The Milwaukee Bucks traded two picks to Toronto (one of which has already become Norman Powell, who has shown promise) so they could get Greivis Vasquez. That didn’t exactly work out for Milwaukee. Vasquez missed 58 games with an ankle injury and when he was in his shooting numbers (24.7 percent from three) and PER (7.4) were career lows. When Vasquez became a free agent, the Bucks politely waved as he walked out the door.
Vasquez signed a one-year deal with the Nets, and he doesn’t want to go there as just a mentor for the young team, he told Zach Braziller of the New York Post.
“I’m not done yet. I’m a vet that can produce,” Vasquez said Saturday after practice. “Don’t sleep on me. I work too hard to just be a regular guy that talks in the locker room. I bring leadership, but I’m also going to bring [production], and it’s going to be on the court by playing hard, fouling somebody, hitting a big shot like I did when I was in Toronto….
“I got so much in the tank,” he said. “I feel like I can play in this league three, four more years. I just have to stay healthy.”
Three years? We’ll see. That said, Vasquez should get the chance to prove he has that much left — as the primary backup to Jeremy Lin he should get plenty of run.
Vasquez is not yet 100 percent healthy (and has been limited in preseason), but he is back on the court and making progress. He is a big point guard (6’6″) who is a good shooter traditionally (career 34.9 percent from three) and with that threat can set up others with his passes. He’s also dangerous as a floor-spacing shooter working off the ball. He’s not a great defender, but going up against reserves he should be fine (especially because he can be cross-matched onto less-threatening two guards when appropriate).
At the price they get him (one-year, $5 million), this was a good roll of the dice by the Nets, one that could show some value.
