Ranking Nets' Top Trade Targets After 2023 NBA Playoff Loss to 76ers
The Brooklyn Nets abandoned their NBA championship hopes—at least for the 2022-23 season—when they traded away both Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant.
Now, the question for the Nets to tackle is when they plan on re-entering the title race.
Their playoff elimination allows them to shift their focus forward, but how far into the future are they thinking? Did they see enough from breakout star Mikal Bridges to think they construct a contender around him? Or are the cupboards too bare to make that happen?
With Brooklyn potentially being among the most active teams on the trade market this summer, let's assemble (and rank!) their top three targets.
3. Draft Picks
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This is a line-in-the-sand type of summer for Nets general manager Sean Marks. The decisions he makes in the coming months will dictate the direction of this entire organization.
While it's entirely possible the Nets try to push forward (a scenario we'll explore next), they could also consider gutting what they have and starting over.
It won't be a painless process, as most of their future first-round picks belong to the Houston Rockets. If Brooklyn doesn't think it has enough talent in-house, though, it might want to add as many external picks as possible to get extra throws at the dart board on draft night.
The Nets could get a haul for Bridges. Nic Claxton, Dorian Finney-Smith, Spencer Dinwiddie and Royce O'Neale would all be sought-after by win-now shoppers, too. If Brooklyn blows it up, then draft picks would easily be the top target.
2. Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers
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Damian Lillard just delivered one of the finest seasons of his career. His 32.2 points per game set a new career high. His 46.3 field-goal percentage matched his previous best. His 7.3 assists tied for his third-highest mark.
The Portland Trail Blazers wasted all of that brilliance and tanked into the draft lottery for the second straight year.
Is that enough to shake Lillard's loyalty? Only he knows, but he has said he's not interested in participating in a rebuild.
If he winds up on the trade market and Brooklyn wants a fast track back to contention, he'd be an obvious target. The Nets might offer the depth and two-way wings Lillard has always needed and never quite had with the Blazers.
1. Trae Young, Atlanta Hawks
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Since Lillard will turn 33 this summer, the Nets may not think he has a long enough window for them to build a championship-roster around him. That's why Trae Young, who turns 25 in September, gets top billing instead.
Like Lillard, Young is absurdly productive. He hasn't averaged fewer than 25 points since his rookie season, and he just delivered his first double-digit assists average. He more or less guarantees his team will have a top-10 attack on his own given his off-the-dribble scoring, pull-up shooting and prolific passing.
The defensive end can be a struggle with Young, though, which might be why Atlanta's front office reportedly has the green light to consider dealing him, per The Ringer's Kevin O'Connor. If Young does hit the trade block, the Nets should think long and hard about making an aggressive offer for him.
He could give this offense a focal point—or share the spotlight with Bridges. In return, Brooklyn can give Young enough defensive protection (from players like Bridges and Claxton) to avoid the collapses on that end that have so often held him back in Atlanta.
While a trade for Young would obviously be a win-now move, it wouldn't carry the same immediate championship-or-bust pressure as a Lillard deal. The Nets would have more time to flesh out their supporting cast if needed.
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