Nets Trade Taylor, Shengelia for Marquis Teague, a Future Draft Pick and Cash

Photo by Isaac Baldizon/Getty Images

The Brooklyn Nets made two surprise moves on Saturday.

The first trade sent forward Tornike Shengelia to the Chicago Bulls for Marquis Teague.

The second sent point guard Tyshawn Taylor and cash to the New Orleans Pelcians for a future draft pick and cash.

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, as he often is, was the first to break the news.

Sources: Chicago reaches agreement to send Marquis Teague to Brooklyn; Tyshawn Taylor to Pelicans. http://t.co/NqUVSTERKj
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) January 18, 2014

Ultimately, these trades seem beneficial for the Nets. They send away two guys who did almost nothing but occupy space at the end of the bench and were constantly moving up and down from the NBA to the D-League. Nets fans will miss Ty and Toko, but they get two real assets in exchange.

The moves mean a few things. First, the Nets were somehow interested in Marquis Teague. Teague, who has played in 19 games for the Bulls, is averaging 2.4 points, 1.5 assists and 1 rebound in 12.7 minutes per game. He's also shooting just 24.2% from the field and 20% from beyond the arc. He'll serve as a backup to Deron Williams and Shaun Livingston, which is something Taylor has struggled with this season. Importantly, Teague is a pretty good defender. For the mediocre Bulls this year, he has a +/- of .8, which doesn't look like much, but is actually pretty good when you consider how much the Bulls have struggled this year. A stat that more clearly illustrates this is his 87.7 defensive rating. This move represents a transition – albeit a very, very slight one – to the Nets forming a more solid defense. Toko was basically a non-contributor; Teague will likely play decent minutes and hopefully shore up the defense, which has been trending up as of late.

The second move is also a positive. The Nets get a draft pick from New Orleans. It's unknown right now if this is a pick for the 2014 draft or for a future draft, but it's almost assuredly a second-round pick. Acquiring a pick, as opposed to giving one up, is a step in the right direction for this franchise – even if it's only a second-rounder and even if it's not this year.

The third and most interesting thing that this trade means is that the Nets have cleared up a spot on the roster. They can use the DPE that they were awarded earlier this month to sign a free agent.

So, who's on the market?

Of course, there's the much-maligned Andrew Bynum. The once prolific center has fallen from grace after missing the entirety of last season and having a spat with a Cleveland Cavaliers coach. Bynum is still just 26, but one wonders if he can still be effective in the NBA. His motivation to even play basketball anymore has been called into question, and he carries with him some pretty significant attitude problems and injuries that still seem to be bothering him.

Other free agents out there include Marcus Camby, who played important defensive minutes for the New York Knicks last season but will turn 40 in March; combo guard Shannon Brown, who would likely be just a redundancy on the wing; Jason Collins, who played seven seasons for the Nets and has good size, but is limited by his age; and Shawne Williams, another familiar face to the Nets who averaged 5.2 points and 4.5 rebounds in just 20 minutes for the Los Angeles Lakers this season.

What do you think of the trades? Who should the Nets sign next? Let us know in the comments.

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