Per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Brooklyn Nets have traded center Tyler Zeller to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for guard Rashad Vaughn and Milwaukee’s 2018 second-round draft pick.
Brooklyn is trading Tyler Zeller to Milwaukee, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 5, 2018
Who is Rashad Vaughn?
Along with the Bucks’ second-rounder, Brooklyn also acquired Rashad Vaughn, the 17th pick from the 2015 draft. Vaughn joins a Nets roster which houses four other members of the 2015 class. Specifically, this includes D’Angelo Russell, Jahlil Okafor, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson as well as Juan Pablo Vaulet, whom Brooklyn owns the rights to.
Coming out of the UNLV, the 6’6 guard was labeled a shooter and carried reliable three-point shooting over from college. Vaughn’s career numbers from three don’t jump off the page at just 31.2 percent. But, the 21-year-old is shooting 37.1 percent this season on a small sample (13-35).
https://twitter.com/DXContent/status/960663398399832064
The Pick:
The Buck’s pick will be sent to the Nets if it falls between the 31st and 47th pick in this year’s draft. If the pick falls elsewhere, Milwaukee sends it to the Phoenix Suns as part of the agreement from the Eric Bledsoe trade. If the latter occurs, Brooklyn receives the Bucks’ 2020 second-round pick without any protections.
Rashad Vaughn likely first of Sean Marks moves:
Vaughn will have to fight his way into the rotation. Brooklyn’s roster is already filled to the brim with guards. However, he is a low-risk, high-reward player. Vaughn is in the last year of his rookie deal and is only due $1.89 million this season. Unless he explodes in the latter half of this season, the Nets should have no trouble re-signing him, if they choose to do so.
The trade has little to no impact on Brooklyn’s overall cap situation. Zeller’s outgoing $1.7 million and Vaughn’s incoming $1.89 million are so close that not much changes for the Nets.
The acquisition of Vaughn also may hint at the Nets’ plans leading up to the deadline. Zach Lowe and Wojnarowski talked a little bit about the Nets’ situation on “The Lowe Post.”
Woj mentions that DeMarre Carroll still holds value because of the rarity of quality wings in the league. He also mentions the Nets may be able to flip Joe Harris for a second-round pick. Lowe and Wojnarowski also discussed Spencer Dinwiddie’s trade value (at least a first-round pick) for a short time.
How trade affects other Brooklyn Nets:
In trading Zeller, Brooklyn decides to go all in on giving Jarrett Allen the starting center role and developing the young former-Long Horn. Zeller was averaging a respectable 7.1 points and 4.6 rebounds in 42 games for the Nets this season.
As the trade deadline approaches, watch for Brooklyn to make smaller moves to grab a few assets for the upcoming drafts. The Nets front office has moved smaller contracts and non-essential players in exchange for draft compensation before. Still, it wouldn’t be surprising if Marks adds a few more assets or draft picks.
Brook-Lin.com thanks Tyler Zeller for the memories and wishes him well in his new endeavors. In addition, the Brook-Lin writing team welcomes Rashad Vaughn (@ShowtimeMr1) and look forward to covering his efforts with the Nets.