If the Nets’ goal was to tank for higher draft position in 2024-25, they have not done a great job of it through their first 10 games. Led by first-year head coach Jordi Fernandez, they have been highly competitive in almost every game they have played this season. They went toe-to-toe with the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers over the weekend and have lost four games by five points or less.
The Nets missed the playoffs in 2023-24 but would be a seventh seed in the Eastern Conference if the season ended Monday afternoon. And if the team continues to improve rapidly under Fernandez, landing top 2025 prospects such as Cooper Flagg, Ace Bailey, Egor Demin and Dylan Harper will be nearly impossible. General manager Sean Marks would be forced to take the franchises rebuild in a different direction.
“It almost happened Saturday night and suggested — not for the first time this season — that the Nets might be a little bit more competent on the court than the front office truly wants them to be after reacquiring full control of Brooklyn’s 2025 and 2026 draft picks from Houston [Rockets],” NBA insider Marc Stein wrote in his intel dump.
Veterans such as Dennis Schröder, Cam Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith continue to play key roles in the Nets’ surprising surge and Marks may have seen enough. According to Stein, teams around the league are expecting the Nets to make Schröder, Finney-Smith, Bojan Bogdanović available for trades before the February deadline.
“Dennis Schröder, Dorian Finney-Smith, Bojan Bogdanović are all quality vets possessing sub-$20 million salaries and frequently mentioned by rival teams as players they expect to be moved between now and the Feb. 6 trade deadline,” Stein wrote.
Schröder, who was acquired at last season’s trade deadline, is in the midst of one of the best offensive starts of his career, averaging 20.1 points and 6.6 assists across his first 10 games while shooting 48.6% from the field and 46.3% from deep. Finney-Smith has been playing out of position for much of this season because of the Nets’ frontcourt injuries but remains one of the better defenders on the team. The forward has averaged 10.6 points per game this season while 44% shooting from the field and 34.5% from deep. He has shot 47.1% from behind the arc over his last three appearances entering Monday’s game.
Bogdanović has not appeared in a game for Brooklyn this season as he continues to recover from offseason foot surgery. He made 29 regular-season appearances for the Knicks following last season’s trade deadline, primarily in a reserve role, and averaged 10.4 points per game while shooting 43% from the field and 37% from 3-point range.
Stein’s column did not mention Johnson, who has averaged 21.8 points on .554/.419/.857 splits over this last four appearances entering Monday night’s matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans. However, if Marks is shopping Schröder, Finney-Smith and Bogdanović, he will probably take offers for Johnson, too.
“With first-year coach Jordi Fernandez clearly trying to win games, Brooklyn might have to ponder stripping down even earlier than it imagined.”
