Should the Nets Bring in Cheap Veterans to Mentor the Young Core?

The Brooklyn Nets are nowhere near a stage in which they should be competing for a deep playoff run. After a few seasons of mediocrity, they find themselves in the early stages of a rebuild, and just drafted a league-record five first-round picks. With little elite talent and a plethora of draft picks for the future, the Nets should take their time building this team.

With that being said, Brooklyn has plenty of room to acquire legitimate players for the next few seasons. This offseason, in particular, there are plenty of veterans still available as NBA Summer League comes to an end. While many rosters are finalized up to this point, the number of veterans still on the market should signify that nothing is guaranteed at the moment.

Bleacher Report's Greg Swartz recently listed the top seven cheap free agents still available. While the less-expensive players include fringe rotation players such as Seth Curry and Alec Burks, legitimate talent is toward the top, including Russell Westbrook and Chris Paul.

Paul and Westbrook are expected to sign with contenders as training camp approaches, which means the Nets are a fringe possibility. In fact, there are no new reports of Brooklyn being interested in either of the two, as well as other veterans.

However, we've seen rebuilding teams sign experienced players before in order to mentor young talent. Paul and Westbrook would especially be significant due to the Nets having three playmakers coming in: Egor Demin, Nolan Traore, and Ben Saraf.

Having someone with that sort of pedigree would give a breath of fresh air on Brooklyn's bench. If the Nets were to bring a veteran in, he could mentor younger players and be a locker room presence while receiving legitimate rotation minutes. Eventually, Brooklyn could ship that player off in a trade or wait until free agency to save money.

Again, most veteran free agents are looking to join a contender, so Brooklyn's odds at landing a marquee player like Paul or Westbrook are unlikely. However, if the Nets just get someone to help this relatively young team for the future, it would do wonders in the long term.