The Brooklyn Nets have their stars lined up and should be healthy next season — *Steve Nash knocks on wood* — but they seem to be thinking about trades that can save a little money heading into the NBA Draft on Thursday, according to multiple reports.
Specifically, they are talking trades for Landry Shammet and DeAndre Jordan.
Shamet brings shooting that every team could use — he hit 38.7% from 3 last season — but he is extension eligible and will ultimately cost more than the Nets want to pay soon, so they have talked to the Lakers and Mavericks about a trade, reports Ian Begley of SNY.TV.
The Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers are among the teams interested in trading for Brooklyn’s Landry Shamet ahead of Thursday’s draft, per SNY sources.
Several teams have communicated with the Nets about possible trades for Shamet. Most of those scenarios involve the Nets receiving the team’s first-round pick.
The Lakers have the No. 22 pick in this draft, five spots in front of where the Nets are picking now. However, to make a deal work the Lakers will have to send more than that pick, and what that will be will make or break the deal. It’s something to watch. That said, the Lakers are looking for shooting to space the floor around LeBron James and Shamet would help with that.
The Mavericks do not have a pick in this draft and would have to send a player or future picks in the deal.
Another way the Nets could save money is a salary dump trade of Jordan, who is owed $9.9 million next season and $9.8 million the season after that.
The Nets signed Jordan — a good friend of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving — not long after the stars were signed, and they gave him a generous four-year contract. The Nets are better right now playing small with Blake Griffin at the five, or using the young and improving Nicolas Claxton as a defensive stopper. Jordan’s role is limited.
However, the Nets will have to throw in a sweetener to get a team to take on that Jordan contract, and it may be a first-round pick.
Keep an eye on the Nets on draft night, they could be busy.
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Report: Nets talking Shamet trade with Lakers, Mavericks; also looking for Jordan trade originally appeared on NBCSports.com