Sergey Karasev

Karasev's first two seasons in the NBA have been underwhelming, but the 22-year-old wing hasn't had a lot of minutes to try and sell his wares. Drafted by the Cavaliers in the 2013 NBA Draft, Karasev was projected to spend more time overseas before coming to the states, but the Cavs instead opted to bring him over immediately in the hope that he could be a part of their young core that was growing around Kyrie Irving. Karasev was viewed as a bit of a project, and he spent his rookie season buried behind Dion Waiters, Luol Deng, and Alonzo Gee, earning spot minutes at shooting guard and small forward on a terrible team. He played 19 games in the D-League as a rookie, averaging 13.0 points, 1.9 three-pointers, 5.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.3 blocks in 30 minutes per game while shooting 44 percent from the field, 39 percent from three, and 84 percent from the line. Those stats aren't terrible, and his shooting percentages are more than respectable, but Karasev has failed to secure enough minutes in the NBA to produce similarly there. When the Cavs started to believe they could bring back LeBron James to Cleveland last summer, they started unloading contracts to clear cap space to sign veterans, and Karasev was traded to the Nets. While not on the same level as the Cavs, the Nets were also a veteran team looking to win now, so Karasev was once again put into a limited role last season, averaging 4.6 points, 0.5 three-pointers, 2.0 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 0.7 steals in 17 mpg through 33 games played, 16 of which were starts. Even in his starts, though, Karasev played just 27 mpg and had trouble finding himself in the offense. His season was cut short in March when he suffered a dislocated kneecap and a torn right MCL in March, and to this point, he's still aiming to return in time for the start of the season, but as of the start of August, he still wasn't 100 percent healthy. There's not much depth on the Nets, so an injury could open the door for Karasev to play significant minutes, but he'd need to drastically improve his production to be of use in anything but the deepest of leagues.