Nets trade Zeller to Bucks for Vaughn, 2nd-round pick
Sean Marks loves his draft picks.
Marks traded Tyler Zeller to Milwaukee for Rashad Vaughn and a 2nd-round draft pick Monday.
The Nets will receive the pick in 2018 if it falls between 31 and 47. Otherwise, the pick will be conveyed in 2020. As of right now, the Nets would not receive the pick this year.
Zeller signed a two-year deal with the Nets in September. The 28-year-old averaged 7.1 PPG and 4.6 RPG during his time in Brooklyn.
While Zeller played better than most expected, he was still deficient in many areas. He struggled to score in the post and was consistently muscled on the defensive end by stronger big men.
The trade will allow for Jarrett Allen and Jahlil Okafor to receive increased minutes. This appeared to be the direction the rotation was heading as Allen has increased his production in past weeks.
A second-round pick is a solid return for a player Marks signed in September. There have been an abundance of talented players to be drafted in the second-round over the years.
Joe Harris and Spencer Dinwiddie were both second-round picks who developed into solid players. Former Nets GM Billy King traded a second-round pick to Golden State back in 2011. The Warriors selected three-time All-Star Draymond Green with that pick.
Marks has acquired a stockpile of picks since becoming the Nets' general manager. Caris LeVert and Allen are products of picks acquired by Marks.
Brooklyn also has the Raptors' 2018 first-round and second-round picks received in the DeMarre Carroll trade. Amazingly, Carroll is having the best season of his career and could be traded at the deadline for another draft pick.
Who did Sean Marks give up for two draft picks and Carroll? Justin Hamilton.
Brooklyn received 21-year-old shooting guard Rashad Vaughn along with the pick. Vaughn was likely added to the trade to make the salaries match.
Vaughn is a 6'6" swingman out of UNLV. Milwaukee selected Vaughn with the 17th pick in the 2015 draft. He averaged 17.8 PPG and shot 38.3% from three his freshman year at UNLV.
The first-round pick never panned out the way Milwaukee had hoped for. Vaughn can shoot the ball and score in bunches but has failed to find consistency in his shot throughout his short NBA career.
He will likely struggle to find minutes in a guard-heavy Nets rotation. However, Atkinson may play him sparingly to see what he has in the young guard.
Marks pulled off yet another impressive trade Tuesday and may be making more moves ahead of Thursday's trade deadline.