Nets Notes: Butler, Schröder, Potential Trades, K. Johnson

Jimmy Butler has shown interest in joining the Nets in the past and would still be interested in potentially ending up in Brooklyn, a source tells Brian Lewis of The New York Post. However, the Nets aren’t considered a potential trade suitor for the Heat star and would only make sense as a landing spot in free agency.

[RELATED: Heat Open To Listening To Offers For Jimmy Butler]

That outcome isn’t out of the question. The Nets project to have more cap room than any other NBA team in 2025, and multiple reports have indicated that Butler’s plan is to turn down his $52MM+ player option for 2025/26 in order to become a free agent after the current season.

Still, Lewis cautions that any Nets interest would have to be “at the right price and on the right terms” — at age 35, Butler can’t realistically expect a long-term, maximum-salary contract as a free agent in 2025, but it remains to be seen how eager he’ll be to take a pay cut and/or a short-term contract. He may prefer one to the other.

With no contending teams projected to have maximum-salary cap space next summer, it’s possible Butler would use the retooling Nets as leverage in order to extract the best possible deal from the Heat or whichever team he’s playing for at the end of this season. But it’s worth noting that Brooklyn has been more competitive than expected so far this season and doesn’t necessarily want to spend several years in the lottery while rebuilding.

“Their reset will be around signing a max free agent and draft picks,” one league source told Lewis. “They for sure won’t tank multiple years. It’s going to be a one-year reset.”

Here’s more on the Nets:

• While it’s generally difficult for NBA teams to net a first-round pick in exchange for a role player who has an expiring contract, that’s expected to be the Nets’ asking price on veteran point guard Dennis Schröder, Lewis reports in another story for The New York Post. Marc Stein reported something similar on Tuesday. The 31-year-old, who will earn about $13MM this season before reaching unrestricted free agency in 2025, is averaging career highs in several statistical categories, including assists per game (6.5) and three-point percentage (38.5%).
• The Nets may benefit from selling off their productive veteran players sooner rather than later in order to ensure they land a high lottery pick in the 2025 draft, but that doesn’t mean they’ll simply accept the best offer available for players like Schröder and Dorian Finney-Smith. Brooklyn will be seeking real value for its top trade chips, according to Lewis. “They’re not giving anyone away,” one source told The New York Post.
• After averaging 12.6 minutes per game in his first 15 outings, Nets guard Keon Johnson has logged 26.3 MPG in seven games (three starts) since Cam Thomas went down with a hamstring injury. As Lewis writes for The Post, Johnson recognizes his playing time could fall off again once Brooklyn’s leading scorer returns. “Nothing is guaranteed, and it’s not guaranteed for him or anybody else,” head coach Jordi Fernandez said. “So the group’s been doing great. There’s going to be guys at times going in and out of the rotation. I hope if you’re out of the rotation, you work really hard to get back in. If you’re in the second group, you work hard to be in the first group. That’s important because that just helps the entire group to be better.”