NetsDaily Off-Season Report – No. 10

Every weekend, we’ll be updating the Nets’ off-season with bits and pieces of information, gossip, etc. to help fans get ready for … whatever.

Just FYI…

On February 9, 2023, the Brooklyn Nets traded Kevin Durant and T.J. Warren to the Phoenix Suns for Mikal Bridges, C.J. Johnson, Jae Crowder, four unprotected first round picks in 2023, 2025, 2027 and 2029 plus an unprotected first round swap in 2028. The deal also

Since then, the Nets have:

• drafted Noah Clowney with the first of the Suns picks in the 2023 Draft;
• converted Crowder into two second rounders, which were used in Joe Harris and Patty Mills salary dumps that permitted them to lose $27.2 million in guaranteed money over two years;
• sent Bridges to the New York Knicks for five unprotected first round picks through 2031, an unprotected first round swap in 2028 and a second rounder plus three underutilized players, one of whom, Mamadi Diakite, was moved two weeks later for Ziaire Williams and another second rounder in 2030.
• exchanged picks with the Houston Rockets permitting Brooklyn to retrieve their 2026 unprotected first round round pick and a 2025 first round swap, both traded away in the 2021 James Harden deal while sending Houston the Suns’ 2027 unprotected first rounder, swap rights to the Suns 2025 first rounder, and the least favorable of the, Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets and Phoenix Suns’ first round draft picks in 2029.

On June 22, 2025, the Phoenix Suns sent Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets for Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks, the Suns’ own first rounder, at No. 10 unprotected, in Wednesday’s draft as well as the Thunder’s second rounder, the 59th and final pick in the 2025 draft plus two other second rounders in the 2026 draft (dependent on swaps), the Boston Celtics 2030 second round pick and the Rockets second round pick in 2032.

There are some who believe the deal will be expanded before it can officially brought the NBA offices on July 6, just as the Nets-Knicks deal last year was altered. But at the moment, that’s it.

Now you tell me who won those trades (other than the Rockets.)

Off-Season begins in 3, 2, 1…

Game 7!! Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Indiana Pacers!! Only the 20th time it’s happened in the history of the NBA!! There will be celebrations, champagne and the official crowning of the NBA champions!

Then, at midnight, free agency officially begins! Teams are allowed to talk with their own free agents the day after the Finals and no matter what happens in OKC, that’s Monday. Teams can’t sign their free agents until July 6, but expect to see Shams, Steinie et al break some news about agreements if not signings. How soon? We don’t know but we are planning to stay up late Sunday night/Monday morning.

Brooklyn has a lot of flexibility, more than at any time in memory. Per Bobby Marks, the Nets are projected to have at least $45 million to $60 million in cap space this summer. Perhaps more depending how they manipulate signings. They are $195.5 million below the first apron, $207.8 million below the second and $187.8 million from the tax threshold. They own a $8.8 million room exception and a $23.3 million trade exception from the Mikal Bridges deal which expires July 7. ,

The Nets have three unrestricted free agents and three restricted free agents they can call or visit D’Angelo Russell, D’Anthony Melton and Trendon Watford (unrestricted) plus three of the restricted variety, Cam Thomas, Day’Ron Sharpe and Ziaire Williams. Other than D’Lo, all are 24 or under.

If we had to guess — and we do since we know nothing, we’d have to think the Nets would like to get CamT and Day’Ron out of the way first. Back in April, Marks hinted that in the Nets end-of-season press conference.

“I do think it is important to have guys under contract that you control the contracts, so to speak. You drafted them, you developed them, and they got to their second contract under your watch,” he said in describing his off season strategy.

Then, beyond that, they have five other players either on team options — Tyrese Martin, Keon Johnson, Jalen Wilson and Drew Timme — or eligible for an extension — Max Lewis. Marks & co. can talk to any of them any of the time. They’re under contract until they’re not. Decisions on their fates must be decided by a week from Monday, although again we are likely to know sooner. And even if their options are declined, Brooklyn can still resign them later in the process or to two-way deals if that’s agreeable to everyone.

It’s so much more complicated than. The CBA does on for hundreds of pages. Expect that the Nets Makar Gevorkian and Glenn DuPaul, the Nets capologist and analytics head have it committed to memory. We don’t.

The good stuff, the trades will probably start to get leaked between Monday and Wednesday, the opening night of the Draft. As we’ve written, the Sean Marks Trade Zone opens 48 hours before Adam Silver goes to the podium at Barclays Center Wednesday. So that’s 8:00 p.m. ET Monday. The two big trades with the Knicks and Rockets were announced on Twitter by Adrian Wojnarowski of blessed memory 12 minutes apart two days prior to the commissioner intoning, “With the first pick in the 2025 NBA Draft…”

One thing we won’t see: the Nets aren’t getting close to the luxury tax threshold. They may take on bad contracts, may go over the cap, but it would be counterproductive in a rebuilding year to pay out big bucks.

Indeed, things are so close we worry that before we finishing writing, this article will need an update.

Ace Bailey likes New York

Joe Martin (aka The Joeson One or @JoeMartin13) had a couple of newsbreaks this week simply by following Yogi Berra’s dictum, “You can learn a lot by watching.”

Four days ago at Barclays Center, he eagle-eyed three of the top NBA Draft prospects entering the arena for the Liberty-Dream game…

Unless these three guys, all first round picks, randomly decided to take in an NBA game, it seems they were in town for Brooklyn Nets workouts either that day or the next, and the Nets got them invites to the Libs game…

Then, on Saturday, he was at the Fanatics FanFest and walked up to Ace Bailey and asked his opinion on some art he had created…

Even got his picture taken with the 6’9” Rutgers forward…

Bailey is in town for the Draft — the top prospects meet the press on Tuesday — and maybe more. He was doing a free meet-and-greet sponsored by Dick’s Sporting Goods.

Bailey, 18, is the big story going into the Wednesday night. Slated for the No. 3 pick since the beginning of the season but he has started dropping, in part because he has yet to work out for any NBA team, cancelling the first one with Philly he had scheduled for Thursday at the 76ers training facility in Camden, N.J. His camp, led by Omar Cooper, reportedly wants a team where he can get an opportunity for big minutes and prefers a destination somewhere between New York and Atlanta, which includes Brooklyn. It’s hard to imagine him making it to No. 8, but the Nets could also trade up.

We hope that Joe will be around Barclays on Draft Night. He’s as likely as anyone to break it. He has a track record.

Draft Sleeper of the Night

If Joe Martin was right and that was Nolan Traore who was in last week for a workout. it’s another signal that the 6’3” French point guard is a top PG prospect, back to where he started at the beginning of last season when he was listed as a top five pick.

He’s been mocked as high as the mid-teens although Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo listed him last week at No. 26 where of course the Nets have a pick, the Knicks from the Mikal Bridges trade.

With four first-round picks at their disposal, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Nets take several talent swings, hoping to uncover gems with some of their later picks.

The Nets have a void in the backcourt, depending on what they do with their first few picks, and this situation will be considered highly attractive to any of the guards slated to be picked in this range.

After starting the season projected as a top-10 pick, Traore’s draft stock dropped because of inconsistent play, but there’s still plenty to like with his size, ballhandling, playmaking creativity and upside, making him a worthy gamble for a team in Brooklyn’s situation and at this point in the draft.

He is generally considered the fastest player in the Draft. (Hansen Yang is generally considered the slowest.) And his skills have been praised as well. What caused his drop? “A lack of growth,” says Rowan Kent of No Ceilings.

So what led to Nolan Traore’s major stock sell-off this season? A lack of growth, or rather, a lack of notable growth straight off the box score. In nine games for Saint-Quentin last season, per Synergy, as a seventeen-year-old, Traore averaged 12.3 points per game, 5.8 assists per game with a 1.79 assist-to-turnover ratio, with shooting splits of 43.9% from two, 30.0% from three, and 72.2% from the free-throw line. This year, as Saint-Quentin’s starting point guard across 37 games, Traore “only” averaged 11.5 points per game, 4.6 assists per game with a 1.69 assist-to-turnover ratio, with shooting splits of 45.8% from two, 28.5% from three, and 73.8% from the foul line.

The lack of growth seems clear if you solely scout the box score, which is more acceptable given the difficulty in watching Saint-Quentin’s games versus Oklahoma State’s. Despite an offseason to prepare, Nolan Traore was virtually the same player: an average floor general who could spread the ball around with some turnover and efficiency issues. With the jumps from some other guards, the drop from Traore makes sense when you compare his seasons.

And growth is what about the draft is about. However, of late, he’s been tearing up the French League that makes some draftniks think makes him a candidate for steal status.

And for your viewing pleasure, the requisite highlight package.

Final Note

In the next few days, there will be a lot of diverse news reports. We will try to keep up, break some news ourselves, try to give you good analysis and also try to avoid mistakes.

We would advice you as well to go with trusted sources (beyond us of course) and not pay much attention to what we’re calling Wojspirants, those reporters who may be looking for a big jump in their followers. Many of them have broken a story or two in the past but some of that is the blind squirrel syndrome, that is, “even a blind squirrel finds a nut” meaning that sometimes even someone who is unskilled or unlikely to succeed can achieve something positive, often by chance.