If you thought the Brooklyn Nets already hit rock bottom, here’s a shovel. The Toronto Raptors defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 122-98 tonight, ensuring that the Nets will swap their second-round pick with the Los Angeles Clippers and pick 55th overall in this upcoming NBA draft.
Sound confusing? Here’s how it works. The Nets traded the right to swap this year’s second-round pick to the Clippers in the deal to acquire Reggie Evans, with protections should the pick fall between 56 and 60 — i.e., if the Clippers finished with one of the five best records in the NBA, the Nets would keep their own second-round pick. But the Raptors clinched the fifth-best record in the NBA with that win, which in turn clinched the sixth-best record for the Clippers, and thus the 55th pick in the draft — which is now going to the Nets.
Learn it all: Nets Future Draft Pick Details (CHART)
The Nets will turn over the 33rd or 34th pick to the Clippers, depending on the result of the remaining games in the Nets and Suns’ schedules. Ironically, the Nets play the Raptors tomorrow night, and the Suns will play the Clippers.
The Nets also do not own a first-round pick, having traded it to the Boston Celtics outright in 2014. They also traded the right to swap first-rounders in next year’s draft, and their 2018 first-round pick outright.
