The NBA trade rumors are heating up less than two months before the trade deadline as teams start to decide on what they really are.
This year, there aren't a lot of teams that are brazenly tanking-at least not yet. The Brooklyn Nets are always out of that conversation because the Boston Celtics fleeced them of any incentive to tank. However, the Nets roster does not give them much promise.
Will the Brooklyn Nets make the playoffs? Despite their best efforts, it's still unlikely. They would love to take their "revenge" on the Celtics by making their pick as low as possible, is it really the best strategy for the team in the long term?
These are the questions that GM Sean Marks has to face. ESPN Insider believes that Marks should make a long-term move, even if it means they have to set this season aside.
Micah Adams of ESPN Insider suggested that the best fix for the Brooklyn Nets would be to trade off center Brook Lopez. Adams explained that since the Nets do not possess picks of their own, they need to trade for a first rounder. Because of the hype about next the incoming rookies, the price of a pick is high-and it might cost them their veteran center.
"Lopez's contract -- $21 million this season and $22.6M in 2017-18, the final year of his deal -- makes a move tricky, but he's good enough and young enough at 28 that the Nets may be able to find a solid trade partner. And if not now, when? Keeping him until the summer of 2018 could mean losing him for nothing in free agency or dropping a fat max contract on a 30-plus big man when the franchise will likely still be far away from contention," Adams argued.
Trading Lopez will pave the way for the team to be led by Jeremy Lin, a role that many locals feel he should take. In this piece from The Brooklyn Game, an extensive argument is presented to declare that Lin is the right leader for the team, on and off the court.
"Over the years, the Nets have been called soft and quitters, they've had no heart and lost their spirit - but with Lin (and minus some other key detractors), it feels like the franchise has turned the corner, wins and losses be damned," the article stated.
Lopez is a big loss, but there is no way for the Nets to improve because they don't have a first round pick. In this case, the haul that he could bring could be better for the team in the long run.