Less than a season and a half after the Brooklyn Nets gambled the future of the entire franchise on winning the championship within the next few years, it seems as if those lofty ambitions have already gone down the drain.
Reports out of Brooklyn are that management would be open to trading any of its three best players – Deron Williams, Joe Johnson or Brook Lopez.
While no reports of heavy interest have come out of any club, I will be exploring which teams might want to make a deal for one of the three superstars.
Boston Celtics (Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, Brook Lopez)
The Boston Celtics are in a strong position – they could use any of the Brookyln trio and would also have the assets to make a deal.
Boston’s trade chips include any of the young talent on their roster they would be willing to part with to make way for a star, as well as supremely talented point guard Rajon Rondo, whose name has been on the block for years.
In a contract year, Rondo might be hard to deal, but if Brooklyn are willing to gamble on the fact he would re-sign, he would surely be enough to get a deal done. Boston are a strong young team and it seems that one more blue-chip talent on this roster would see the start of a new era in Bean Town.
The Celtics are in a position to make a deal now, however whether they are willing remains to be seen.
Charlotte Hornets (Joe Johnson)
The Charlotte Hornets could do with a lot right now, and getting rid of Lance Stephenson is one of their top needs.
Right now, there seems to be very few willing trade partners for a guy who is seen by most as a locker-room cancer, however Brooklyn are in panic mode right now also, and may be willing to take a chance that 2013-14 Lance will show up.
While the trade may seem a little lop-sided in favour of Charlotte, Brooklyn would be keen to save some salary as well as add some defence to their starting line-up.
Chicago Bulls (Joe Johnson)
The Chicago Bulls are having a fairly good season, however one continues to wonder how they would’ve faired with Carmelo Anthony in the line-up. What’s interesting is that Anthony is back on the block now, and probably attainable from a Chicago standpoint.
However, the Brooklyn Nets’ Joe Johnson may seem like a more attainable prospect. While it will most likely take one of Chicago’s bench supremos to get the deal done, Chicago may be willing to pull off the trade if they think JJ is a guy that can put them over the top.
It’s likely Brooklyn will ask for a guy like Taj Gibson, Aaron Brooks or Nikola Mirotic. Whether or not Chicago would be willing to shake it up is another question.
Detroit Pistons (Joe Johnson)
While it seems like a guy like Joe Johnson is the last thing the Detroit Pistons need, looking deeper makes it seem like a really strong move. The Pistons are another team who could be easily tempted into making a deal.
Their front court is a debacle and Brooklyn may be enticed by either Greg Monroe or Josh Smith, considering Brook Lopez is supposedly on the way out and Kevin Garnett has probably played a season too many.
In Joe Johnson, Detroit get a perimeter threat that they have sorely missed this season, and they seem to immediately improve their chances of winning games.
Los Angeles Lakers (Deron Williams, Brook Lopez)
The Los Angeles Lakers are another team that is a complete mess right now, and might be interested in moving one of their many pieces for a readymade star that can come straight into their line-up.
The kind of established and young pieces held by the Lakers also makes them a more attractive trade partner for the Nets. Almost anyone on this Lakers team is expendable, meaning Brooklyn almost have their pick of the bunch, and there’s no doubting the Lakers would be keen to go in a different direction with a new point guard or centre, or both.
Miami Heat (Deron Williams, Brook Lopez)
The Miami Heat are not in a dissimilar position to the Lakers – while they have less that they would be willing to give up, they are much closer to contention, and if they could somehow pry one of either of these superstars away from Brooklyn with a combination of picks and young players, they should see themselves firmly back into the race in the Eastern Conference.
Acquiring Williams would give the Heat a solid (and healthy) playmaker that they have sorely missed since the departure of LeBron James, and adding Brook Lopez would give them another top-line front court scoring option, as well as a floor-spacer for Chris Bosh.
While neither bolsters Miami’s so-so defence, you’d have to think there would be few teams that would want to face this new Miami squad in the playoffs.
New York Knicks (Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, Brook Lopez)
The New York Knicks are the most deplorable team in basketball, their team is a bunch of terrible contracts, superstars without chemistry, a first-year head coach trying to implement a completely new offence, and Phil Jackson.
Yet, somehow, they still seem to be an attractive trade partner. Carmelo Anthony has expressed his willingness to waive his no-trade clause if need be, and you’d have to think José Calderon, Amar’e Stoudemire, Andrea Bargnani and co. wouldn’t be opposed to a trade either.
Other interesting pieces on this New York squad include Iman Shumpert and Tim Hardaway, both names who have been circulated in trades before. All in all the Knicks have plenty of trade chips to give to their cross-town neighbours to acquire one (or all?) or their superstars and restart this pitiful team.
Phoenix Suns (Joe Johnson)
The basketball world will have one eye on the Phoenix Suns over the next year – both on and off the court. Much has been said about their three-point-guard rotation that seems to be not working so well right now, and if they are ambitious enough, they may be able to solve this lingering problem.
There is no arguing that ‘Iso Joe’ Johnson is one of the league’s better one-on-one players and scorers, and if the Suns really wanted to try and add that last piece to their roster, they could likely acquire him via one of their three star points.
While this would require a third team taking Deron Williams off Brooklyn’s hands also, the Nets have made it quite clear that is certainly a possibility. Quietly, the Phoenix Suns might be one of Brookyln’s best trade partners.
Denver Nuggets (Joe Johnson, Brooke Lopez)
The Denver Nuggets are going nowhere fast, and while much of this has been attributed to Brian Shaw’s inability to make his pieces fit, it seems the likely alternative to firing the young head coach would be acquiring some new pieces.
Names like Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari have been floating around in trade talks before, it remains to be seen whether Denver would quite have the cattle to get a trade done for a guy like Joe Johnson or Brook Lopez. Perhaps some picks added to the deal would be the sweetener for the Nets, who have not exactly featured heavily in the last few editions of the NBA’s annual event.
Oklahoma City Thunder (Brook Lopez)
Over the last few years, the Oklahoma City Thunder have been so close, yet so far from the NBA’s ultimate. And with talks that Kevin Durant may return home to Washington when his contract expires in 2016, OKC would be best served to get a wriggle on in convincing Durant to stay.
The Thunder have been unusually proactive this season, with players like Wilson Chandler linked to the Tornado Alley, but if the Thunder could somehow get him with their slew of bench players and young draft picks, Brook Lopez could be the final addition to OKC’s championship team.
He would take a lot of the front court scoring pressure off Serge Ibaka and allow him to focus more heavily on the defensive side of the ball, but whether or not they quite have the pieces to get a deal done remains to be seen.
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