In exactly one month, the teams will be in their final negotiations before no longer being able to recover players until the summer. You will have understood, we are talking about the trade deadline! A month to change the rest of the season, a month to clean up or, conversely, strengthen ourselves for the Playoffs. It deserves an analysis, and we continue the series on the Nets side!
Sean Marks in the line of the Thunder
If there is a project that is currently working in the NBA, it is that of the Thunder. Around half a billion picks accumulated over the last few seasons, with players like Luguentz Dort, Jalen Williams, Jaylin Williams, Chet Holmgren, Ousmane Dieng, among others. Choices which then made it possible to recover interesting players, like Alex Caruso recruited against Josh Giddey.
Today, the team is one if not the best in the NBA. A success which inevitably creates desires elsewhere, and it is in Brooklyn that a strategy similar to that of the Thunder was adopted. With the starting point being the transfers of Kyrie Irving to Dallas and Kevin Durant to Phoenix. The draft continued with Mikal Bridges being sent to the Knicks to pick up other additional picks. We also note the operation with Houston to recover the Draft choices previously sent to Texas. In total, at the time of writing, Brooklyn has 6 choices in the 2025 Draft, including 4 in the first round. And the idea is not to stop there.
Dennis Schröder left for the Warriors against three second round draft picks and De’Anthony Melton. Dorian Finney-Smith went to play with LeBron James in Los Angeles for 3 other second rounds of the Draft. Bottom line: there are no small savings… and it’s not over yet.
Some players on the squad are openly available for transfer, the idea is simple: recover even more Draft choices. Appetite comes from eating, as someone else would say. In mind, we of course think of Cam Johnson.
-Cam Johnson, imminent departure?
Indiana has reportedly shown clear interest for several days. Concern: Brooklyn only wants Draft choices. According to Sports Illustratedthe franchise is waiting at least two first rounds of the Draft to send its highly prized power forward. However, we imagine that recovering other names which may be thrown away elsewhere is also a last minute possibility. In addition, the Pacers have already dropped 3 first rounds of their bag when they recovered Pascal Siakam. It would perhaps be necessary to set up a three-way operation to recover a preferential package.
However, Jake Fischer (NBA insider) qualified this by explaining that internally, the Nets would not have pressure regarding a Cam Johnson deal. If he doesn’t leave this winter, it will be this summer for a more or less similar price. Especially since at present, the Pacers are not the only ones interested: Memphis, Orlando, Sacramento and the Magic are also actively monitoring the file. What creates competition to get the best return? This is undoubtedly the objective.
Other avenues?
D’Angelo Russell is not expected to be transferred, with the proximity of his arrival in Brooklyn being on paper too small to be sent elsewhere again. Regarding Nic Claxton, he is one of the untouchables. Still on the side of the names that don’t appear so much in the rumors: Cam Thomas.
Ultimately, everything really risks revolving around Cam Johnson. And no doubt other transfers will result, in Brooklyn as elsewhere, from the outcome of this one.
