Brooklyn Nets: Dissecting a wild trade deadline day and the future ahead

As was expected from most basketball pundits, the Brooklyn Nets did not make any earth-shattering moves at the 2018 NBA Trade Deadline.

Sometimes the best moves are the moves a team doesn’t make. Sean Marks and the Brooklyn Nets took this approach leading up to the 2018 NBA Trade Deadline, and that was probably the right move.

The moves they did make, however, were somewhat notable. The first of these was trading Tyler Zeller to the Milwaukee Bucks for Rashad Vaughn and a second round pick. This trade was obviously minor, but the value added from trading, quite frankly, a mediocre center was substantial.

The second trade involved Vaughn himself, who was flipped for veteran forward Dante Cunningham. This is significant in the fact that Vaughn is only in his third year in the association, while the veteran Cunningham is in his ninth. It arguably makes little sense to mail out a young wing at a time when said wings are valued at a premium. Conversely, it’s also likely the Nets never intended to keep him anyway.

The Cunningham trade is valuable in terms of the Nets’ plans for the rest of the season. Knowing that their own first round pick is still owed to the Cleveland Cavaliers, it’s understandable what general manager Sean Marks is doing. Not having their own pick creates an incentive to win while developing. So trading an undesirable prospect for a veteran who may add a win or two keeps people in the seats.

Moving forward

As Brooklyn progresses with the current rebuild, it’s unlikely that moves like the Cunningham deal will be replicated. The Nets get their own pick back in 2019, and as I outlined earlier in the week, they should maximize its value by tanking.

If there are any moves like the Tyler Zeller deal that can be executed, they should be prioritized. Cheap contracts, along with expiring ones, are becoming significantly more valuable as the salary cap stagnates for the foreseeable future.

If catch-and-shoot maestro Joe Harris is retained on another economic contract, he is once again a good trade candidate. Once DeMarre Carroll gets to the last year of his deal next season, per Spotrac, a contender in need of defensive malleability will be glad to have him. Heck, if the Nets want to excommunicate Spencer Dinwiddie and his awesome deal, (*sighs*) they can. According to ESPN‘s Zach Lowe, the Cleveland Cavaliers’ own first round pick was not enough for him.

Heck, even some of the youngsters might become valuable to contenders as they age. If any become expendable enough to the Nets, and subsequently valuable to someone else, a deal could be had. This is unlikely, given that the Nets need to be acquiring young talent, not shipping it out. But the one constant in this league is change; anything can happen.

Free agency will revolve around signings that can turn into the situations above, out of both necessity and benefit to the franchise. Low-cost veterans, along with prospects looking for a fresh start, will be talking points for this summer. Signings akin to Trevor Booker might look odd at first, but could turn promising if another team gets desperate.

Next: Biggest winners and losers of the 2018 NBA Trade Deadline

The possibilities are as copious as the Brooklyn Nets want them to be.