Brooklyn Nets: Does a trade with the Washington Wizards make sense?

Otto Porter Jr.

Finally, a feasible trade! Not only is Porter attainable without sacrificing as much, but the Nets have actually wanted him for a while.

disincentives

When Porter hit restricted free agency in 2016, Brooklyn offered him a max contract, full of disincentives that were inclined to make Washington not want to match. The Wizards did it anyway, and to no one’s surprise, they don’t want that contract on their books anymore.

Despite the criminally high salary ($81 million through 2021, with a 15 percent trade kicker), Porter is still a player worth looking into. His sweet shooting and great perimeter defense make him a perfect fit in almost any lineup, especially one like Brooklyn’s. He could slot right in as the nominal “4” over Jared Dudley, and arguably make the Nets a playoff team.

Like it does for most teams, Porter’s contract hampers the trade discussion for Brooklyn. While trying to keep financial flexibility, it doesn’t seem sensible to use a huge chunk of its cap space on a non-star. On the other hand, if Allen Crabbe‘s contract is involved ($18.5 million in 2018-19 with a player option in 2019), the Nets won’t be incurring that much of a hit for 2019-20.

A trade centered around Crabbe ($18.5 million), Dudley ($9.5 million), the Denver Nuggets‘ first round pick, and the Indiana Pacers‘ second round pick would probably get this done. If the Wizards refuse to take money back past 2019, they’ll be hard pressed to find any suitors at all.

It’s also not difficult to see why Marks wouldn’t make this move, or at least wait until late July or August of 2019 to examine it. There’s no reason to take on extra money right now, even though Porter is young and a great fit.

Optionality is the name of Marks’ game, and he certainly has it in this scenario. It would be advantageous for him to stand pat until he knows how next summer will play out.