The Brooklyn Nets could jumpstart their rebuild with a blockbuster trade, but they’d have to give up their biggest asset to land Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The Brooklyn Nets, despite playing in the biggest media market in the United States, don’t have much to celebrate. Their last NBA Finals appearance was in 2003, and they have never won the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
That’s not for lack of trying. In 2019, they added Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, and then traded for James Harden months later, although injuries and the COVID-19 pandemic stopped the team from finding lasting success.
As the Milwaukee Bucks flail after falling 4-1 to the Indiana Pacers in the first round of the NBA playoffs, they are expected to make some drastic offseason moves.
At the forefront would be trading Giannis Antetokounmpo, their homegrown star who brought them a title in 2021. Antetokounmpo has long made it clear that he would like to retire in Milwaukee, although winning a title remains his priority.
The San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets appear to be the frontrunners to land him, but the Nets could put together a massive trade package.
Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty ImagesExamining Brooklyn’s assets in Giannis sweepstakes
The Nets, via a sign-and-trade, could send promising youngster Cam Thomas to the Bucks, as well as Nic Claxton.
However, they boast plenty of draft picks as well, which would be the main draw of doing business with them.
After making trades with the Phoenix Suns to unload Durant, the Dallas Mavericks to move on from Irving, and shipping Harden to the Philadelphia 76ers, the Nets ended up with ten first-round picks and swaps. Then, this summer, they traded Mikal Bridges to the New York Knicks for an additional four first-rounders.
Despite not boasting a superstar of their own, savvy trades and free agent signings could propel the Nets up the standings, although there is one massive catch.
Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty ImagesCooper Flagg could head to the Nets
After starting the 2024-25 season hotter than expected, the Nets ended with the sixth-best odds of landing the first overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, which will undoubtedly be Duke phenom Cooper Flagg.
If the Nets land the first pick, their immediate priority will either be to build a winner around Flagg organically or cash in their future assets and go all-in on winning, as it’s believed that Flagg will be NBA-ready from day one.
However, any team willing to make a deal with the Nets would like to pry away Flagg, and Giannis is one of only a few players good enough to make Brooklyn consider.
“Cooper Flagg for Giannis Antetokounmpo seems, on paper, like a pretty reasonable present-for-future swap: would you rather have five years of guaranteed All-NBA play, or 15 years with that potential but less certainty?” asked Sam Quinn of CBS. “That’s going to depend on context, but the Bucks in this scenario likely prefer the latter. Dylan Harper or Ace Bailey aren’t quite as tantalizing, but they’d be plausible centerpieces here.”
Flagg is seen as a can’t-miss prospect, but other players touted as franchise players–like Deandre Ayton and James Wiseman–never came close to living up to the hype.
There is a risk that Flagg never pans out, and Antetokounmpo, despite being 30, has many years of MVP basketball left.
Of course, the Nets could flip most of their future picks, as well as matching salary, to the Bucks to pair their young stud with an established superstar. There’s a nine percent chance they land the first pick, and it could wreck the league and win them their first NBA title.