This article continues a series of looking at potential Nets trades. The teams featured? Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Golden State, and Houston.
Once again, trades are listed in order of magnitude.
NETS AND PISTONS
Nets get: A 2019 first, 2021 first, Luke Kennard, and Ish Smith
Pistons get: D’Angelo Russell
The Pistons likely turn this down. But if the Nets are considering moving Russell, they would be a place to look. The Pistons are over the cap for the next couple of seasons, and are too good to draft in the top 10. That makes the trade market the only place they can really add impact talent. The Nets would be leveraging that with this deal, and extorting draft assets for Russell. The logic for the Pistons would be to be a playoff team around Blake, Drummond, and Russell, to avoid the picks having too damaging an impact.
NETS AND NUGGETS:
-Nets get: Will Barton and Tyler Lydon
-Nuggets get: Joe Harris
Clearly, Brooklyn wins this deal on value by getting Barton (and a chance to take a look at Lydon, a stretch 4 who shot 40% on threes in college, but has been buried in Denver). The Nuggets are becoming EXPENSIVE, and have been winning without Barton. In addition, they have plenty of other young wings making an impact that could stand to play more. This would be a money saving type move for them; a way to remain in a similar space, but with a cheaper balance sheet.
NETS AND ROCKETS:
-Nets get: Knight and Hartenstein, or Knight, a 2021 second, and 2023 second
-Rockets get: Crabbe or Carroll
These are two variations on a deal featuring one concept: the Nets providing Houston a piece to boost its title contention push, and grabbing some assets in return. Houston may prefer to consolidate assets into a single strike. However, they need more wings like Carroll and need them badly. And more shooting in Crabbe cannot hurt. Knight expires, so while the Nets would weaken this year’s team, they would not compromise their future. And the assets would be the charge for their trouble. Houston is desperate, and may be willing to overpay here.
NETS AND PISTONS:
-Nets get: Luke Kennard and Jon Leuer
-Pistons get: DeMarre Carroll
If the Nets get any value for Carroll they should take it. A trade like this offers Kennard, a young player yet to establish himself but who has upside on the wing. However, he may not be worth eating into cap space next summer with Leuer. The Nets could offer a variation of this deal centered around Ish Smith instead of Leuer, to avoid eating bad money. The lure for the Pistons would be a boost to a playoff push — something that is imperative given their commitment to Blake and Drummond long term.
NETS AND ROCKETS:
-Nets get: Marquese Chriss and 2021 and 2023 seconds
-Rockets get: Rondae Hollis-Jefferson
This would be a different variation on the trades above with the Rockets — the Nets providing them a wing who can help replace what Ariza and LRMAM provided defensively last year, for assets in return. Rondae might not be worth this but Houston again is desperate. And they seem to have given up on Chriss, having declined his team option for next year.
NETS AND MAVS:
-Nets get: Ray Spalding
-Mavs get: Pacers protected second round pick
This is a small one. The tough part of dealing with Dallas is they are ready, with Doncic in place and a clear cap sheet, to go get bigtime players and win. They likely do not want to waste assets on small purchases (like say, Joe Harris), so they can stash them for big ones. Spalding is a live young big who profiles as a rim runner; one area where the Nets could use players to look at. I likely do not do this trade, but thee Pacers’ second rounder in the Nets stash likely will not convey until 2023, so if they like Spalding, the price is low.
NETS AND WARRIORS
-Nets get: Alfonzo McKinnie
-Warriors get: protected 2nd via Indiana
There is nothing here. The Warriors, under this core, have not really made midseason trades. They won’t deal from their core, and they need to keep their cheap non core pieces, because going forward, the team will be insanely expensive — they cannot afford to dump cheap cost controlled players. I do not even know if the Warriors – or the Nets – would do this.
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