With the NBA trade deadline at 3 p.m. Feb. 8, this year doesn’t appear to be as seismic for the Nets as last season’s franchise-changing megadeals.
But that doesn’t mean general manager Sean Marks hasn’t been busy during the lead-up, or that Brooklyn will be idle next week.
Quite the opposite. With the fan base in a seemingly endless debate about whether the Nets will be buyers or sellers, they’ve been working toward being both.
And the Lakers are coming into focus as a potential partner.
Let’s get to the elephant in the room: Mikal Bridges. In the midst of a career year, he’s been drawing widespread interest around the league. Interest that’s being rejected.
The Nets have no interest in trading him, a point that has been repeatedly driven home but ignored by a sub-segment of the fan base that wants him moved in a rebuild.
Brooklyn turned down four first-round picks for him last year, and — after The Post reported they would summarily reject a Houston offer to return the draft cache sent in the James Harden swap — that’s exactly what happened. The Nets would reportedly dismiss a Rockets offer even if Jalen Green was included, per Marc Stein.
“In the league, people are going to get traded,” Bridges said. “You just sit here and you watch.”
Nic Claxton has also been viewed as a foundational piece alongside Bridges, but he’s an unrestricted free agent who league personnel have told The Post could approach $90-to-$100 million in the summer. Stein reported the center could be more available over the next seven days than previously advertised as a result.
There are moves to be made, incoming or outgoing, with 30-year-olds Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith and Royce O’Neale possibly on the latter list.
The Nets maintain interest in Dejounte Murray, and Dinwiddie’s expiring deal is attractive to the Hawks and a seamless fit, but the Nets are unwilling to meet Atlanta’s demand of two first-round picks and coach Quin Snyder is lobbying their front office to take the All-Star point guard off the trade market.
Further down the point guard pecking order, there could be a reunion with D’Angelo Russell, who led the 2018-19 Nets to the playoffs but was shipped out in a sign-and-trade for Kevin Durant.
That’s where the Lakers come in.
As he is wont to do, LeBron James is prodding them to add. Murray is seemingly at the top of the wish list, but the Hawks don’t want to take on salary for next season and Russell has an option.
But Brooklyn has been linked with Russell as a third team, or even in a separate deal.
ESPN has mentioned Los Angeles native Dinwiddie as a target for his hometown team, while The Athletic has stated the Lakers have interest in all three of the Nets’ 30-year-olds, but just a 2029 first-round pick to offer.
Dinwiddie carries a $20.4 million cap hit, Finney-Smith $13.9 million and O’Neale $9.5 million.
Rui Hachimura has a $15.7 million cap hit, and the Nets reportedly would’ve wanted the forward in any potential Kyrie Irving deal last year, but they felt the Lakers’ future picks likely wouldn’t have been desirable. Russell has a $17.3 million cap hit — but does he still have beef with Marks for trading him?
Asked by The Post about any added motivation in his Brooklyn return, Russell said, “Maybe if Sean Marks was in a jersey, then there’d be something different. But he’s not.”
Brooklyn will look to avoid the luxury tax this season with a modest $8 million cushion.
A source told The Post the Nets rejected an offer of two first-rounders for Finney-Smith, reportedly coveted by not just the Lakers but also by the Mavericks, Bucks, Thunder, Suns and Kings. O’Neale could fetch a first-round pick, and has also been linked to the Mavericks, Nuggets, Pacers, Bucks, Timberwolves, Suns and Kings.