The Nuggets are operating under the firm belief that Nene will test the market as an unrestricted free agent, according to a person familiar with the team’s thinking. Six teams have registered interest, the source said: Golden State, New Jersey, Indiana, Miami, Dallas and Houston.
Nene, the top unrestricted free agent on the market in the view of many team executives, will have a say over where he winds up — though not as much as free agents did under the previous system since free agents can no longer get max deals when leaving their teams via sign-and-trades.
Nene wants out; six teams in hunt — via Ken Berger
Nene is the best free agent in this class, though I’m not sure how well he’d fit next to Brook Lopez. Nene’s a better defensive player, but not by much; and at 29 years old, a contract longer than three years may prove too expensive. Also, any contract signed in the range Nene is expecting would make signing an additional max contract in next year’s free agency impossible.
Speaking of which, Berger also gives me a minor heart attack here:
UPDATE: The Nets would have room sign Nene to a max deal starting at 30 percent of the cap — $17.4 million — if they used amnesty on Travis Outlaw.
NO. NO. KILL THIS IDEA. KILL IT WITH FIRE. Also, kill it by not amnestying Travis Outlaw until next season. But mostly fire.