The sudden retirement of LaMarcus Aldridge has created an opening, with the Nets looking at a couple of options. And one that seems to be gaining strength is guard Mike James.
James is in New York and is on the radar of Nets and Knicks. And, although sources have confirmed that Brooklyn is interested in James and the talks, both Eurohoops and mibaloncesto.com have gone a step further and have reported that an agreement is being reached between the Nets and the veteran guard for the rest of the season.
“Mike is on a list of guys they’re watching,” a source told The Post. But reports coming out of Europe have said an agreement has been made, and the New York Times says they are in advanced talks that could end on Tuesday.
To which the Nets add, he would be the 27th player on the team record to be adapted this season, indicative of the type of year he has been.
“We will do our due diligence as usual and continue to dismantle,” Nets CEO Sean Marks had said about Aldridge’s replacement. “We will see what we have. … I don’t think we want to jump to any conclusions about what we might need or what we might be missing.
“We will see all the alternatives and everyone there is. Obviously, losing a player like LaMarcus is definitely a blow to us. It’s about being flexible. “
James, 6 feet 1, played in both Phoenix and New Orleans in 2017-18 and was one of the most productive scorers in Europe. This season he averaged 19.3 points, 5.7 assists and a shot of 0.354 from depth in 27 Euroleague games this season at CSKA Moscow. But his passage through Russia ended abruptly and ugly.
CSKA, which was owned by former Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov, suspended James indefinitely in late March after an altercation with coach Dimitris Itoudis. While he was in a three-year deal until 2023, the Russian club let him return to the state. BDA, which represents James, tweeted on April 2 that he was scheduled to return to the United States the next day to seek opportunities in the NBA.
James, 30, had also clashed with coaches in the past. He had run the respected former Spurs assistant, Ettore Messina, to Armani Milano, who told the Italian team to let go of the guard despite winning the “Alphonso Ford Trophy as the top scorer” in the Euroleague last season .
But now, the Nets, who currently play without guards James Harden and Tyler Johnson, appear about to bring James back to the NBA.
James averaged 9.3 points, 3.5 assists and 2.5 boards in 19.1 minutes over 36 games in 2017-18: he played 32 with the Suns and four with the Pelicans. His only game against the Nets could have been the best, with 24 points in 9 of 16 shots, five assists and four rebounds to lead Phoenix to win on October 31, 2017.
The Nets made no comment, with talks around the league linking them to former network goalie Jeremy Lin. Marks himself was not compromising on whether they would replace Aldridge with a big one or whether they would fix his backyard problems.
“It’s a dilemma we’re facing right now. You can’t replace LaMarcus and you won’t find any other LaMarcus sitting out there waiting for us, “Marks said.” What we’re going to look at is once James comes home, Kevin [Durant] reappears and we get a couple of healthier guys, we’ll have a better idea of what we need in rotations and players.
“I don’t think he has to go one way or the other, whether he’s a great man or a guard. We will see where there are needs over the next week and we will make that determination. “
There are note deadlines. Monday was the last day they can use Spencer Dinwiddie’s partially torn ACL disabled player exception. It’s worth $ 5.8 million and can only be used to sign one player by the end of this season.