Jarrett Allen or DeAndre Jordan?
The Nets signed DeAndre Jordan last offseason, joining Kyrie and KD, who each took a pay cut to facilitate the signing. It seemed a bit odd but by all accounts, DJ is a character guy who was brought in because the two stars want to play with him.
That doesn’t mean that he’s necessarily better than the younger Jarrett Allen. But the reverse doesn’t apply either, these guys are pretty much carbon copies of each other: running, dunking and setting screens while taking most of their shots off passes and in the paint.
Brooklyn needs to seriously weigh up what they want to do with these two as there are three options: including Allen in a trade, a 21-year-old big man who projects to be a solid role player for the next decade, include DJ in trades, a 31-year-old big who has just been a solid role player for years and is on the wrong side of 30 or don’t include either in a “star trade.”
Using the Bradley Beal example: Washington would much prefer the younger big if they’re picking between the two but should the Nets campaign to keep him?
If DeAndre is traded, could the Nets potentially alienate their two stars who both took a risk joining the younger brother Nets over the Knicks and even took a cut to play with the dunking big man?
It’s probably an easy decision: you keep your stars happy.