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ANALYSIS: It’s all about the ‘T’ word

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Just because the front office says “tanking” isn’t their vocabulary, that doesn’t they don’t engage in it.

If you were wondering — at all — about the Brooklyn Nets direction, about how seriously they are committed to getting a top pick in the 2025 draft, stop. The trade of Dennis Schroder, finalized Sunday, cleared that up, once and for all.

The Nets didn’t trade Schroder to simply net two second rounders but to get a better chance at a higher first. They want to lose more, tank.

Sean Marks spoke with the media Sunday before practice about the Nets thinking in the trade. He didn’t use the “T” word, but instead used the organization’s most used code word, “sustainable success.”

“First and foremost, I think it needs to be addressed that we’re going to miss Dennis, the person on and off the court,” Marks said. “I think what he did for us in the locker room, his leadership, he exemplifies the Brooklyn grit that we talk about. So, missing him is difficult. But these are the decisions you have to make when your ultimate goal is long-term sustainable success.”

“So we’re weighing a lot of factors in here. It’s never easy to see one of your own leave; but at the same time looking at the big picture here this is what’s best for our organization long term.”

The final breakdown of the trade was much as reported Saturday…


There were other details, though.

  • The configured the deal so they will wind up with a $13.0 million trade exception giving the Nets two of the league’s biggest trade exceptions, this one and the $23.3 million TPE generated by the Mikal Bridges trade.
  • Jacky Cui, out for the season with his own torn ACL, was waived so Beekman could fit into a two-way slot. Cui’s future with the organization remains uncertain. The franchise could in theory re-sign in the summer and if healthy have him ready for the NBA China Games Brooklyn will play in Macao next year October. Cui was the only Chinese player in the NBA.
  • By not waiving Melton, the Nets will be able to trade him and his $12.7 million contract again over a two-day period in February, the trade deadline February 6 and the day before, first reported by Hoops Rumors Saturday.
  • The Nets will be permitted to file for a disabled player exception for Melton since he was injured while a Warrior.

Bottom line, the Nets, under new head coach Jordi Fernandez, have been more successful than anyone thought. At the moment, they are 10-15 and, per Tankathon, hold the ninth worst record in the league, but they’re only 3 1⁄2 games away from the fourth worst record and 4 1⁄2 games out of the third with 57 games and trades to go.

No one is saying what the goal is in terms of record, but with the top of the 2025 NBA Draft looking like it could produce more than one generational player, going into the lottery at Nos. 3 and 4 would seem like a good target. It could be argued that the Nets season so far has been ideal. Fernandez proved himself a solid young coach, even outcoaching veteran coaches, fans got some wins and now they can focus on Draft position.

Schroder’s loss is critical to that. Not just a leader in the boxscore, he is the acknowledged leader in the locker room as well, popular with his teammates as well fans. Jordi Fernandez talked about that too on Sunday.

“We’re happy [Dennis] gets the opportunity to go play for a team that’s going to [compete] for a championship,” Fernandez said. “Are we going to miss him here? Yes, because he’s a great guy and did great things for us. But we have assets and moving forward that will be a good thing for our future.

“Our vision from ownership to the front office to the coaching staff is aligned, and we’re going to keep doing it this way.”

The 15-man roster now contains one natural point guard in Ben Simmons, two players who have been pressed to fill in recently, Shake Milton and Keon Johnson, and now a two-way in Beekman who while a natural point guard — and one with great college pedigree as a defender — has played only two minutes in the NBA.

Long-term as well as short-term, the Nets draft position has been strengthened, even if they didn’t come away with a first rounder as some had hoped. Following the trade, they hold 15 first rounders, all but two unprotected; two first round draft swaps, both unprotected; and 13 second rounders. All but three of the first rounders can be traded. That’s it. They now rival the Oklahoma City Thunder’s legendary horde in quantity and may have an advantage in terms of quality.

Although they gave up the Miami protected (31-37) second rounder in this year’s Draft, Brooklyn picked up a second rounder in the 2026 Draft, also seen as a very good and deep draft. Brooklyn now has five picks in 2025 — four firsts and a second — and three picks in 2026 — one first and two seconds. And that’s at the moment, before any other trades.

In terms of cap space, they’re still likely to be the only NBA team with significant cap space with estimates ranging from a minimum of $60 million.

ESPN’s Kevin Pelton, in giving the Nets a B+ trade grade, argued that that winding up with two seconds was “a great bit of business for Brooklyn.”

Dealing away veterans, starting with Schroder, should make it easier for Brooklyn to accumulate losses and end up in strong lottery position.

Beyond that, Schroder’s value is likely near its peak based on his play this season. Remember, the Nets acquired Schroder and Thaddeus Young at the 2024 trade deadline for Spencer Dinwiddie in a deal that did not include any draft picks. Netting a pair of second-round picks in return for Schroder is a great bit of business for Brooklyn.

Next Up? One has to assume that if the Nets can navigate the new CBA as adroitly and as fast as they did with Schroder, trade talks for Dorian Finney-Smith may accelerate. Like Schroder he is basically an expiring deal — he has a $15 million player option that he’s expected to decline — and that hurts the Nets in one way. The two 31-year-olds are essentially rentals and opposing teams are unlikely to give up a future asset — a first rounder — for a rental.

What’s with Cam Johnson? As everyone with a copy of the new CBA has written, there’s a degree of difficulty in getting a deal done — mainly because of his incentives — and he is both younger (by three years) and on a longer contract (by two years) than Schroder and DFS. Is it possible Brooklyn’s braintrust wants to keep him until free agency when trades will be easier … or beyond?

Sean Marks & Co. could also pull off a surprise. There have been, for example, rumors that teams are interested in Day’Ron Sharpe who is a restricted free agent in July. Bojan Bogdanovic still doesn’t have a return date and it’s getting more unlikely that he’ll be able to showcase his wares before the deadline. Could he be a buyout candidate?

The Nets were also blessed in a number of ways by the circumstances of the Schroder deal. The Warriors needed a back-up point guard in the worst way with Melton out for the season. Moreover, Schroder and Melton’s salaries were near as identical as they get in the NBA. Schroder’s expiring is $13,0 million, Melton’s expiring is $12.7 million. Even under the new CBA, that’s pretty simple a deal.

That also helped the Nets craft the trade exception. They were able to trade his contract into the MLE, which is conveniently $12.8 million this year. The rest of the deal — Schroder and the Heat second rounder for Beekman and the three seconds — created an exception worth Schroder’s salary. Two-way players can be traded but their salary — $578,000 — doesn’t count on the cap or for trade purposes.

In the end, the deal also confirms what every sophisticated Brooklyn fan understood: there was never any chance the Nets were going to veer off their straight line path of getting the best pick they can with their own pick. None. Ever. There was no temptation. Sean Marks has been to four Rutgers games to personally scout Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey. They’ve only played 12 including a public scrimmage with St. Johns’ he also attended! As we’ve also noted, Marks was in Australia in September, where there is a solid group of mid first to early second rounder prospects. It’s been all about the future.

In the end, it’s all about flexibility, too. As one league told NetsDaily recently, the Nets can “move in any direction” and that includes tanking.