The consensus among pundits has been the same for more than a week. The Brooklyn Nets had a plan for the NBA trade deadline and it went something like this:<\/p>\n
Keep Michael Porter Jr., Nic Claxton and Day\u2019Ron Sharpe. Instead of trading them for more picks, including one in the 2026 mega-draft, they wanted them to be part of the move from rebuild to contender.Don\u2019t get distracted from your overall strategy by pursuing high profile but tarnished players like Giannis Antetokounmpo or Ja Morant. Stick with the plan for sustainable success.Use their cap space, most in the league, to acquire either draft assets and\/or young players who could be part of the team\u2019s future without adding big money. Think \u201cdiamonds in the rough\u201d or \u201cfallen angels.\u201dWork with Cam Thomas in hopes of moving him and getting some assets in return but if that didn\u2019t work out, end the relationship for the sake of both sides.<\/p>\n
Check, check, check and check.<\/p>\n
If you were surprised by the Nets moves between Wednesday and Thursday, you simply haven\u2019t been paying attention or following the wrong pundits. The team\u2019s focus remains on May 10, the draft lottery and beyond rather than April 14, the start of the play-in tournament. They continue to \u201cplay the probabilities\u201d \u2014 a healthier phrasing than \u201ctanking\u201d – in hopes of landing a generational talent in the NBA Draft at Barclays Center in late June.<\/p>\n
Sure, their choice of the three young players they acquired \u2014 one of whom they waived overnight \u2014 might have surprised as they prioritized development opportunities over the draft, perhaps thinking they have enough? As one fan tweeted Thursday afternoon, the Nets are trading for players he had to google \u2014 but after all, that was the point: they wanted to find good young players who for whatever reason didn\u2019t succeed in their first jobs. Did they meet their goals?<\/p>\n
Here in summary are the specifics of what they did Wednesday and Thursday:<\/p>\n
Traded the draft rights to a 29-year-old Serbian shooting guard, Vanya Marinkovic, to the Toronto Raptors for a 6\u20196\u201d 25-year-old wing, Ochai Agbaji<\/a> who had been a lottery pick in 2022; a Nuggets second rounder in 2032 and $3.5 million in cash considerations. Agbaji will earn $6.4 million this season, the last on his rookie deal. He\u2019ll be a restricted free agent in July.Waived Haywood Highsmith<\/a>, a 6\u20196\u201d defensive-minded guard who they had obtained in the summer from the Miami Heat but who never played for them, spending the first half of the season rehabbing from left knee surgery. His agent told reporters that he was nearing a return, and playing 5-on-5 but Highsmith is 28, is an expiring deal, making $5.6 million. The Nets were unlikely to re-sign him.Exchanged seconds with the Nuggets so they could acquire 6\u20198\u201d 25-year-old small forward Hunter Tyson<\/a> in a salary dump that got Denver under the luxury tax threshold. The Nets gave up a 2026 second that will be the lesser favorable of Clippers and Hawks picks (around No. 44) in return for a Nuggets unfettered and unprotected second in 2032. Tyson is on the third year of his initial four-year deal making $2.2 million. The Nets waived Hunter shortly before midnight, leaving a roster opening likely to be filled by one of their two-way players.<\/a>Send $110,000 in cash considerations (the minimum) to the Boston Celtics for 6\u20198\u201d 23-year-old small forward Josh Minott<\/a>. An athlete who Minnesota saw as a potential 3-and-D specialist when they drafted him out of the second round in 2022. Same with Boston who traded for him last year. He will earn $2.4 million this year, the first of a two-year deal with a $2.5 million team option next season. He reportedly wanted out of Boston where his minutes were starting to go to Hugo Gonzales.Waived Cam Thomas<\/a>, 24, after he and they were unable to find a team willing to trade for him and his $6.0 expiring deal. He now becomes an unrestricted free agent and can be signed by team other than the Nets. There are already rumors of teams who might be interested in him. That seems exaggerated. Pooch and I wrote <\/a>about his tenure in Brooklyn. Moving on after four and a half years.Waived Tyrese Martin<\/a>, who turns 27 next month, after two years in Brooklyn. A fan favorite too is going to be looking for work, but without the baggage Thomas dragged around.Waived newly acquired Hunter Tyson.<\/p>\n As always happens, other deals didn\u2019t get done for various reasons. Joe Vardon, the veteran Cavaliers beat writer, reported Friday that before Thomas as waived, the Cavs and Nets had discussions about a trade centered on Thomas for Lonzo Ball, the often injured point guard.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Nets looked but did not find a suitable offer for Cam Thomas. There had been talks with the Cleveland Cavaliers on a deal that would have sent Lonzo Ball to Brooklyn, league sources said, but that did not go far and Thomas might not have stayed with the Cavaliers even if it had happened. Ball was shuttled off to Utah for cap relief.\u201d<\/p>\n The Nets are now slightly younger with a slightly higher payroll than they were at the beginning of the week. It looks like they\u2019ll have less scoring but a better defense at least at the end of the bench. They\u2019re a bit more athletic well. Both Minott and Agbaji registered 39\u201d max verticals at their respective NBA combines.<\/p>\n They didn\u2019t add a first rounder, but got a couple of new seconds, instead going for young players You can do that if you have 13 firsts \u2014 10 tradeable \u2014 and 21 seconds.<\/p>\n Of course, the goal is not racking up wins but as we noted, \u201cplaying the probabilities,\u201d leading up to the lottery.<\/p>\n Indeed, it\u2019s the culmination of nearly a year long series of moves that prioritized the future, particularly the 2026 draft. As Yossi Gozlan of capsheets.com and the Third Apron podcast laid out in a tweet, the Nets have now exhausted almost all of the $60 million salary space they created last summer\u2026<\/p>\n As for next summer, Gozlan projects the Nets will continue to be a leader in cap space \u2026<\/p>\n Is that enough? There have been mistakes along the way. As Salary Swish noted, the Nets are paying out $20 million in dead money this season, that is salaries paid to players who were waived\u2026<\/p>\n You can add another $2,221,677 what Tyson is owed.<\/p>\n With Tyson waived, it seems that E.J. Liddell, the 6\u20197\u201d 25-year-ol forward, or Tyson Etienne, the 6\u20190\u201d 26-year-old shooting guard on the Long Island roster. In turn, that would open up a two-way spot. One possibility there is Long Island\u2019s starting center, Grant Nelson, the 7\u20190\u201d 23-year-old center who signed an Exhibit 10 with Brooklyn last summer. He recently came off a seven-week rehab for a knee issue and while still on a minutes restriction has put up big numbers, averaging 27.1 points and 12.7 rebounds per 36 minutes in nine starts. Thursday night, in 19 minutes, he put up 21 points on 8-of-8 shooting.<\/p>\n We\u2019ll probably get additional information in the next few days about why the Nets did one thing rather than another, like the failed talks on a Thomas-for-Ball trade or like what do they know about the 2032 NBA Draft? After Thursday, Brooklyn now have six picks \u2014 two firsts and four seconds \u2014 in a draft whose players are currently 11 or 12 years old.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The consensus among pundits has been the same for more than a week. 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