With NBA trade season underway and the Nets looking closer to the contender many hoped they would be by the day, let’s look at five realistic trade targets that should interest Brooklyn if they look to upgrade in the coming weeks.
Christian Wood
The struggling Dallas Mavericks traded for Wood this past offseason and have received mixed results. Head coach Jason Kidd is only playing him 27.2 minutes per night, exhibiting little faith in his defense or ability to man the five spot.
With Wood’s impending free agency the two parties likely aren’t going to last to the trade deadline, and the Nets can take advantage. Their only true bigs are Nic Claxton, Day’Ron Sharpe and Ben Simmons at times, making Wood a valuable target.
Wood’s averaging 17.2 points and 8.1 rebounds on 61.6 percent shooting from inside the arc and 38.7 percent from three. Currently none of the aforementioned Brooklyn centers can provide that kind of scoring punch, especially from the outside.
Even at his 6’10” frame Wood becomes one of the tallest Nets on the roster.
It may not address all of their needs, but trading for Wood offers Brooklyn a legitimate talent jump. It would likely cost them Joe Harris or Patty Mills in combination with somebody for salary-matching purposes, and some draft compensation. It shouldn’t be too high a cost given Wood’s market and contract length.
Jakob Poeltl
A safer move for Brooklyn to upgrade the five spot may be looking into acquiring Poeltl from the Spurs. The big-man aligns with the archetypes Brooklyn has Claxton and Simmons in, while also bringing more defined skills to the table.
Poeltl is a better rebounder than Claxton, has height and weight on him, and arguably protects the rim better as well. He also brings some sly playmaking abilities, which could make him a better short roll option than Claxton.
Poeltl would likely cost the Nets some salary filler and a first-round pick, but in turn would bring a little more oomph to their front-court. It also could spell a potential return to San Antonio for Mills in return, which could be fun.
Nikola Vucevic
Keeping along with the center theme, Chicago’s is about to be a free agent. Vucevic’s team-up with Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan has yielded poor results for Chicago thus far.
If there’s a shake-up coming to the Bulls, the big-man may very well be available. If that does end up being the case, Vucevic could make for an intriguing addition to this Nets roster.
Once again, Vucevic would come in to answer some of the size and spacing questions Brooklyn faces with their front-court. He’s also a solid All-Star caliber talent when healthy and shoots the ball very well.
The Nets would likely have to send Harris as the main salary-match, then likely attach some draft capital to smooth the deal over. That would certainly be a fair cost to help beef up the talent and function of their big men.
Myles Turner
Turner is one of the rumor mill’s most popular names of late. Although, he may not be as available as it seems with Indiana outperforming their expectations.
Should he be acquirable, however, the Nets should certainly get themselves involved in the sweepstakes. A package of Harris and an undisclosed amount of draft picks could be enough to get a deal done.
Few bigs in the league can bring lineups both spacing and rim protection at strong levels, but Turner manages to do so. He’s shooting 41.7 percent from deep and averages two blocks per game, which are skills Brooklyn would happily bring on board.
As mentioned though, the Pacers may instead decided to hang onto Turner and lock him in for a long-term deal. While the 26-year-old is certainly an enticing piece, Brooklyn shouldn’t get too too crazy with their trade offers.
Jae Crowder
While many of Brooklyn’s points of improvement lie up-front, there’s never enough big three-point shooting and defensive wings on a true contender.
Harris, T.J. Warren, Yuta Watanabe, and Royce O’Neale have held down the fort well, but adding another weapon who can make big defensive plays as well certainly doesn’t hurt.
If there’s a weak point to Brooklyn’s roster when it comes to wings, it’s that they could use someone to throw at the bigger, elite wings of the league. O’Neale and Harris are 100% sound, but a playoff series against Giannis Antetokounmpo or Jayson Tatum requires a little more size and nastiness.
Crowder won’t solve the Tatum issue for Brooklyn, or win them a series, but having that one extra guy in case of injuries or bad matchups certainly helps. He’s also extremely experienced with late postseason runs and is capable of knocking down the open three.