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The Brooklyn Nets are one of the teams in the NBA that have been looking for as much talent as they can get after the end of the Big 3 era. As a matter of fact, it looks like Brooklyn was reportedly having conversations about a trade regarding the most expensive player on its roster.
“Charlotte (Hornets), sources said, held conversations with Brooklyn about swapping (Miles) Bridges in a package that would have brought Ben Simmons to the Hornets in February,” Jake Fischer of Yahoo! Sports wrote in his latest column regarding the current state of the free-agency market. Fischer was speaking to sources telling him that Bridges could be looking for a big contract this summer, but the Hornets could be willing to let him go elsewhere.
“And while Bridges could command upward of $30 million, sources said, the Hornets are also believed to be open to parting with Bridges by way of sign-and-trade, should a productive opportunity present itself,” Fischer wrote. Brooklyn does not have much cap space this summer, but they appear to be focused on using what they have left to re-sign Nic Claxton and fill out the rest of the roster with minimum contracts from there.
That isn’t to say that the Nets wouldn’t be interested in Bridges at the moment as they were reportedly in conversations for his services in the first place. There is no reporting on this, but there is a possibility that Brooklyn could be willing to do a sign-and-trade with Charlotte assuming that they are still willing to take on the last year of Simmons’ deal that is worth $40.3 million.
While Bridges, 26, is coming off a 2023-24 season in which he averaged 21.0 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game while shooting 46.2% from the field and 34.9% from three-point land, acquiring him has more implications to at hand than just his ability on the court.
Bridges served a 30-game suspension without pay as a result of a domestic violence incident involving the mother of his children last season and missed the first 10 games of the season. Social media was rife with people who did not approve of the NBA giving Bridges just a 30-game suspension and plenty of fans made their feelings known.