Despite having a better season than many thought they would have, the Brooklyn Nets are still expected to be major sellers at the NBA trade deadline in February.
The Nets currently sit eighth in the Eastern Conference standings, but according to a report from ESPN’s Shams Charania, Brooklyn is open to trading Cameron Johnson, Dorian Finney-Smith and Dennis Schröder.
To no one’s surprise, the Nets are open to trading away most of their roster this season. Brooklyn officially began a rebuild in the offseason after trading away Mikal Bridges to the New York Knicks.
With the Nets open for business, they will likely be asking for young players and draft capital, but the Sacramento Kings could offer them a star point guard that they can build around for the future in De’Aaron Fox. Fox and the Kings have yet to agree on a contract extension, which has entered him into many trade rumors.
In a possible trade, Brooklyn could send Johnson, Finney-Smith and Schröder to Sacramento for Fox and Kevin Huerter. It is likely that the Nets would also have to include some picks in the deal for the Kings to agree to it.
This trade works well for both sides. Sacramento completely reloads their roster with more talent that could help them try and salvage a poor season so far. Schröder could become their new point guard while Johnson and Finney-Smith would likely light a spark off the bench.
Brooklyn would gain a young player to build around for the future by adding a superstar like Fox. While the Nets do have some young talent in Cam Thomas and Nicolas Claxton, neither of them is a superstar-level player like Fox.
Of course, if the Nets did pull off this trade, their first order of business would be to sign Fox to an extension. The 26-year-old is signed through the 2025-26 season, but it would be better for Brooklyn to extend him as soon as possible.
By making this trade, the Nets would set themselves up well for the future. They could build around their young trio of Fox, Claxton and Thomas and whoever they draft in the loaded 2025 class thanks to their four first-round picks.
More NBA: Nets are interested in trading away $174 million trio per report
