Re-exploring summer trade options with the Brooklyn Nets
The Rockets seem interested in Mikal Bridges. Here are the most strategic ways to land him.
The Houston Rockets and the Brooklyn Nets. Star-crossed lovers. If they’re a bird, we’re a bird.
Only, the Rockets are beginning to look like a bald eagle. A bird of prey. This team has a core six of exciting young players, and they control the Nets’ draft:
And the Nets are starting to look like chickadees.
We’ve done this before. We’re going to do it again. Circumstances have changed. The market has changed – both in a vacuum and specifically in regards to potential deals between the Rockets and the Nets.
Should the Rockets give the Nets any of their picks back?
Could the Nets and Rockets make a deal this summer?
Rumors have suggested that the Rockets offered the Nets Jalen Green and all of their picks back in exchange for Mikal Bridges this summer.
If you’re reading this, you’re likely a Rockets fan. Turn to your deity. If you don’t have one, find God – quickly.
Now, thank him or her that the Rockets didn’t make this deal.
Bridges has been playing like a man who, to paraphrase a former Rocket, is in a crazy situation that can’t be fixed. That’s not to say he wouldn’t look good in a Rockets uniform. It just would have been a gross overpay if that deal was truly on the table.
If the Rockets still want Bridges this summer, his price should be lower. They should be able to send the Nets a couple of their picks back in exchange for Bridges.
Let’s get into the specifics.
What is the best deal for the Rockets?
The first option to explore is always salary filler. That’s an option here. The Rockets could offer Jock Landale, Jeff Green, the Nets’ 2024 pick, their 2026 pick, and reversed swap rights on their 2027 pick for Bridges. That makes sense.
It might make more sense to include Dillon Brooks. If you bring in Bridges and keep Brooks, you’ll bury Cam Whitmore. You’ll also relegate Tari Eason exclusively to backup four duties (unless he earns the starting gig, and then you’ll minimize Jabari Smith Jr.).
Moreover, Brooks is on a long-term deal. Getting off of his contract would preserve some cap flexibility.
Let’s be honest – some of the questionable play that led the Grizzlies to banish Brooks into the netherworld is starting to surface in Houston. We should all be grateful that Brooks brought a culture of intensity and competitiveness to Houston. Still, we might also be grateful to stop watching him pretend to be the team’s first option on random possessions.
So Brooks, two unprotected firsts (one of which will have already been conveyed in the lottery) and a (reverse) swap for Bridges feels like the best deal. Still, if the Rockets would rather preserve Brooks as a depth piece and move Landale and Green, that’s sensible.
Either way, you’ll notice I’m protecting the 2025 swap like a child’s innocence in a broken world.
There’s a reason for that
Rockets must keep 2025 swap in any deal with Nets
Bridges is good. On the Phoenix Suns, he was perhaps the best three-and-D wing in the NBA. His defense has regressed in Brooklyn, but that’s because he’s their primary shot creator. So in a proper role, Bridges should be an elite three-and-D wing and secondary shot creator.
That’s a player who can play with anyone on the Rockets’ roster. No matter how this team looks in a few years, Bridges will make sense with it. Still – and this is critical – that isn’t a player who’s worth a top-four pick in a strong draft.
The Rockets shouldn’t strictly be targeting Bridges. He’s not someone who takes this team from scrappy play-in challenger to contender. The Rockets should be targeting Bridges to weaken Brooklyn’s next pick as well.
Without Bridges, the Nets should be one of the worst teams in the NBA. Giving them their pick back in this class would be malpractice.
If the Rockets are lucky, they’ll earn the right to draft soon-to-be-Dukie Cooper Flagg. If you’re not familiar with Flagg, he’s a 6’9” forward with an impressive vertical leap who can do everything. In terms of prospect hype, he’s not Victor Wembanyama, but he’s likely somewhere between Cade Cunningham and Zion Williamson.
Otherwise, Ace Bailey is a 6’8” wing in the Paul George mold. Khaman Maluach is a 7’2” Sudanese phenom who’s set to join Flagg at Duke. He’ll join the lineage of modern bigs with extraordinarily long arms and guard skills. Maluach won’t be Wembanyama either, but he’s a more advanced prospect than Alexandre Sarr.
In other words, there are (at least) three prospects in the 2025 draft who any expert will tell you would be the number one pick in 2024. If the Rockets have an opportunity to weaken the Nets ahead of that draft and upgrade their roster in the process, they should pounce on it.
Why would the Nets play ball?
The Nets need to gain control back from the Rockets
What choice do the Nets have?
They are bad. The Nets won’t make the play-in tournament this year. They have barely enough assets to mayyyyybe acquire Trae Young. That should make them a bottom playoff seed, and they will once again be without assets.
They need to rebuild, but unless they make a deal with the Rockets, they can’t rebuild.
Besides – they aren’t getting fleeced in any of these proposals. Bridges’ market value is likely a couple of first-round picks – maybe three, depending on protections. Here, they’re getting two picks and a swap.
One of the picks is already a lottery pick. So, they’re getting the (hypothetically) seventh pick in the draft, an unprotected first, and a swap for Mikal Bridges. They’re also getting either a pair of expiring contracts (Landale and Green) or a useful player they can move for more assets later (Brooks).
That’s already fair. Now, consider that they aren’t just getting draft capital. They’re getting their own draft capital. That’s value they can only get from the Rockets.
Sure, the 2025 class is strong. The 2026 class boasts Cameron Boozer. More broadly, there’s always young talent making its way into the league. For the time being, the Nets are sending a lot of it to the Rockets.
Until that changes, these organizations will be tied to each other.
