Grading the Nets’ moves after the NBA trade deadline
The Brooklyn Nets had been one of the main teams discussed when it came to franchises that were looking for different possibilities during the trade deadline. After seeing what transpired on Thursday, it’s safe to say that Brooklyn had a rather uneventful deadline.
The Nets began the deadline by having a quiet first few hours that let many of the Nets fanbase wondering if the organization was going to make any moves. Once the afternoon came around, Brooklyn got started by trading Spencer Dinwiddie to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for Dennis Schroder and Thaddeus Young.
In a move related to Brooklyn’s trade with the Raptors, the Nets waived forward/center Harry Giles III as the team was meeting a roster crunch. To end the deadline, the Nets traded Royce O’Neale to the Phoenix Suns as part of a three-team deal with the Memphis Grizzlies that brought three second-round picks and “salaries” back to Brooklyn.
With the Nets’ trade deadline summed up, it’s time to grade all of the moves that Brooklyn made:
Trading Spencer Dinwiddie To The Toronto Raptors For Dennis Schroder
There was a lot of uncertainty surrounding this season with regards to Dinwiddie’s body language amidst a constantly changing role. Dinwiddie looked unhappy with his reduced role and at times, it appeared evident on the court.
With that being said, Dinwiddie etched his name in plenty of statistical categories in Nets history and no one can take that away from him. Throughout this season, he showed signs that he could still play and now, he will have a chance to show that with another team.
Getting Young could prove to be a minimal move as time will tell if he will even have a role with this Nets team. Some time after the trade was completed, Young was waived so it seems that his future will be with a different team.
Essentially, the trade ended up being Dinwiddie for Schroder and on paper, the Nets won the trade. While Schroder is marginally better than Dinwiddie right now, Brooklyn also gets some flexibility as Schroder will be under contract next season.
The Nets will be able to see what Schroder looks like with this team for the rest of this season and depending on how that goes, Brooklyn can either choose to extend Schroder or trade him for something else. An additional part of this trade was the Nets waiving Giles due to roster constraints. Giles was rarely used this season so that should be an inconsequential move.
Grade: C
Trading Royce O'Neale To The Phoenix Suns For Three Second-Round Picks And Salaries
O’Neale was rumored to be one of the players on the trading block because of him being more valuable to a contending team as opposed to the Nets. There were some reports that O’Neale was of interest to many teams around the league looking for a wing who can shoot the three and play effective perimeter defense.
While Brooklyn had been hoping to get a first-round pick since that’s what they spent to get O’Neale in the first place, it seems that the price of role players were dropping across the league. He ended up being traded to the Suns in exchange for three future second-round picks and Keita Bates-Diop.
Jordan Goodwin also came to the Nets in the deal, but he was later waived. Lastly, Brooklyn acquired the draft right to Vanja Marinkovic who is currently playing in Serbia, but may not ever come over to the NBA.
Ultimately, the Nets were able to gain future financial flexibility in this deal by not having to take back any salary going into next season, get some future draft capital, and acquire a player in Bates-Diop that could be someone that enters the rotation if he plays well enough.
Grade: C
