The Nets mantra this off-season is using all those picks and all that cap space in an opportunistic way. So speculation abounds, but how much is realistic.
The NBA Draft is still six weeks away but the rumor mill is grinding. The way things usually work is that the big moves don’t take place till just before or even during the Draft which for the second year will be two days, one round per night.
The Nets, of course, fell in Monday’s Draft Lottery from sixth to eighth, giving them the eighth, 19th, 26th, 27th and 36th picks, but might they more. not so much in terms of quantity, but in terms of quality? After being listed as the Tankathon leader in draft power rankings most of the season, they dropped to No. 2 after the lottery, falling behind the Spurs who moved up to No. 2 and now have the second, 14th and 38th picks.
So, the speculation now is that Brooklyn could be interested in moving up, using the oft-rumored asset, Cam Johnson, to possibly get the third pick which the 76ers reportedly are willing to move for the right package, wrote Sam Vecenie of The Athletic this week.
“Would Brooklyn look at a deal in the ballpark of Cam Johnson, No. 19 and No. 27 for Kelly Oubre Jr., Andre Drummond and No. 3? Such a deal would allow the Nets to potentially get the upside swing at No. 3, keep No. 8 and still have another late first-round pick to accumulate talent.
“For the Sixers, they’d get a player who helps them a lot the next two years in Johnson, then they would get two later firsts this year to be able to potentially get a wing.”
The Nets of course would have to take on the contracts of Oubre ($8.4 million expiring) and Drummond ($5 million expiring) while the 76ers would add CamJ’s two year, $43.0 million deal which can be extended another three years and $102 million as of July 6.
Vecenie gets into the weeds on the speculation adding Eric Gordon ($3.3 million) and noting the disparity in rookie deals but his bottom line for the 76ers is this: “the deal would keep the Sixers about $22 million away from the second apron, allowing them to re-sign Grimes and still potentially have enough space to try to use the taxpayer midlevel exception to keep Guerschon Yabusele.”
Again, it’s just a reporter’s speculation not even a rumor per se, but it would give Sean Marks & co. an opportunity take players like Ace Bailey, V.J. Edgecombe, Tre Johnson, and even Kon Knueppel and Jeremiah Fears, all of which could be off the board by No. 8.
It wouldn’t be much of a surprise if Marks took on another team’s contracts to improve the Nets draft standing, aka the salary dump. He did that a couple of times during his first rebuild. In 2017, he traded Justin Hamilton, a journeyman forward, to Toronto for DeMarre Carroll’s contract, two years and $30 million, plus a protected first rounder and a second in 2018.
Then a year later, they sent Isaiah Whitehead to Denver for Kenneth Faried, Darrell Arthur, a protected 2019 first round draft pick and a 2020 second round draft pick. None of the picks worked out, for a variety of reasons, including the need to find cap space for the 2019 Clean Sweep, but the model could be used again, as Sam Quinn noted.
I think the general theme of this Nets offseason will be “how many draft picks can we extort from financially desperate teams?”
I think the answer should be “a lot.” They’re the only major cap dumping ground in town and so many teams are so screwed by the new CBA. https://t.co/kpm4JcV9sR
— Sam Quinn (@SamQuinnCBS) May 15, 2025
The other mechanism Marks used in that first rebuild — tendering offer sheets to players on teams with tight budgets — didn’t work that well either. In each case — Tyler Johnson, Allen Crabbe, Donatas Motiejunas and Otto Porter Jr — their teams matched the Nets offer sheet, but Brooklyn had an ulterior motive particularly with the first two: The front office wanted to prove they had the cash and willingness to spend. Budgets are tighter now around the league and teams might not want to match, thanks to the new CBA. So, there’s speculation but no confirmation, at all, that the Nets might be interested in Jonathan Kuminga and/or Santi Aldama. There’s also sign and trade options. Again, speculation.
Marks has said he wants to be opportunistic in making moves. Part of being opportunistic is waiting to see how things work and that likely means wait-and-see right up to Draft Night.