Should the Brooklyn Nets trade for disgruntled Anthony Davis?

With star big man Anthony Davis officially requesting a trade before his contract runs out, roughly every NBA team will inquire about him. Should the Brooklyn Nets join the party?

If Brooklyn Nets fans thought trade season was here, it’s in full swing now. New Orleans Pelicans big man Anthony Davis has reportedly informed his team that he will not sign an extension this summer and would like to be traded. This was first reported by ESPN‘s Adrian Wojnarowski.

It doesn’t come as a shock to those who have seen Davis’ career unfold. Year after year, the generational talent was consistently surrounded by mediocre role players, and Pelicans’ brass traded first round pick after first round pick to hastily build around him.

Eventually that lack of cheap labor adds up, and suddenly E’Twaun Moore becomes your most reliable catch-and-shoot player. The DeMarcus Cousins trade, while justifiable at the time, looks a lot worse after seeing stars like Paul George, Kawhi Leonard and Jimmy Butler change zip codes.

In essence, NOLA consistently put square pegs into round holes, desperate for any semblance of talent alongside Davis. His best running mate in his seven seasons with the team is probably Jrue Holiday, who, fittingly, cost two first-rounders to acquire.

Being devoid of young talent and desperate to blow it up sounds familiar to the Nets community. Once upon a time, Brooklyn was the franchise looking to get anything for Thaddeus Young and Brook Lopez.

Davis is several tiers above those two, but the narrative is similar: There’s writing on the wall, and it almost certainly involves a rebuild.

Now that the Nets are (mostly) out of such a cellar, it’s fair to ask whether they are capable of pulling the trigger. Davis is arguably the most talented player to hit the trade market since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and doesn’t come with as many blemishes as the other stars who were traded since them.

Kawhi Leonard played nine games the season before being traded, and had one year left on his deal. For Jimmy Butler and Paul George, the latter was true too. And none of them was as talented as Davis.

This means the asking price will border on exorbitant. The Los Angeles Lakers seem to have taken the driver’s seat in the rumor mill, while the New York Knicks are generating whispers in the limelight.

Brooklyn can arguably outbid both of them. The Lake Show’s best asset is Brandon Ingram, who while talented, has struggled in a secondary role. The Knicks probably won’t trade Kristaps Porzingis, meaning that their 2019 first round pick is their biggest ticket.

While Caris LeVert is injured, he showed a lot more this season than Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma or any healthy Knick. Jarrett Allen has come into his own, exhibiting upside that exceeds Clint Capela. D’Angelo Russell is probably off the table due to his upcoming free agency, but everyone else is fair game.

The question is not whether or not the Nets should trade for AD, but rather at what cost? How much of the young foundation should be glutted for 16 months of this superstar?

A package probably starts with LeVert, Allen and at least one first round pick, with salaries to match. That probably won’t be enough though, which means youngsters like Spencer Dinwiddie, Rodions Kurucs and Dzanan Musa are in play.

Hypothetically, if a LeVert-Allen-Musa-two first round picks package gets it done, it more so matters who’s left. In the present, LeVert and Musa are not in the current rotation, so they currently wouldn’t hurt the team’s depth too much. That would essentially be a one-for-one in the context of the now.

Obviously this is not the only way to look at this deal, and that lens would be a huge about-face from what Brooklyn has built to this point. Flexibility and growth have navigated Sean Marks and company through recently troubled waters, and a blockbuster trade throws all of that out the window.

Following an AD trade, the core would be down to: Anthony Davis; Russell (who is a restricted free agent at the end of the season) one of LeVert or Dinwiddie, one of Musa or Kurucs and Joe Harris. That’s not a bad core, but it presents complications.

For one thing, it puts an onus on the front office to keep DLo at all costs this summer. Combined with the cap hit Davis would have next season, DLo’s assumed extension would effectively absorb all the money Brooklyn could spend.

Considering that veterans like DeMarre Carroll, Jared Dudley, Ed Davis and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson are free agents too, suddenly half the rotation needs to be replaced. Without the money to do so, the team would be heavily reliant on a lineup of DLo, LeVert or Dinwiddie, Harris, Kurucs or Musa, and Davis.

Allen Crabbe, should his contract stick around, suddenly becomes a necessary bench piece. Treveon Graham is pressured to execute a lot more in this hypothetical world than he is in the real world. Shabazz Napier, if his 2019 cap hit is guaranteed, is suddenly relied upon as a primary bench ball-handler.

Making a trade for a player of Davis’ caliber changes everything. There’s a reason Butler, George and Leonard went to competitive teams with a foundation already in place. Brooklyn has a bunch of intriguing players, but the hierarchy has yet to solidify thanks to injuries.

Flexibility comes at a cost, and so far for the Nets, that cost has yet to be incurred. That’s why they can’t make a trade for a superstar just yet. In theory, they can pay for a star in free agency, as opposed to trading actual assets for one.

That has been the ideal outcome all along, because not only is Brooklyn in an appealing market, but also because acquiring blue-chip assets (akin to what the Philadelphia 76ers did) was not feasible. Brooklyn hasn’t controlled its own first round pick since 2013. The selections that make up this current core were all acquired by selling something else.

This kind of of improvised rebuild is very impressive considering where the franchise was beforehand, but as a result, it’s ill-advised to skip steps. Selling the farm for a cornerstone only makes sense once a stronghold is in place, and for now, that’s not the case.

Despite this, though, it’s wonderful to see the Nets back in the discussion. While they’re not ready to make that big trade yet, the seeds are planted.