Dear Old Gold
Fansided

Iowa basketball: Aaron White could be a Brooklyn Net in 2019-2020

By Andrew Wade

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MARCH 13: Aaron White #30 of the Iowa Hawkeyes celebrates after making a three point shot in the game against the Northwestern Wildcats during the first round of the Big Ten Basketball Tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on March 13, 2014 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MARCH 13: Aaron White #30 of the Iowa Hawkeyes celebrates after making a three point shot in the game against the Northwestern Wildcats during the first round of the Big Ten Basketball Tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on March 13, 2014 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Quietly, former Iowa basketball player Aaron White’s draft rights were traded from the Wizards to the Brooklyn Nets. What does this mean for White?

Former Iowa basketball player Aaron White was drafted by the Washington Wizards with the 49th pick in the second round of the 2015 NBA Draft, but he has yet to appear in an NBA game.

Since the draft, White has spent the last four seasons playing overseas in Germany, Russia, and most recently, Lithuania where White was a key contributor for the BC Zalgiris. In two seasons with White, BC Zalgiris claimed two more league championships as the Iowa basketball product averaged 8.9/8.2 points, 4.4/4.2 rebounds, and 1/.7 assists per game respectively in 2017 and 2018.

He is now a free agent, and rumors prior to the NBA free agency frenzy was that White may be finally joining the Wizards. However, in a cap-clearing move by the Nets to make room for Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, the Nets acquired the draft rights to Aaron White (shoutout to David Eickholt of 247Sports for initially covering the story).

This could be big news for the Iowa basketball big man as the Nets are not only much more talented than the Washington Wizards but they also have a real need for a player of White’s caliber.

When super teams are built, it often leaves little to no room for any remotely decent contracts to fill the rest of the lineup, meaning these teams need to find contributors on relatively bargain contracts.

As it stands today, the Nets have zero true power forwards under contract. They do, however, have four small forwards and three centers.

More importantly though, White fits the bill of a perfect complimentary role player for the Nets. He’s got the height, length, and athleticism to be a good defender off the bench, and he is developing a nice three-point shot (he hit 38% from 2017-2018). His salary would likely be cheap,

For a Nets team that is currently $15 million over the cap, White could be a steal and although I think the main purpose of this trade was to clear Carroll’s $7 million salary, it is worth watching this as a developing situation.

White has yet (as far as I am aware) to sign with a European club, and the Nets have a need for role players.

It could be a perfect fit just like Peter Jok’s jump-shot would be with the Los Angeles Lakers.