Happy Trade Season to all who celebrate! When will Brooklyn Nets jump in?

There’s one trade (almost) in the books, a Pacers-Heat deal that will become official Sunday, the unofficial opening of trade season. When will Nets dive in?

The first trade of the NBA season — and the first since the Knicks-Timberwolves blockbuster on the first day of training camp in October — is upon us; The Heat and Pacers have agreed to a deal involving Thomas Bryant and draft picks, the Miami Herald reports…

The trade cannot become official till Sunday when Bryant and 79 other NBA players signed in the off-season can be traded for the first time. Expect more rumors between now and Sunday. Will any involve the Brooklyn Nets? Depends on who you talk to. Some sources suggest that Brooklyn will move quickly but others point to Sean Marks history of patience.

The rumor mill is active, though. It appears that a number of reporters want to snag a piece of Woj’s cloak in this the first trade season without the new director of men’s basketball at St. Bonaventure.

Jake Fischer, a veteran trade maven who’s teamed with Marc Stein’s The Steinline, reported two days ago that the Nets are ready to go.

Washington, Utah and Brooklyn, league sources say, are the primary teams that have been established leaguewide as clear-cut sellers.

“When you call them, they’re willing to make a deal right now,” said one rival executive.

But league sources tell ND that doing deals might be difficult because Brooklyn only wants expiring deals along with draft capital. “They’re going to be hard to trade with,” said one source. “as they will only take back expiring (contracts.)“ A second, while noting that’s the narrative, added, “I think they will take two-year money if the draft if the draft assets are rich enough.”

On Friday, the most active rumors involved the Nets and Golden State Warriors, but pundits couldn’t even agree who’s the most likely veteran to move!

Evan Sidery says the Net the Warriors braintrust wants most is Cam Johnson…

But while that set fans tongues a-wagging, it should be noted that the Forbes reporter attached two key caveats to his reporting, saying only it “appears” that Johnson is a Warrior target and that Brooklyn would “likely” require Kuminga in return. Kuminga, a 6’7” 22-year-old wing who grew up in New Jersey, will be a restricted free agent come July. He wants $35 million a year which caused even the spendthrift Warriors to blanche. It seems likely the Nets would hsve a similar reaction, $60+ million in cap space or not.

Brett Siegel of Clutch Points says nope, it’s not Cam Johnson, but Dennis Schroder who holds the most interest for Golden State…

Shams Charania says the Warriors are actually interested in all three, stating this week…

The Nets have received trade interest and opened exploratory conversations around forwards Cam Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith and guard Dennis Schroder, sources said.

Shams also hinted that Schroder, who makes $13.0 million on an expiring deal, could fit in an exchange for guard De’Anthony Melton, who makes $12.8 million but is out for the season after ACL surgery “along with draft incentives” … not further defined. (A league source familiar with the Nets situation dissed that too. “Whatever Shams put out isn’t anything new.”)

There’s even disagreement among local reporters as to what draft assets the Nets want in return … and whether they can actually get them. Mike Scotto suggests, quoting “league executives” thinks that neither Schroder nor DFS will get the Nets anything more than “multiple second rounders” and that Johnson “may be able to fetch a future first-round pick in return if the Nets trade him before the deadline.”

Brian Lewis and Ian Begley disagree. The Post’s Lewis says the Nets want a first plus draft assets for Schroder and SNY’s Begley agrees, reporting that it “will take ‘at least’ one first round pick. to acquire Dennis Schroder.”

That aligns with a report by Fischer that “the early asking price from the Nets for either veteran swingman Dorian Finney-Smith or point guard Dennis Schröder: At least one first-round pick.”

Will Marks & co. hold steady on getting first rounders in return for one or both and how long will he wait? Marks’ history is one of patience. When Kevin Durant demanded a trade in the summer of 2022, the Nets GM rejected a number of bids. Specifically, the Suns under their previous owner Robert Sarver refused to include Mikal Bridges in a KD trade that summer. By February, after Durant again said he wanted out, the new Suns owner, Mat Ishbia, was willing to throw in Bridges as well as Jae Crowder, etc.

Similarly, Marks passed on a Knick offer — as well as multiple offers from the Rockets — for Bridges at the deadline. According to multiple sources, the Knicks later made an offer the Nets couldn’t refuse and Brooklyn decided to get serious about a deal resulting in the franchise-changing deals announced on June 25.

There are other issues going forward as Fred Katz wrote in The Athletic Saturday. In a lengthy review of the big rumors prior to Sunday’s opening of trade season, Katz wrote about Cam Johnson’s incentives, Like Keith Smith and Bobby Marks before him, he reported that they present a degree of difficulty for the Nets, assuming they face any urgency in moving him.

Katz even suggests a CamJ trade that on its face might make sense for the Warriors and Nets … but, thanks to the new CBA, the devil is in the details.

The Golden State Warriors, who are hard-capped at the first apron and sit just $533,000 below it, would make basketball sense for Johnson. The salaries of the injured De’Anthony Melton, Gary Payton II and one of their young, minimum guys (say, Gui Santos) add up to $219,000 more than what Johnson makes, meaning the Warriors should be able to trade those three plus draft capital to make it worth Brooklyn’s time.

But those unlikely incentives kill the deal. The Warriors would need to add another $2.7 million to the trade. That could mean including someone important whom they don’t want to give up. It could mean adding two more end-of-the-bench guys, but that would turn this potential swap into a five-for-one, which is not realistic considering Brooklyn would have to cut four players.

Moreover, Katz notes that the Nets are close to luxury tax threshold — $2 million or “less than a veteran’s minimum contract” — and “under no circumstances could (they) justify going into it.” The sanctions would be too onerous and extend out over the course of the rebuild and beyond.

And so, we wait with no good indication of what the Nets will do or when. Indeed, it is all speculation until someone not named Woj breaks the news.