The conventional wisdom was that this trade deadline would likely to be meh with the bigger moves expected around the NBA Draft come June. But the James Harden-for-Darius Garland deal, along with Tuesday’s flurry of deals big and small, seems to have changed things.

However, the original narrative still applies to the Brooklyn Nets who not only made no moves on Tuesday, but weren’t even mentioned in any rumors, unless you count the recurring reports of league interest in Day’Ron Sharpe, which now reportedly extends to the Lakers who saw him go for 19 and 14 Tuesday night or the Nets willingness to facilitate bigger deals for other clubs..

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They don’t seem to be that interested, at least for now, in Giannis Antetokounmpo which as Brian Lewis noted used to be their “white whale.” Nor do they seem willing to move Michael Porter Jr., who has publicly expressed a desire to stay in Brooklyn, interested in the franchise’s “trajectory” back to contention.

The Harden deal will send him to his fourth team in the past five years after the Houston Rockets, Brooklyn Nets, Philadelphia 76ers, the Los Angeles Clippers and now the Cleveland Cavaliers. Before that, he left the OKC Thunder, in case you forgot. None of his departures seemed too happy. (If you add up all the teams the Big Three have played for over their careers, the number is now 14, five each for Harden and Kevin Durant, and four for Kyrie Irving. So much for loyalty.)

The Harden news and Tuesday’s other trades had some implications for the Nets.

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Harden should give new life to the Cavaliers chances of making a deep run in the playoffs (although his talent is his talent, his record is his record as well and he’s been criticized for not leading any of his teams to the promised land.) Another failure this spring could have a deleterious effect on the Cavs. With Donovan Mitchell staring at an off-season extension next year, he may want to move on and we know that at the very least, the Nets were interested in the now 29-year-old. “The key here is that the Cavs are moving away from believing in the Core 4,” Brian Windhorst told ESPN Cleveland. “And I think the genesis of this is because they’re worried that Donovan is not going to re-sign this summer.”

Yesterday’s other two moves, the Memphis Grizzlies and Boston Celtics blockbusters could have an effect on the Nets desire to have a facilitator role. Both of those deals created big exceptions, $28.8 million for the Grizz — the biggest in NBA history — and $27.7 million for the Celtics. Those two and another one of $18 million created by the Bulls in the three-team deal involving them, the Minnesota Timberwolves and Detroit Pistons are all larger than the $15.3 million salary cap space the Nets retain. Cap space is better than TPEs, but the differences are not so big in the short term. The three exceptions will be available once the trades are official, which no doubt will be prior to Thursday’s 3:00 p.m. ET deadline.

Specifics on the latest Sharpe rumor came post-game in Brooklyn with Dan Woike of The Athletic extolling on how much the Lakers like the 6’10” 24-year-old who is currently the NBA’s all-time leader in offensive rebound percentage (18.3%).

Sources inside the Lakers locker room are fans of Brooklyn center Day’Ron Sharpe, who had 19 points and 14 rebounds in the Nets’ loss to the Lakers on Tuesday night. The Giannis trade chase could create ripples beneficial to the Lakers. As teams maneuver for financial flexibility, the Lakers’ expiring deals and future first-round pick could get them in conversations for high-end role players…

Meanwhile, MPJ is counting the hours to the deadline. Despite the horrors of the last several weeks, he seems happy in his role with the Brooklyns, as Brian Lewis reported.

“Yeah, I’ve stated that I’m enjoying my time here, and I do see that the light at the end of the tunnel, and I do see the path that we’re trying to take,” said Porter, who returned from a personal leave for Tuesday’s 125-109 home blowout loss against the Lakers. “That’s something that’s out of my control. And wherever the wind blows, whatever the guys who run the organization want, then I’m down for.

“I know that every situation has its blessings and things to take away from,” said Porter, who scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the loss. “So I’ve stated that I enjoy my time here. And two more days, if I make it through two or three more days, I’ll be here. So, we’ll see. We’ll see what happens.”

As for the others rumored to be of interest to NBA clubs — or not — nothing much new. Yes, teams do still appear to be interest in Nic Claxton, not so much in Cam Thomas.

The deadline could have other roster implications. Haywood Highsmith, if healthy, likely would have yielded a second rounder, but he’s not. As an expiring — $5.6 million contract — but injured, he’s likely to be done with the Nets no matter what. That could open a standard deal for one of the Nets two-ways, likely E.J. Liddell, who’s spent some time of late with the big club, or Tyson Etienne, Long Island’s new all-time leading scorer. In turn, that could open a two-way spot for Grant Nelson, the 7-foot rookie who has been playing well despite minutes restrictions — per 36 numbers in excess of 20 and 10 in eight starts.

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Stay tuned.