Nets general manager Sean Marks said the trade that sent Mikal Bridges to the Knicks came together quickly, but an unidentified source tells Brian Lewis of The New York Post that the framework was actually set at the trade deadline. Although Bojan Bogdanovic and Shake Milton may not have been mentioned in the original discussions, it appears the idea of five first-round picks and a swap was discussed in February.
“We were always prepared for a rebuild. It wasn’t like, oh, let’s wait to be lucky to find the star that’s coming into free agency. We were always prepared to pivot in the other direction if we could see the right opportunity to do that,” the source said. “And who would’ve thought we could trade Mikal Bridges for five first-round draft picks? And who would’ve thought we were able to find that window of opportunity to get Houston to agree to get our picks back?
“It was eye-opening to see the Knicks offer these kinds of assets for Mikal. If you look at our ability to reload our assets, particularly in the draft year of 2025, we have one pick that’s our own that could be very. very good. … We’ve got three more first-round picks that probably will be in the 20s but it’s a very deep draft. Plus, we have our own second-round pick. That’s a class we can get very excited about.”
Lewis adds that the Nets began to strongly consider a Bridges trade after he openly criticized the team’s direction following a lopsided loss to Boston on February 14. Up to that point, the focus had been on finding an All-Star to pair with him.
There’s more on the Nets:
- Jalen Wilson is a leading contender for Summer League MVP honors, Lewis states in a subscriber-only story. Through four games, Wilson is averaging 24.3 PPG with 46.3/55.6/88.2 shooting figures. His three-point shooting is especially significant because he only connected at 31.6% from beyond the arc in college, 27.5% last season in the G League and 32.4% in 43 NBA games. Concerns about Wilson’s shooting caused him to fall to the 51st pick in the 2023 draft, but he becomes much more valuable if he can maintain anything close to his Summer League pace. “Shooting helps everything at any level of basketball because it provides space on the floor for his teammates,” said Nets Summer League coach Steve Hetzel.
- It’s been a difficult Summer League for Dariq Whitehead, who’s trying to return to the court after three surgeries severely limited his playing time in college and during his rookie season, Lewis adds. Whitehead shot 4-of-34 from the field and 2-of-21 from three-point range in his first three games before being held out of Thursday’s contest against Orlando for “rest.” “I’d just like for him to step on the court and play as hard as he can and don’t worry about the makes or misses,” Hetzel said. “That’s been our message from Day 1. … He’s had a tough journey being out as long as he has, and I don’t think any of us can know what he’s going through. It’s our job to just keep encouraging him, put him back out there and have him play as hard as he can the next year.”
- Lewis suggests more trades could be in the works after Friday’s deal to acquire Ziaire Williams from Memphis. The Nets are determined to stay under the luxury tax, and their cushion dropped from $8.2MM to $4.3MM by adding Williams. League sources told Lewis “there are still moving pieces,” possibly involving Dorian Finney-Smith and Cameron Johnson.
Next yrs draft 2025. Definitely the one Nets can use to upgrade. It’s a deep draft. And has major talent at top.
Cooper coming to Bklyn …….
Trading for Williams is a good gamble. Always late bloomers ……..
Rooting for Whitehead. He’s got talent. You can’t develop if you are hurt. Gotta get 100% healthy. Still very young. Sick with it.
Man, if the Nets don’t get Flagg or one of the top 3 guys, you have to consider it a major failure and some awful luck.
What would be really insane is if somehow the Spurs ended up with Flagg and Wemby…
They would be practically unstoppable for the next decade once they learn to play together and take an offseason to get the right pieces around them. That would be absolutely scary!!
Yes, the Nets got a bunch of late first round picks. My God, who would’ve thought? They got no young players with promise and no other assets other than a bunch of late first round picks, that who knows what they will become. Let’s stop spinning this narrative that the Nets got a great haul.
It’s more the assets than the quality of the late first rounders who could all be role player quality or better. Cam Thomas, Dayron Sharpe and Nic Claxton were all late first/early second round picks. That said the Nets have about 30 draft picks over the remainder of the decade including 2030. There’s no way they’d all have a shot to play for the team so many will be assets for moves up the drafts or for vets.
Another thing is I consider myself an anti-tank missile. I will not root against my team in the hopes of gaining a megastar in a draft. It’s highly unlikely that Ben Simmons will reclaim his superstar status after all of his injuries, though he’s only 27, but it’s not impossible. I think Cam Johnson will remain on the team until the trade deadline, at least, but DFS is likely to go. I think the Nets could surprise some people, especially with a player like Jalen Wilson in the rotation. Look at what South Sudan did earlier against Team USA.
The point is they didn’t get any young promising players. They have to rely totally on the draft which can be such a crapshoot. Yes it’s a lot of assets but you need to know what to do with those assets and there’s no proof that they do. And again the quality of the picks are a pretty substantial factor. We can’t know for sure where those picks will be but we’ve seen so many teams trade out of late first round picks and not get a whole lot of value for them so I just think it sounds like a lot on face value, but I don’t think it’s going to be amazing.
One would think that criticism of your team when it sucks is not only a good thing, but a most desirable one.
No wonder BRK are always bad if they can’t deal with the truth, right?
Cameron Johnson.
Why is the reason he has primarily played PF for his career?
His assist rate, steal rate, blocks, rebound %, are all what a typical 3 does.
I get that he can may can defend 4’s, but why no typical 4 stats? Specifically a lack of blocks and rebounds.
For that matter DFS has a similar stat profile as johnson, and he plays alot of PF also.
Maybe there something that the team has focused on instead for years? Such as running back instead of going for rebounds?
I get the “interchangeable position concept”, maybe another team would see either as primarily a wing.