Brooklyn Nets: Grading the Jared Dudley trade

The Brooklyn Nets are up to their usual antics once again. This time, they incur salary to acquire a future second round pick. We grade the deal.

The little things, people. The little things. Once again, the Brooklyn Nets have made something out of nothing. By trading Darrell Arthur, the player they received in the Isaiah Whitehead trade, the Nets receive Jared Dudley‘s salary from the Phoenix Suns and a 2021 second round pick.

Some will shrug at this deal, because it’s a mere salary-plus-picks deal. But for a team that was once barren of any draft assets, this just adds to the newfound stockpile.

In just three offseasons as general manager, Sean Marks has turned a once-doomed franchise into a promising one with oodles of cap space for the summer of 2019. Little things add up, and this extra second-rounder can’t be left out of the big picture.

Per ESPN‘s Adrian Wojnarowski, the pick is protected through No. 35 overall.

Dudley will make $9.5 million this season compared to Arthur at $7.5 million. That extra salary is why the Nets got a second round pick for taking on the contract.

No matter what Nets’ brass uses this pick on — trades for players, or using the picks themselves — the optionality continues to grow. This is quite the turnaround from just a few years ago.

Wojnarowski also bolsters the claim of Marks restocking the asset cupboard in his piece on ESPN.com:

"“Nets general manager Sean Marks has hoarded multiple picks in the next several drafts, including two first-round picks in 2019 (Denver’s protected first), and six total second-round picks across the 2019, 2020 and 2021 drafts.”"

Not to mention, the Nets got a useful player in return. Dudley, a career 39.6 percent 3-point shooter, can step right into the rotation until rookie forward Rodions Kurucs is ready. The need for a stretch-big was prevalent, and while Arthur would’ve filled that role just fine, Dudley does it even better.

He might not stick around, but Scott Bordow of the Arizona Republic claims that Dudley doesn’t want to be bought out.

If he stays, he fills the stretch-big need that the Nets spent all summer looking for while also being a good locker room presence. If he leaves, that just opens up more developmental minutes for Kurucs and fellow rookie Dzanan Musa.

Additionally, Dudley and his expiring contract can be used in a future trade. Whether he be for salary filler or for asset acquisition, Dudley could become a valuable commodity. Several contenders stand out as potential fits, such as the Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder.

The assets Brooklyn would obtain from teams like them are not exactly blue-chip caliber, but that hasn’t stopped them before. Little things add up, and any marginal gain can reap even bigger rewards down the line.

All this shrewd maneuvering has turned the Nets from a laughingstock into a legitimate franchise on the rise. With all the young players, assets and cap space at Marks’ disposal, it’s suddenly an enviable situation in Brooklyn.

In essence, there’s really no going wrong with this deal. The Nets receive a second round pick for taking on an extra $2 million in salary, while also getting a better version of the stretch-big Arthur originally was.

Next: 2018 NBA free agency tracker: Grades for every deal so far

Grade: A-