Welp. The superstar era is over in Brooklyn. The Nets have officially lost all of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden in the span of a calendar year.
The Nets just traded both Durant and Irving in the same week to the Suns and the Mavericks respectively. Now, they’re left back at square one. They have to start over without a single All-Star on the roster.
This time, though, they’ve got a bit of a head start thanks to the haul they got back in return for their Big 3.
A team is never going to get back an even return when trading away superstars — that’s just not how the NBA works. But considering their circumstances, the Nets made out pretty well.
Let’s go over the pieces.
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Mikal Bridges
Mikal Bridges was a legitimate 3-and-D Defensive Player of the Year candidate in the 2021-22 season. He’s also developing some scoring chops himself, which is another plus for Brooklyn. He’s an addition every single team in the league would want.
Dorian Finney-Smith
Finney-Smith is less of an offensive force than Bridges, but he’s one of the best multi-positional defenders in the NBA. The Nets are not going to be low on wing depth at all moving forward.
Ben Simmons
Obviously, Simmons is a former All-Star. He hasn’t been able to recapture that form at all and has struggled mightily this year. At this point, he’s more of a project. But there’s no pressure to do anything for Brooklyn right now, so he can continue to ease his way back.
Jae Crowder
Crowder can now serve as another trade piece for Brooklyn that the team can flip forward to another contender to potentially make this haul even bigger.
Spencer Dinwiddie
The same can be said for Spencer Dinwiddie, who should certainly have some value as a 6th man for a team looking for a scoring punch off of the bench.
Cam Johnson
Cam Johnson may be the crown jewel of the haul at this point. He’s older at 26 years old, but he also is developing into a legitimate shot creator and is already a very good defender. In Brooklyn, they can keep that development going under no pressure.
Seven first round picks and a pick swap with Phoenix
The draft cupboard is full for Brooklyn over the next six years. In total, for James Harden, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, the Nets got 7 first-round picks (’22 PHI, ’23 PHX, ’25 PHX, ’27 PHI, ’27 PHX, ’29 DAL, ’29 PHX) plus a pick swap (’28 PHX).
All of a sudden, everything they lost from the James Harden deal is coming back.
Brooklyn Future Draft Picks:
‘23 PHX 1st
‘23 BKN 1st
‘25 PHX 1st
‘25 BKN 1st (HOU swap)
‘25 MIA 2nd
‘26 BKN 2nd
‘27 PHI 1st
‘27 PHX 1st
‘27 BKN 1st (HOU swap)
‘27 DAL 2nd
‘28 BKN 1st
‘28 PHX 1st (BKN swap)
‘28 BKN 2nd
‘29 DAL 1st
‘29 PHX 1st
‘29 BKN 1st
‘29 BKN 2nd
‘29 DAL 2nd— Billy Reinhardt (@BillyReinhardt) February 9, 2023
No, it won’t be the same as having their own picks. But should any of these teams falter over the next few years — which feels like a good bet considering what just happened to the Nets — things could shake out extremely well for Brooklyn.
This is how you build back up from a loss. Good job, Nets.
