Monday night, after the stunning Knicks-Thunder-Cavaliers trade that sent J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert to Cleveland and Dion Waiters to Oklahoma City, news broke that there have been trade discussions regarding Brook Lopez between the Nets and the Thunder.
In the proposed deal, Brooklyn’s center would head to the Thunder in exchange for Kendrick Perkins’ expiring contract, Perry Jones and Lance Thomas (who ended up going to the Knicks in the deal but was promptly waived). However, talks between the front offices never progressed and obviously no trade ended up getting done.
This is just the latest rumor of a potential Lopez trade from Brooklyn, following the early season talk of both him and Deron Williams going to the Kings for a package consisting of Darren Collison, Jason Thompson and Derrick Williams. That possible trade almost came to fruition but 2014 ended with no movement at all.
Brook, who missed eight games in the middle of December due to a lower back strain, has struggled with a myriad of injury problems over the past few years, most notably a broken foot that cost him basically all of the 2013-14 season. Since returning from his latest absence, Lopez has played in eight games–starting just one, Monday’s loss to Dallas–and has slowly regained the scoring ability that led to him being one of the league’s top scoring centers.
Lionel Hollins, in his never-ending quest to perfectly mix and match his puzzling roster, left Brook on the bench for the first seven games of his return–along with an also-hobbled Williams–as the Nets won six of seven games before their last two losses to the Heat and Mavericks. For yesterday’s game, he started alongside Mason Plumlee and was dominant early on, scoring 18 points and grabbing six rebounds in the first quarter. He finished with 22 and 13.
So, with February’s trade deadline a little more than a month, the Nets have some time to consider more trade destinations for Lopez, Williams and maybe even Joe Johnson, who could be dealt but hasn’t been mentioned in many rumors. With Lopez’ good play, and D-Will’s slight resurgence, over the past few weeks, their collective trade value has increased, making now a better time to trade than ever for Brooklyn.
But will Billy King pull the trigger? Personally, I would think no. However, considering the surprising and mercurial nature of King’s management style, anything is possible. Sitting at 16-18 in the No. 7 slot in the Eastern Conference playoff standings, the Nets are definitely postseason contenders so King might be hesitant to clear house at this point in time.
There’s no doubt Brook Lopez can be a valuable piece for Brooklyn, mostly when he’s healthy. He can also be the same for any number of other NBA teams so if he keeps playing well between now and next month’s deadline, which is why he’ll definitely draw some interesting trade offers for the Nets front office.
I don’t think a deal is necessary but if one comes in that would give the Nets some current young talent AND high draft picks in the future, it will be very hard for them to turn it down.
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