Great to see the Nets are willing to shell out the big bucks to keep their 32 win core together. I wonder what that Cam Thomas extension will look like.
They picked him at 20.... So, add a late first to spice it up. Would you trade Green for him straight up?
The Nets re-signing Claxton to a big contract is just about the worst move they could make. Right now their best hope for turning things around anytime in the near future is to clear cap space and go free agent hunting. Claxton's new contract would all but eliminate that possibility. Really what they should be trying to do is sign-and-trade him to a capped team and get a first rounder or two back.
Hell yes I would trade Green (Jalen) for him straight up. But I honestly question whether or not the Hawks would do that? Jalen Johnson is a bouncy 6'9 F who can do it all on the offensive end, and is one of the Hawks best defenders (which doesn't necessarily mean much). He is not yet at his ceiling. Where he was drafted is not an indication of which pick he might be traded for. That is a sunk cost already. Would the Nuggets trade a guy they drafted in the 2nd round for the #9 pick? If that guy is an MVP, I'm guessing not. Johnson isn't an MVP, but is he better than the following guys: Taylor Hendricks, Jeremy Sochan, Davion Mitchell, Deni Avdija, Rui Hachinmura, Kevin Knox, Dennis Smith jr, Jakob Poetl, Frank Kaminsky, Noah Vonleh (the list goes on). Those are the last ten guys picked at #9 - you have to go back to DeRozan in 2009 to find someone clearly better than Johnson. After the draft it isn't about where the person was picked, it is about what kind of talent they are *for the record, Jalen Johnson was mocked pretty high initially, but his maturity issues were the reasons he fell. He is the Cam Whitmore of his draft class in terms of being someone who fell and probably shouldn't have.
To trade for Jalen Johnson? I don't see him as being available. It would take a significant overpay to get him. I think the Hawks might be interested in moving Trae Young this off-season, and rebuilding around a Murray/ Johnson duo with whatever assets they garner from Young, and starting to work Bufkin more into their rotation (to see what he has). They will probably also be looking to move on from Capela and Hunter (to whom they might attach a minor asset to move). I have no idea how they view AJ Griffin (not well would be my guess), and where they see Saddiq Bey. All in all, a franchise looking to rebuild on the fly, so I don't see them giving up their brightest "future potential" guy very easily.
I would lose my mind if the Rockets land in the top 4 with their own pick and get to keep it. I know it's not a great draft, but I think there are still quality roleplayers there. Plus, it's additional trade ammo.
agreed JJ is highly unlikely to be available. He’s the only guy the hawks keep saying they want to build around. Makes no sense for them to trade him given where they are. it feels like Hunter, Capela, Young, and Murray are available, but not JJ. I’d still rather have Murray on his value contract for 4 yrs than any of those guys.
The Rockets moving up with their own pick would be so beneficial. More trade capital, like you said. We'd have two shots in the lotto to get a contributor, while denying OKC our pick. OKC doesn't need any more help as it is.
7.4% chance to have two Top 10 picks. That's why those Atlanta/Chicago Play-In runs annoyed me to no end.
Something to keep in mind regarding the Nets picks… If either both/or one of KD or Booker ask out of PHX this offseason, the Nets all of a sudden are sitting on the best realistically tradable draft pick assets in the entire league. While it is unlikely (but possibly could) that those actions would affect the ‘25 pick swap value, it would definitely lessen the value of the Nets ‘26 and ‘27 draft capital as it would give the Nets a lot easier path to making moves to contention by those years. If PHX does blow it up for some reason this offseason, the Nets might enter next offseason with those valuable PHX picks AND Max Cap Room. in the event of a PHX blow up this summer, I would definitely be considerably more open to moving the ‘26 and ‘27 draft capital sooner rather than later
I was thinking that's best scenario if we get to keep our pick and deny OKC that #1. Then I started wondering if any team in the modern lottery period ever had 2 picks outside the Top 4 that ended up with 2 picks in 1-4 range. I'm pretty sure the answer is "no", but I guess there is a small chance it could happen.
Brooklyn hasn't ever committed to a rebuild in the past. They're extremely impatient so they'd definitely move the Phoenix picks for a shot at contention as soon as possible. Even if Phoenix doesn't blow up the team their picks are looking good because of Durant's age and their limited options to improve the team.
