What draft picks do the Nets have to offer in a trade?

Feb 2, 2023 - 8:45 PM

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What’s the Nets draft picture? What can they use — and what can’t they use — if a trade opportunity arises? The simple answer is that it’s, well, complicated. But the bottom line is this: between now and 2029, the Nets can currently trade two firsts in 2027 and 2029 and four seconds. That can change, of course, but at the moment, it’s what it is.

Bottom line, Brooklyn doesn’t have much to offer, mainly because of the Rockets’ demand that the Nets send them all their first round picks and swaps in the January 2021 trade for James Harden. Sean Marks was able to get a couple of first round picks back when Harden was dispatched to Philly 13 months later but Brooklyn sent one of them to Utah for Royce O’Neale.

So here’s a rough outline, year-by-year, of where the Nets stand. Bottom line: the Nets cannot trade a first round pick until 2027, when they have two firsts, because of the NBA’s Stepien Rule which prohibits teams from being without future first-round picks in back-to-back years. In the second round, it’s more complicated but similar in that the first second rounder they can deal is 2024.

2023

• The Nets received two first rounders from Philly in the Harden trade, one this year and another, 1-8 protected, in 2027. That permitted the Nets to send one of them to the Jazz for Royce O’Neale in July. Under terms of that deal, Utah gets the worse of the Nets and 76ers picks. The Rockets also have the right to swap picks with the Nets, but unless there’s a complete collapse in Brooklyn, paired with a surprise showing in Houston, that swap will be “extinguished” (as was the 2021 swap.) The Nets cannot trade the better of the two picks because of the Stepien Rule since their 2024 first is already owed to the Rockets.
• In the second round, Philadelphia will receive the most favorable of Atlanta’s second, Charlotte’s second and Brooklyn’s 2023. Atlanta will receive the second most favorable and Brooklyn will receive the least favorable of the three. Bottom line is that the pick is likely to be low.

2024

• The Nets first round pick goes to the Rockets. No protections. No questions.
• In the second, Brooklyn’s also pick goes to Houston as part of the Sekou Doumbouya salary dump in 2021.

2025

• The Nets must swap firsts with the Rockets if the Nets pick is better. Again, if the Nets are still a top club — and both Kevin Durant, Ben Simmons and maybe Kyrie Irving will still be under contract — this swap could also be “extinguished.” Under certain circumstances, the pick could wind up being swapped with Oklahoma City.
• In the second round, the Nets may receive a pick from Indiana via Miami but will have to send their own pick to the Knicks. Both are complicated. Miami’s pick was sent to Indiana as part of a three-team trade in 2019 centered on T.J. Warren, then forwarded to the Nets as part of the Edmond Sumner salary dump last year. It’s protected 31-37, meaning Brooklyn only gets the pick if it’s No. 38 or lower. The Nets own pick was sent to the Hawks in the Lin deal, then moved to the Knicks as part of their acquisition of Cam Reddish.

2026

• The Nets first round pick goes to the Rockets. No protections. No questions.
• In the second round, the Nets control their own pick.

2027

• The Nets currently have two firsts, their own and the 76ers, protected 1-8, from the Harden trade. The pick might have to be swapped with the Rockets and by 2027, Brooklyn’s contracts with Durant and Simmons will have run their course. And if Kyrie Irving is extended, his deal will have expired as well. This is the first time the Nets can trade a first rounder, either theirs or the Philly pick.
• In the second round, the Nets pick will go to the Pistons as part of the DeAndre Jordan salary dump in 2021.

2028

• The Nets control their own first rounder which also can be traded unless they trade their 2027 pick. Then, the Stepien Rule kicks in.
• In the second round, the Nets control their own second rounder and if the 76ers first rounder in 2027 winds up in the top eight, the Nets will receive Philly’s second as compensation.

2029

• The Nets control their own first, also available to be traded.
• In the second round, the Nets control their own pick.

2030

• The Nets control their own first, but it can’t be traded until Draft Night 2023. Picks can only traded seven years in advance.
• In the second round, the Nets control their own pick. It also can’t be traded till Draft Night.

Data is drawn from the ESPN, RealGM and ProSportsTransactions draft pages. Any errors are on us.