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The full details of the three-team deal involving the Brooklyn Nets, Boston Celtics and Atlanta Hawks remain uncertain — what did Brooklyn give up to get the No. 22 pick in tonight’s NBA Draft and Terance Mann is one question. And the deal can’t become official until July 6 after salary cap space calculations for next season are finalized. So it could expand.
But for those pundits who grade trades, the Nets are looking like the A student this morning, with all but one of the six we checked giving Sean Marks & co. an A an A+ or an A equivalent for their work. The only outlier, CBS Sports, wrote down a B- on its report card.
Bottom line for Brooklyn, Boston and Atlanta: it could wind up a win-win-win deal considering each team’s needs.
ESPN
Kevin Pelton is the worldwide leader’s grade guru. He offers a lengthy analysis before giving the Nets an A.
[T]he Nets are in an unprecedented position. No team in NBA history has made five first-round picks. (Just three teams have come out of the draft with four first-rounders since I started in 1985 tracking picks that were traded immediately after being made: the Sacramento Kings in 1990, the Trail Blazers in 2006 and the Houston Rockets in 2021.)
Given that history, I figured Brooklyn was more likely to swap up in a trade prior to the draft than get a pick straight out. But the Nets will surely have the opportunity to deal at least one of their 2025 picks on Wednesday for a future selection.
Although some in the NBA think that Tarance Mann is a bit costly, Pelton thinks the Nets could “rehab” him, noting the 28-year-old 6’5” wing played well for the Hawks after losing his job with the Clippers and being traded.
The Athletic/New York Times
Like Pelton, Zach Harper is a veteran of this biz. He gives the Nets their best grade, an A+. Like everyone, he thinks the Nets won’t use all those picks. Package, package, package.
I love this opportunistic approach by the Nets. They didn’t really give up anything of value in this deal, and they ended up with a solid rotation wing and a fifth first-round pick in this year’s draft. Take that, Sam Presti! I can’t imagine the Nets are going to utilize all five of those picks because that would just be ridiculous. Developing five such players at once is asking a lot. But the Nets are in a position to package those picks to either move up or add selections for teams that need cost-effective depth on rookie deals…
Brooklyn is doing what proper rebuilding teams often do,,,
Yahoo! Sports
Morten Stig Jensen is another one who likes the deal for all three teams. He gives the Nets an A, the best of the three teams.
The Nets are basically renting out their cap space for the 22nd pick and acting as the oil between the Celtics and Hawks. This gives the Nets a grand total of five first-round selections in Wednesday’s draft: Nos. 8, 19, 22, 26 and 27…
No one came out of this looking desperate or relinquishing too much. Not a lot of long-term salary was involved, and the surrendered 22nd selection to Brooklyn is a late one.
This appears to be a solid round of business for all parties.
SB Nation
The home team’s Ricky O’Donnell likes what Brooklyn is doing and thinks it could be about moving up, which might not take place till the draft begins at 8:00 p.m. ET in Brooklyn. He’s comfortable giving the Nets an A.
As someone who is always in favor of bad teams renting out their cap space for first-round picks, this feels like a sharp move by Brooklyn’s front office.
The Nets now pick at No. 8, No. 19, No. 22, No. 26, and No. 27. Read our latest mock draft for more on the options available with those picks. Will the Nets really have five first-round picks on the roster next season? It’s unlikely. There has been plenty of smoke that the Nets want to trade up in the draft, potentially targeting Oklahoma guard Jeremiah Fears or Rutgers forward Ace Bailey. They now have the assets to do it.
Sports Illustrated
Brigid Kennedy doesn’t give a letter grade for the Nets work in the trade, just a “hats off to Sean Marks!”
With that extra selection on their side, the abysmal Nets have now stockpiled a truly ridiculous—and potentially record-breaking—number of first-round picks ahead of Wednesday’s NBA draft.
Indeed, as of Tuesday evening, the team is holding onto No. 8, No. 19, No. 22, No. 26 and No. 27 in tomorrow’s first round. That’s enough to completely rebuild their starting five if they wanted.
CBS Sports
The lone outlier on the curve is Sam Quinn who tracks draft picks year around. He thinks the Nets only deserve a B- for their work so far. He simply doesn’t like the strategy. He thinks that Marks should have gone for quality over quantity or traded into the 2026 Draft.
The obvious goal here is to pile enough pick-value to jump from No. 8 up to No. 3 or No. 4, where the Nets would presumably select Ace Bailey. The catch here is that the NBA is not the NFL. Quantity doesn’t mean much in trades of that stature. It’s all about quality. Realistically, Brooklyn’s cleanest path to moving up was probably always to use its cap space as a weapon. After all, Boston effectively just chose cap flexibility over the No. 22 overall pick. Many other teams would too now. So a move up is possible. It just doesn’t seem likely that No. 22 was the difference-maker in that respect.
These of course is not a final grade. more mid-terms. Still a lot more time to go.