Getty Seth Curry and Royce O'Neale during a matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers.
Brooklyn Nets sharpshooter Seth Curry was a throw-in in the trade that swapped All-Stars James Harden and Ben Simmons last February. He has had solid moments for the Nets during his tenure, but ankle injuries he dealt with in Philadelphia that ultimately required him to have offseason surgery last May have limited him since he arrived in Brooklyn.
Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report proposes a trade where the Nets move on from Curry and swap him for Chicago Bulls point guard Coby White.
“The Nets can’t go full rebuild mode since the Houston Rockets control their first-round picks in perpetuity,” Buckley writes. “But Brooklyn pushed its timeline toward the future when it dealt both Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving at the deadline. Swapping out the 32-year-old Curry for the 23-year-old White would be another step in that direction.”
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Seth Curry, Coby White Swap Works for Nets and Bulls
Curry is still one of the most accurate snipers in the NBA this season, at 39.5%. But he is still just a spot-up shooter on offense, as he lacks shot creation and is a huge liability on the defensive side of the ball. With Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving now gone from the franchise, the Nets need players with more versatile skill sets. Although Curry may no longer be an asset to this Nets roster, Buckley says he could add value to the Bulls.
“While White’s restricted free agency could be hard to calculate, the Nets could see the appeal of his outside shooting, shot creation, and transition attacking. Assuming Brooklyn still wants Ben Simmons in its future, White could be a fit with him since he works both on and off the ball,” Buckley added.
“As for the Bulls, Curry could step in as an upgraded version of White without the thorny restricted free agency upcoming. Curry’s superior shooting could help scratch one of Chicago’s biggest itches, and he’d bring a more polished offensive arsenal.”
Jacque Vaughn Calls Out Nets’ Effort in Loss to Thunder
The Nets currently sit in sixth place in the Eastern Conference playoff standings but still have yet to secure their spot in the postseason. And with just two games separating them from the seventh spot and having to compete in the play-in tournament for a second straight year, they cannot afford to take many more losses.
Brooklyn suffered one of their more disappointing losses to the 34-35 Oklahoma City Thunder on March 14 after impressive back-to-back wins over the Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets. After the loss, Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn called out his team’s effort in the game.
“Yeah, the three-point shooting wasn’t, you know, a high priority for us. Lu Dort came out and made some shots to start the half. But it was the plays before that. Their (Oklahoma City) ability to impact the winning from offensive rebounding, from the 50/50 balls that we didn’t get, those are things that we can control. We didn’t finish the (first) half the right way, and then, that bled into the third quarter,” Vaughn told reporters on March 14.
“So, we talked about every single possession for this team matters, every 50/50 Ball matters, you got to get dirty, you got to get on the floor, you got to get that possession, you got to take on the battle of boxing out your dude every single time. And you got to come back and help your teammate if your guy doesn’t go to rebound. We didn’t do that often enough. And we paid for it tonight.”