Right before Brooklyn Nets GM Billy King talked to the media after the teams pre-draft workouts, news of their forward Thaddeus Young opting out of his deal to become a free agent was announced. Following from Cleveland.com’s Chris Haynes.
Nets F Thaddeus Young has opted out and will become an unrestricted free agent, a league source tells @Clevelanddotcom.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) June 22, 2015
Young came over to the Nets on a deadline deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves, sending Kevin Garnett back to the Wolves essentially exchanging one big contract for another. Thaddeus will be forgoing the final year of his deal worth about $10.2 million and he will be able to hit the free agent market this summer. The Nets own Young’s full Bird rights meaning they can sign him for any amount up to the max, regardless of their salary cap situation and they hope to do so. When asked about the max Billy King jokingly said ‘next question’.
In his 28 games played during the regular season, Young averaged 13.8 points and 5.9 rebounds in 29.6 minutes per game for Brooklyn. One day after his birthday, Thaddeus hits the free agency market and becomes the first high-profile name to do so, as it was expected after their season ended. The market for him could be high and teams might be willing to throw some money around given the cap increase coming in the next few years. Whether the Nets do or not is unclear at this point but it could be something to consider by the team, especially with the uncertain future of Brook Lopez, who has until the end of this month to decide on his future with the team.
Nets GM Billy King officially announced the news of Young departing on the same day that they had five players come in for pre-draft workouts. Andrew Harrison, Pat Connaughton and Olivier Hanlon were the bigger names on hand to workout for the Nets who own the 28th and 41st overall picks.
