What the Brooklyn Nets must address during the 2024 NBA trade deadline
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The Brooklyn Nets have recently become involved in multiple trade rumors because the team has tradeable assets. Dorian Finney-Smith and Royce O’Neale have garnered interest from other teams.
On the other hand, the Nets might make big moves at the deadline, headlined by getting Dejounte Murray from Atlanta. Brooklyn needs to adjust because the season has gone according to how Coach Jacque Vaughn and General Manager Sean Marks planned.
Let’s look at two things Brooklyn must address at the deadline to see their possible moves.
Future draft assets
The Nets made a significant investment when the front office traded for James Harden in 2021. Brooklyn traded three first-round picks (2022, 2024, and 2026) alongside first-round pick swaps (2021, 2023, 2025, and 2027).
In a potential deal ahead of the 2024 trade deadline, Sean Marks will look for high-value draft picks to boost their chances of getting good young players. It will be challenging to deal players like DFS and Royce away for first-round picks, but that has been the reported desire from the Brooklyn organization.
Any team that wants either wing should cough up at least a pick because the Nets see it as an ample return.
The Nets’ point guard conundrum
Ben Simmons is the Nets’ best point guard, but his health is a massive problem for the team. Coach Vaughn has opted for Spencer Dinwiddie to start in his place, but the 30-year-old has not met the standard of a high-level starting point guard.
That is why the Nets might trade for Murray because he’s in an unfamiliar role in Atlanta. He has been productive as a shooting guard alongside Trae Young, but most people see Dejounte thriving as a primary ball-handler.
The Nets can have a proven playmaker and defender at the guard spot without the injury baggage Simmons is carrying. Having Dejounte cements Brooklyn as a top team in the Eastern Conference, but the two teams haven’t completed the deal yet.
Dinwiddie’s contract and a first-round pick from the Suns might be enough to entice the Hawks because they’re looking for an expiring deal and draft compensation for Murray.
The Washington Wizards’ Tyus Jones is another option, as he is also a proven playmaker. Moving forward, the Nets have plenty of room to operate in the trade market to address the issues they’re going through.
