Add The New York Post on Google The Nets rounded out their center rotation Tuesday, agreeing to a two-year, $19 million deal with Moritz Wagner.
Trading away Nic Claxton had created a glaring hole and elevated the newly re-signed Day’Ron Sharpe to presumptive starter. Now the 29-year-old Wagner will back up — or perhaps platoon with — Sharpe.
The deal — first reported by HoopsHype and confirmed by The Post — is similar to the one agreed to with Keon Ellis the night before, and has a second-year mutual option. In essence, either side can opt in to the deal, trigger the second year and fully guarantee the remaining $9 million. But if both sides opt out, Wagner would become an unrestricted free agent again next summer.
Ellis’ deal provided a defensive-minded guard. Wagner’s pact now provides help on the other end of the floor, though no shot blocking. Rim protection was already an Achilles’ heel for the Nets even with Claxton. Settling on a Sharpe-Wagner tandem makes them worse in that area.
But Nets GM Sean Marks likely looked at the centers available — in both free agency and on the trade market — and made cost-effective signings in Wagner and Sharpe (two years, $20 million), whose contract looks better in light of the inflated center market.
Ex-Knick Mitchell Robinson was likely the only shot-blocker available to them, but he inked with a contender in Boston while the Nets are rebuilding. Walker Kessler ($32.5 million annual salary), Robinson ($15.8 million), Jock Landale ($14 million) and Sandro Mamukelashvili ($13 million) all signed hefty deals. And Jalen Duren hasn’t even gotten his lucrative contract yet, but will be well paid.
The Nets have signed Mortiz Wagner. Getty Images Instead, the Nets went with a cheaper floor-raiser. It does take them out of the running for a max salary slot, but leaves them with just under $25 million in cap space if they structure one of their signings into the room mid-level exception.
That projection doesn’t include the Claxton-Julius Randle swap, which won’t be official until Monday. The Nets could spend that amount, then trade Claxton. They would still have to include another small salary with Claxton to make the salary-matching math work. They’re $917,000 short, per Yossi Gozlan of Third Apron.
Orlando’s signing of Nikola Vucevic essentially ended Wagner’s time with the Magic, and playing alongside his younger brother Franz.
The older Wagner brother averaged 6.9 points and 3.2 rebounds in just 11.9 minutes last season, logging 36 appearances after coming back from a torn ACL the prior year.
Wagner had averaged 11.1 points and 4.5 boards in 18.5 minutes over the prior three seasons combined for Orlando, on .560/.329/.802 shooting splits. While certainly not a pure stretch five, he spaces the floor better than Sharpe or Claxton. He brings energy and mobility, though not a hint of rim protection.
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Brooklyn will need to either find that at another position — and Randle is set to start at power forward — or compensate by pressuring the ball farther up the court. Neither Sharpe, Wagner nor second-year pro Danny Wolf is a shot-blocker, and the interior defense may suffer.
Brooklyn still has ample cap space and the most tradable future first-round picks in the league. One thing they could do with their cap room is give Michael Porter Jr. a raise for the upcoming season in a renegotiation and extension.
The Nets also have a glut of guards, with Ellis’ skill set not only replacing the departed Ziaire Williams but perhaps making Terance Mann redundant. Could they make a trade to consolidate and add on the wing?
Houston’s Tari Eason and Denver’s Peyton Watson are restricted free agents, with the latter vacationing in France with Porter to celebrate his former Nuggets teammate’s 28th birthday.
And if Orlando ever decides to break up their core with Paolo Banchero and the younger Wagner being a poor fit, having the German star’s older sibling on the roster could be a boon for Brooklyn.
