Not done yet? New picks appear crucial to Nets plan to acquire player, keep Kevin Durant

Feb 6, 2023 - 4:34 AM

The Nets will likely welcome Spencer Dinwiddie and Dorian Finney-Smith to Brooklyn Monday. A trade call is likely as soon as the league offices open in the morning, then physicals to officially close the deal.

But Monday won’t be the end of it, pundits are saying. That first round pick the Nets got in the Kyrie Irving deal — an unprotected pick in 2029 — could be critical to get added value by Thursday’s 3:00 p.m. ET deadline.

Adrian Wojnarowski, speaking at halftime of ESPN’s game coverage Sunday, said the Nets want to combine the two picks to make another move using these the Dallas pick as well as the 1-8 protected first “to get help around” KD.

“The Nets want to get back to work,” said Woj. “In fact, the three draft picks they got in this trade — they also have a future Philadelphia pick. They’ll be aggressive with those picks to go out between now and Thursday’s deadline to try to get more help around Kevin Durant. Quite honestly, this is an organization who wants Kevin Durant to stay committed to stay the course with this reshaping of the roster and they’re going to continue between now and Thursday to do that.”

Similarly, Marc Stein and Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer reported the Nets clearly see the picks as valuable assets.

“The Nets also aren’t done,” Stein wrote on his Steinline substack. “Let’s see if they can flip the Dallas picks they just acquired or a first-rounder forthcoming this June from Philadelphia into more win-now players.”

“With an incoming unprotected future first-round pick (2029) and two seconds (2027 and 2029) from the Mavericks, the Nets also now have even more assets to dangle in deals ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline,” argued O’Connor in The Ringer. “The Nets are equipped to make a compelling offer for one of the best players on the market. Even if they’re unable to make a big splash, they’re diving in.”

None of the reporters laid out who the Nets are targeting other than suggesting the Nets need a big man, but O’Connor theorized that Ben Simmons, Cam Thomas and Day’Ron Sharpe could be offered to teams. (The Nets do not appear willing to move Simmons, according to more than one league insider.)

Yossi Gozlan of Hoopshype laid out the Nets draft assets available for trade...

In addition, the Nets now have six second rounders they can deal, including the two acquired Sunday for Dinwiddie, unprotected Dallas picks in 2027 and 2029. The Nets may also wind up with Miami’s second in 2025 as well as their own seconds in the 2026, 2028 and 2029 drafts. (As one fan noted, the four 2029 picks the Nets currently control — the Mavs and their own firsts in 2029 as well as the Mavs and their own second that year are far in the future. The players who will be taken with those picks are currently 11 or 12 years old.)

Meanwhile, there’s new reporting on what other packages the Nets received from other teams in the hunt for Irving. Shams Charania had the most detail...

The Lakers offered the Nets a package of Westbrook and two first-round picks in 2027 and 2029 for Irving in the last two days, sources with knowledge of the discussions said — to which the Nets informed the Lakers that in order to make an offer to get in the Irving sweepstakes they would require all of their young players such as Austin Reaves and Max Christie and pick swaps in addition to Westbrook and the two first-round picks.

The Suns package was centered on Chris Paul who while a perennial All-Star is now 37, eight years older than Dinwiddie and is owed nearly $90 million over the next three years.

Phoenix offered a package around Paul, Jae Crowder and one first-round pick, sources said. The offer was made within the first 18 hours of Irving’s trade request, and it’s believed that three first-round picks could have clinched a deal, multiple league sources said. However, the Suns never added those picks and failed to make a better offer, beginning to lose interest in a trade for Irving as time went on.

As for the Clippers offer, O’Connor wrote:

League sources say the Clippers offered Luke Kennard, Terance Mann, one future first, and two first-round pick swaps. An additional salary would’ve been required to complete the trade, but that was the gist of it.

Stein also reported that Joe Tsai did not want Irving to wind up with the Lakers, “his preferred destination.”

The Nets also succeeded, as one source close to the process put it, in meeting one of the presumed objectives held by team owner Joe Tsai by sending Irving somewhere other than the Lakers — his preferred destination.

How soon might the Nets move? The overwhelming majority of deadline moves come within 48 hours of the deadline, meaning Tuesday afternoon.

• Kevin Durant’s future with Nets now uncertain after Kyrie Irving trade - Brian Lewis - New York Post
• LeBron James posts cryptic tweet after Kyrie Irving is traded to Mavericks - Joseph Staczewski - New York Post
• Dallas Mavericks will have their hands full with Kyrie Irving - Barbara Barker - Newsday
• The Nets’ superstar era is over and the title window is closed - Kristian Winfield - New York Daily News
• Nets’ trade of Kyrie Irving to Mavs ends an era of unfulfilled expectations and controversy - Alex Schiffer - The Athletic