With teams across the league looking for potential wing and point guard help, the Brooklyn Nets have several trade candidates, depending on the direction the team goes ahead of February’s trade deadline.
**Spencer Dinwiddie**, who became the third Net in franchise NBA history with 1,500 or more assists and 500 or more threes, joining **Jason Kidd** and **Vince Carter**, is among the names to keep an eye on in the coming months.
“Dinwiddie can help a team and make big shots,” an NBA executive told HoopsHype.
An upcoming unrestricted free agent, Dinwiddie has continuously referenced **Mikal Bridges**, **Cam Johnson**, **Nic Claxton**, and **Ben Simmons** as core members of Brooklyn’s future while complimenting **Cam Thomas** and **Lonnie Walker** when [**talking about the team’s future**](https://twitter.com/erikslater_/status/1724636919823311152).
“That all comes down to **Joe Tsai** and **Sean Marks** at the end of the day,” Dinwiddie [**told The HoopsHype Podcast**](https://hoopshype.com/lists/nets-spencer-dinwiddie-ben-simmons-cam-thomas-cam-johnson-kevin-durant-james-harden-free-agency/) just before the regular season when asked about his future. “I’ll be a free agent at the end of the year. I earned my pension already, so it is what it is. We’ll see what happens after that. If the team wins and we’ve got guys rolling, at the bare minimum, I’ve left the team in good hands, and if it’s time for me to ride off into the sunset, that’s what it is, and I’ll be a Brooklyn Nets fan.”
NBA executives across the league are also monitoring Brooklyn’s wings, including **Dorian Finney-Smith** and **Royce O’Neale**.
Finney-Smith has previously drawn interest from several playoff-caliber teams, including the Dallas Mavericks, Miami Heat, Philadelphia 76ers, and Memphis Grizzlies (before several injuries changed their trajectory this season), among other teams, league sources told HoopsHype.
Given that Finney-Smith is signed through the 2024-25 season before a $15.38 million [**player option**](https://hoopshype.com/salaries/brooklyn_nets/) decision for the 2025-26 season, rival executives expect the Nets to continue to have a high asking price worth the equivalent of two first-round picks if they trade him with the hope that the asking price will drop closer to the trade deadline.
A few executives who spoke with HoopsHype believe Brooklyn would want a protected first-round pick for O’Neale, an upcoming unrestricted free agent.
Rival executives are also monitoring Nets center **Nicolas Claxton** and have asked one consistent question regarding the 24-year-old center who will become an unrestricted free agent this summer: Will Brooklyn pay up to keep him?
Given recent average annual salaries for centers **Jarrett Allen** ($20 million), **Jusuf Nurkic** ($17.5 million), **Deandre Ayton** ($33.2 million), **Jakob Poeltl** ($19.5 million), and **Brook Lopez** ($24 million) in free agency the past few offseasons, Claxton is projected to be over earn over $20 million per year in free agency.
Currently, Claxton is viewed as a core member of the Nets moving forward, barring a trade offer that blows the team away.
Looking further ahead, **Ben** **Simmons** will be in the final year of his contract during the 2024-25 season at $40.34 million, making him a potential trade chip in the summer of 2024 due to his expiring contract – whether he can stay healthy or not this season.
by Brooklyn917
5 Comments
Honestly, all of these guys should be traded other than Clax. Keep accumulating assets and developing young players. I love all those guys, but realistically this team is in a holding pattern. I am not advocating for tanking or blowing it up. Keep the cams, bridges clax etc. just trade the older pending free agents.
Brook Lopez was my favorite Net and seeing him go was bittersweet (I’m glad he got his ring), but after BroLo, no trade can hurt me. I’d miss almost all of our guys but anyone is available to trade, in my opinion, as long as it ultimately improves our team. I’d be sad to lose Claxton because I’ve loved seeing him develop, but like Jarrett Allen before him, I’d get over it. And I’d miss Spencer because he’s my girlfriend’s favorite Net, purely based on how much she enjoys saying his last name and hearing the commentators say it. But again, whatever makes the Brooklyn Nets better should be done. And I’d of course wish anyone who departs a good and happy career and life wherever they land.
Never saw that quote from Dinwiddie and it just makes me appreciate him more. Regardless of talent, which he is definitely an above average player, you can tell he is forever grateful to the Nets for giving him the chance he worked so hard for. It paid off for him and he’s good for life, but I’m always happy to hear him mention his appreciation for the journey. I’ll happily root for the guys on this team cus of their character. If the vets get traded, let’s make sure to get solid character guys in return with the trades or the picks.
If it sounds like I am throwing some shade, it’s cus I am..
Can’t wait to be rid of Ben’s contract…I really hope that it doesn’t keep us from paying Clax
Dinwiddie will be angling for an LA team if he’s moved. I could see him on the Clippers with the rest of the LA crew.
Imo the core should be Simmons(he’s unmoveable) Cam T Bridges Claxton Walker and the rookies.
Not sold on Cam Johnson’s health and size as a PF, if he can be packaged for a piece like Markenen, or Siakam I’d do it.