The Brooklyn Nets love making moves. Fresh off completing the biggest trade of the 2013 offseason, they were active in the 2014 trading period, sending Jason Terry and Reggie Evans to the Sacramento Kings in exchange for guard Marcus Thornton. Now, the team appears to be taking a page out of the Miami Heat's playbook and targeting players that have their contracts bought out to help with a final playoff push.
The Nets were showing heavy interest in center Jason Collins who had been sitting on the free agent market for the entire season. The Nets need size after losing Brook Lopez to a foot injury and Collins has the size to help. The only issue is that he has not played in awhile and Brooklyn might not be ready to bring him on just yet.
ESPN's Marc Stein is reporting the Nets are waiting on a decision regarding Collins while they wait and see about Glen Davis' situation. The Orlando Magic are in the process of finalizing a buyout for the big man and if he clears waivers, Brooklyn is ready to sign him. Davis was set to make about $6.6 million this season.
According to Stein, the Nets and the Los Angeles Clippers are the heavy favorites to land Davis when he becomes a free agent. Clippers head coach Doc Rivers and Nets forward Kevin Garnett are reportedly recruiting Davis. Both have history with Davis back on the Boston Celtics when the team won the NBA title in 2008.
The Nets have worked out Collins with the idea of signing him to a 10-day contract to see how well he develops. However, Brooklyn prefers Davis over Collins simply because of his resume and proven history. The team will only sign one big man in the coming week. While the team does have another available roster spot, they are keeping it open in case of emergency.
If both Davis and Collins do not work out, Metta World Peace could be an option. The New York Knicks are busy negotiating a buy out of the forward's contract according to World Peace himself who posted the news on Twitter. World Peace signed with New York over the summer for a deal worth two years and $1.6 million per season. He played a very minimal role while suffering through knee issues that hurt his playing time.
Brooklyn likely will not look World Peace's way simply because he is not healthy enough to play consistently. Once Davis is available, the Nets will make a hard push and settle on Collins if they miss out.
