Mike Scotto, the Hoopshype trade guru, thinks that with the exception of Cam Johnson, the Nets vets aren’t likely to return much. Mark Stein offers his thoughts as well.
As trade season approaches in a couple of weeks, Mike Scotto put together a compilation of who might be the big candidates on the NBA trade block, based on what he’s hearing around the league, He wrote extensively Monday about the Brooklyn Nets bevy of veteran players.
Bottom line for the Hoopshype reporter: Brooklyn isn’t likely to get more than multiple second rounders for Dennis Schroder and Dorian Finney-Smith who are having great years but because they’re on expiring deals have to be considered short-term “rentals” for contending teams. Scotto also pooh-poohs the possibility that Cam Thomas will be moved in part because of uncertain value on one hand and the Nets positive view of the guard who will be a restricted free agent in July.
Meanwhile, Cam Johnson who Scotto thinks could fetch a first rounder wants to return to Brooklyn next year. He’s enamored of Jordi Fernandez and the coaching staff. Scotto also says there’s a lot of interest in Day’Ron Sharpe around the league while a couple of the team’s young players are growing on Nets decision-makers.
The low value Scotto assigns Schroder is the big surprise of his Nets analysis. He quotes “league executives” in his assessment.
Dennis Schroeder has played some of the most efficient basketball of his career, shooting a career-high 41 percent from three-point range in 19 games played. Schroeder has been Brooklyn’s locker room leader as the alpha voice and an extension of Fernandez on the court as the floor general. A proven veteran at 31 years old and on an expiring $13 million deal, Schroeder is considered one of Brooklyn’s top trade candidates by NBA executives who spoke with HoopsHype. Those executives pegged Schroeder’s current trade value at multiple second-round picks as a potential rental.
Similarly, he noted that DFS is also have a solid year, but his contract situation — an expiring deal with a player option — might limit other teams’ interest.
Dorian Finney-Smith is another veteran who’s having the most efficient year of his career, shooting a career-high 42 percent from three-point range while playing strong defense. Finney-Smith’s production is similar to the 2021-22 season when he and Dallas advanced to the Western Conference Finals.
Several playoff-caliber teams have already expressed interest in Finney-Smith, with some valuing him worth multiple second-round picks, league sources told HoopsHype.
Johnson who’s three years younger than Schroder and DFS with three years remaining on his current deal is a more intriguing possibility for contenders.
Johnson is in the midst of his best offensive season and has tried to be the “glue” for Brooklyn’s team this season. Some executives who spoke with HoopsHype believe Johnson may be able to fetch a future first-round pick in return if the Nets trade him before the deadline.
But like Schroder, Johnson wants to stay in New York, telling Johnson he’s happy with the organization. However, as he also told Scotto, he’s prepared to be moved.
“I want to build this,” Johnson told HoopsHype. “I really like coach Jordi. I like our staff. I think we’re headed in the right direction. I can’t tell them exactly what to do and how to proceed. The business will do what the business does. I don’t take it personally either way. For me, I’m invested in what we have. It’s been exciting to find progress and to see the potential. I want to be here and get this thing really turned around and back to winning basketball. I think we have the group to do it, and I think we have the assets and pieces to do it. Whatever they decide, no hard feelings.”
As for the three restricted free agents — Cam Thomas, Day’Ron Sharpe and Ziaire Williams — Scotto reiterated what NetsDaily has been told about the owner’s affection for CT and notes increasing team interest in keeping Williams, acquired in an off-shoot of the Mikal Bridges trade. However, he also lists a number of teams interested in watching Sharpe as he returns to play, presumably this week.
While any Net is technically considered available, given the early rebuilding stage the franchise is embarking on, it’s worth noting league sources told HoopsHype owner Joe Tsai is a fan of Thomas. Coach Fernandez has also lauded his scoring “superpowers” in press conferences…
Two Nets forwards who’ve made the most of their opportunities and are increasingly expected to be a part of that future are Jalen Wilson and Ziaire Williams, league sources told HoopsHype…
Sharpe, who’s eligible for restricted free agency this summer, is being monitored by the Grizzlies, Clippers, Pelicans, Lakers, and Raptors, league sources told HoopsHype.
Scotto did not ascribe any trade value to Sharpe who’s gained a reputation as a solid rebounder if not a scorer in the NBA.
The Hoopshype writer, of course, isn’t the only NBA writer to lay out the Nets willingness to make moves when trade season opens December 15. That’s the date when 80 players, signed in the off-season, will first become eligible to be traded. Those players, most of them on league minimum deals are often needed in complicated deals, particularly under the more restricted CBA. The trade deadline is February 6.
Marc Stein, writing in The Steinline summary of rumors that he and his new colleague Jake Fischer are hearing, argued that there are no players on the Brooklyn roster who aren’t available for the right price.
Asked during one of his many recent broadcast appearances if anyone on the Nets’ roster should be deemed untouchable between now and the trade deadline, Fischer relayed this sentiment from a rival executive he asked the same question: Only their own 2025 first-round pick.
He like Scotto thinks Schroder is likely to be the most likely to be moved, but unlike Scotto doesn’t make any estimate of his trade value.
Like Vučević, Brooklyn’s Dennis Schröder has had a searing start to the season (18.6 points and 6.3 assists per game) that has people around the league talking … especially with the 31-year-old playing on an expiring $13 million contract.
Of course at this point we’re talking mostly about scuttlebutt from around the league, not specific rumors. It should also be noted that Sean Marks is nothing if not patient. When Kevin Durant asked out in the summer of 2022, Marks turned down a number of offers in hopes of both retaining KD but also because he didn’t believe the offers were good enough. Similarly, after he and Tsai at first eschewed offers for Mikal Bridges, they found the Knicks offer irresistible.