least ask for in trade with their Disabled Player Exception, no matter how unlikely a deal would be:
Gustavo Ayon (ATL)
Avery Bradley (BOS)
Jerryd Bayless (BOS)
Ramon Sessions (CHA)
Kirk Hinrich (CHI)
C.J. Miles (CLE)
Vince Carter (DAL)
Jan Vesely (DEN)
Greg Monroe (DET)
Jermaine O’Neal (GSW)
Jordan Crawford (GSW)
Steve Blake (GSW)
Jordan Hamilton (HOU)
Lance Stephenson (IND)
Chris Kaman (LAL)
Jodie Meeks (LAL)
Jordan Hill (LAL)
Ed Davis (MEM)
James Jones (MIA)
Mario Chalmers (MIA)
Ray Allen (MIA)
Shane Battier (MIA)
Toney Douglas (MIA)
Ekpe Udoh (MIL)
Luke Ridnour (MIL)
Dante Cunningham (MIN)
Al-Farouq Aminu (NOP)
Greg Stiemsma (NOP)
Jason Smith (NOP)
Thabo Sefolosha (OKC)
Lavoy Allen (PHI)
Eric Bledsoe (PHX)
Viacheslav Kravtsov (PHX)
Aaron Gray (SAC)
Isiah Thomas (SAC)
Jimmer Fredette (SAC)
Boris Diaw (SAS)
Matt Bonner (SAS)
Nando de Colo (SAS)
Patty Mills (SAS)
Greivis Vasquez (TOR)
Patrick Patterson (TOR)
Brandon Rush (UTA)
Gordon Hayward (UTA)
Chris Singleton (WAS)
Kevin Seraphin (WAS)
Trevor Booker (WAS)
You can cross the most intriguing names (Monroe, Bledsoe, Hayward, Stephenson, Shuttlesworth, et al) off the list immediately — those guys are either getting re-signed by their teams, helping their teams on a quest for a championship, or will net more value than just as an expiring contract.
The Nets would also need to send a player back, since they have 15 guaranteed contracts. They’d most likely send one of their minimum contracts (Alan Anderson, Shaun Livingston, Tornike Shengelia, and Tyshawn Taylor). The Nets could also theoretically trade for any minimum-salary player, but they wouldn’t need to use the DPE for that, and they’d still need to take a player off their own books.
There are some intriguing options here. The most interesting possibility I can see is with the Los Angeles Lakers. Here’s why: the Lakers sit uncomfortably above the league’s luxury tax threshhold, at about $7.2 million. They couldn’t get under the line with any one individual trade, but the not-tanking-but-kind-of-tanking Lakers could send any number of players to slash their bill in half or more — Steve Blake, Chris Kaman, or Jordan Hill are three possibilities.
Say the Lakers embrace tanking. They trade Blake to the Nets, who want a third point guard so that they can feature their Livingston-Williams lineup. They cut their luxury tax overages to a much more manageable $3.2 million, and they’ve still got numerous expiring contracts they can pawn off.
The Nets are way, way over the threshhold, and there’s no chance they’ll get under it, which leaves them at a crossroads. If they want to add bodies, they’ll want to take advantage of two teams that may want to cut costs.
But they’re also going to add luxury tax penalties of their own: trading for, say, Steve Blake and his $4 million contract will end up costing them closer to $20 million when all is said and done.
Another intriguing-and-not-wholly-unrealistic idea: Vince Carter in a welcome-back tour. I know Carter wouldn’t technically be “returning,” since the last time Carter played in a Nets uniform the colors were blue and red and the team played in a swamp. But a significant portion of the Nets fanbase are holdovers from New Jersey, and there isn’t a month that goes by that I don’t see someone ask about bringing back Carter for a last hurrah. Carter makes a little over $3 million this year, and has aged about as gracefully as a 37-year-old shooting guard that’s lost his explosive athleticism can.
Plus, can you see the Brooklyn #15 Carter jersey on the shelves? I CAN’T, BECAUSE IT’S FLYING OFF ‘EM ALREADY.
Other names to watch: Boris Diaw, Jordan Hamilton, Jermaine O’Neal.
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