Mock trade has Nets trading Dorian Finney-Smith for Anfernee Simons
The Brooklyn Nets have now completed their 2023 NBA Draft by adding three players and having an formal press conference on Friday to introduce them to the masses. With that taken care of, Brooklyn can now look forward to the rest of their offseason check list including possible trades to make the team better.
While the Nets were reportedly interested in using their first-round picks to either move up in the draft or get a star-level player in return, neither of those outcomes happened as Brooklyn used both of their picks on players in Noah Clowney (21st overall) and Dariq Whitehead (22nd overall) that they intend to keep with the franchise for years to come.
This doesn’t eliminate the possibility of the Nets pulling off a trade this season, but now, teams have to be interested in Brooklyn’s future picks and/or players that are on the roster. This mock trade proposed by ESPN’s Kevin Pelton has the Nets trading a haul to get Portland Trail Blazers guards Anfernee Simons and Keon Johnson in a three-team deal:
The Mock Trade:
Brooklyn Nets receive: Anfernee Simons and Keon Johnson
New Orleans Pelicans receive: Dorian Finney-Smith, Patty Mills, Royce O’Neale, and Portland’s third-overall pick (Scoot Henderson)
Portland Trail Blazers receive: Zion Williamson
Should the Nets do this trade?
From looking at this three-team trade, it looks like the Nets come out with the least-impressive haul of the deal. Essentially trading Finney-Smith, Patty Mills, and Royce O’Neale for Simons and Johnson sounds like a solid trade on multiple levels.
For one, if this trade were to happen, Brooklyn would successfully trade some of its wing depth for guard depth that the team needs even after drafting Whitehead. Johnson has had his moments in the league and Simons is coming off a season in which he averaged 21.1 points per game and shot 37.7% from three-point land.
Even though the third-overall pick is now Scoot Henderson, that could make a deal of this framework more likely because now it’s worth wondering if Portland finds a way to clear some room for Henderson to play with Lillard. Or, which seems to be the preferred outcome for Nets fans, this could be the catalyst to Lillard finally being traded since the Trail Blazers would be able to move forward with Simons and Henderson as a duo.
Verdict: Yes, the Nets should do this trade.
