Would they though? Bridges' defense is still far worse than what it was, and he's putting up his worst 3P% since his rookie season and lowest scoring in the last three years. The Nets are real bad, and I don't think he adds more than a few wins to that squad. The other changes they made were kinda lateral moves IMO
Come on now. You can’t honestly believe this. With Bridges, they would easily be in the play-in. Hell, even after the Bridges’ trade, they could have made a few moves and probably made the play in.
I just don't think he's that impactful. I've always been low on him--when the whole board was pounding the table to trade for him I was like "That dude?" He just doesn't have a star-level impact on winning IMO.
This. The Nets are only 6 back of the play in while they put together a roster with the two goals in mind, tanking and hopefully having guys that can play with whoever they get by tanking.
If management wanted to they could have just tried winning this year and made the play-in. They have been competitive most of the year and are really trying to tank to not the best results. Its finally caught up and they suck now but thats because i think the team got deflated from the throwing. That brooklyn pick was never gonna be as good as they are trying to make it. It would have likely been in the exact same range as this suns pick, 12-16 imo.
I think y'all are overestimating both the level of tanking the Nets' front office is engaging in and how much better they could have become given their lack of cap space and trade assets. They haven't even traded away Cam Johnson or Claxton. They just suck. Think about how they ended up at #9 last season while not tanking. I didn't like the trade at the time, but I've come around a bit more because I think some of the later Phoenix picks are likely to be very good. But in the context of this season, I think with or without Bridges, their pick would still have been better than the Phoenix pick. They're 23-47 to the Suns' 34-37. Even if they made the play-in due to the weakness of the East, they probably get bounced rather than making the playoffs proper, and then the pick ends up in the lotto anyway and it reverts to team record, right?
This Nets thing has been done. They are actively tanking this year. Without their pick they wouldn't have everybody "injured" all the time and would be at least in the play-in.
Brooklyn got max value In the bridges trade. I will always believe that they would’ve made the trade with or without us. I’m fine with it though. I think it has to do with team dynamics…. are we really wanting to bring in a rookie to this group of players next year and essentially tell them hey we are building around this guy? And it very well might be prudent to do so, but I think We would be setting our clock back a little bit, depending on a rookie like that. I think we have a very nice core in place. Let them continue to grow and some star level player is going to want to come here.
Depends on where the pick is. If Cooper of course you would build around him and Amen, if it’s pick 12 an incredibly athletic PF/C would fit perfectly on this team.
Respectfully this is really far off, re: the Nets. 4 of the Nets top 6 in minutes this year: Jalen Wilson, Keon Johnson, Ziaire Williams, Tyrese Martin. Zero of those players are NBA players on a real team in 2025. They aren't even real prospects. If the Nets weren't tanking, those minutes would be Mikal Bridges, Dennis Schroder, Dorian Finney Smith + increased Cam Johnson and Cam Thomas minutes. Going from giving season long starter equivalent minutes to four G leaguers, to giving those minutes to real NBA starters and high rotation players instead is an enormous swing. 10-15 wins minimum.
This is a strong post but to be fair I think it does lack a bit of context. -Zaire Williams avg 3 mpg more than he did as a rookie on a #2 seed Grizz. He’s also setting career highs across the board statistically. -DLo is averaging 1 mpg less than he did in LA. If they wanted to tank they’d just play him LOL shooting 30% from 3 with default Matador D. -Cam Thomas is out for the year but prior to that avg an identical 31 mpg like last yr -Cam Johnson’s minutes are up y/y. I may be overly subjective here owing to DLo’s game winner over the Rockets but that was not a team trying to lose. And that particular game - w/ a 3% win probability late in the 4th - was a turnkey L for tankers.
Some of the Rookies in the Draft is either same age as Reed Sheppard, Cam Whitmore, more ready and more talented on Defense and Offense. For example if there is Euro player with very High IQ in passing, great shooting. He can battle for the rotation spot.
I was looking at that strength of schedules and the Raptors schedule is hilariously weak in the way the Suns is strong. Pistons, Spurs, and Trailblazers are the best teams they have left.
Players don’t try to lose. Front offices dictate certain limitations to coaches regarding player availability/PT.
Are Schroder and DFS really that much of an upgrade? I view them as basically replacement-level players. Maybe an extra win or so each?
I agree with your premise. Can you give a specific example of how this applies to the 24-25 Nets? Here’s a 30k foot example which refutes tanking: By many objective measures Cam Johnson is the Nets best player. His minutes are up y/y (coaching) and he’s on pace to play more games y/y (F.O.). I only watch the Nets when they play the Rockets so I really don’t know if they’re pulling a bastardized version of the Jazz - are they? I think people assume the trades fall in to this category for the FO and - I’m of the belief - Schroeder has played for half the league in just a few years so he’s JAG, and the Bridges haul is a deal every non-title contender would do IMO. Those could be poor assumptions.
