The Brooklyn Nets have reached out to inquire about veteran free agents Chauncey Billups, Antawn Jamison, and Matt Barnes, according to the latest roundup of free agency buzz by Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports.
Billups, who will be 37 by opening day, may be getting pushed out of a rotation spot with the Los Angeles Clippers after yesterday’s deal that sent J.J. Redick and Jared Dudley to the Clippers. He has played in just 42 games in the last two seasons, mostly as an off-guard next to Chris Paul. Billups is a career .388 three-point shooter and his career free throw percentage of .894 ranks fifth all-time in NBA history. Billups is coming off a one-year contract worth $4 million.
An unorthodox, undersized power forward, Jamison will also be 37 on opening day after an up-and-down season for the up-and-down Los Angeles Lakers. Jamison averaged 9.4 points and 4.8 rebounds in 21.5 minutes per game, shooting .464 from the field and .361 from three-point range. Unlike Billups, Jamison played for the veteran’s minimum last year. The Nets currently have a bit of a logjam at the big spots with Brook Lopez, Kevin Garnett, Andray Blatche, Reggie Evans, Mason Plumlee, and Mirza Teletovic, so it would be odd to see them go after another big man — unless they deal Evans, which has been rumored.
Barnes, who plays the 3, is the youngest of the 3 at the age of 33, averaging 10.3 points and 4.6 rebounds in 25.7 minutes per game, with shooting percentages of .462 from the field and .342 from deep in 80 games with the Clippers last season. He, like Jamison, played for the veteran’s minimum last year.
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