NBA Trade Rumors: 5 Stars Guaranteed To Stay Put At Deadline

Brook Lopez, C – Brooklyn Nets

This season, the Brooklyn Nets have been plain bad. Currently, they’re the only team that has yet to notch double-digit wins. That miserable showing, however, is to no fault of Brook Lopez.

The seven-footer has reached new heights in 2016-17, suddenly adding a surprisingly efficient three-point game. Especially with the Nets’ struggles and Lopez’ emergence as a capable stretch five, it only makes sense for contenders to be interested in acquiring his services.

And yet, I don’t see a trade happening for one simple reason–Brooklyn is asking for two first-round picks in return (via ESPN’s Marc Stein). Even for a 28-year-old center having a career year, that’s too steep a price to pay.

No matter how desperate a contender gets for a prominent post presence with range, forking over two first-round picks for Lopez seems unrealistic. While there’s a belief that general manager Sean Marks will lower his asking price as the losses continue to rack up, a team desperate for young talent is only going to bend so far.

Of the players on this list, Lopez has the best odds of being traded before the deadline. With that being said, I don’t see the Nets getting what they want in return for their big man. The asking price is too high, even if Lopez has proven to be a star this season.