EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Nets general manager Billy King has never been shy about making deals, and knows that it’s a possibility that they’ll move into the draft once again.
“We’re still talking about acquiring a pick if possible,” King said after the team’s free agent camp Wednesday, before later clarifying. “Generally, you don’t know if you’re going to get a pick until you get to draft day. Because everybody’s looking at it and they may have guys they want to target. If a guy falls out of their range, they may want to sell it or trade it. Then a lot of teams will be saying, ‘yeah, we’re going to trade our pick, or we’re trying to get a pick’ because you want that buzz out there. You really don’t know if you’re going to get a pick until probably the day of.”
King, no stranger to deals, has made five trades on draft night in the last three seasons:
2011: the Nets made two draft-day trades: first acquiring MarShon Brooks for the rights to JaJuan Johnson and the team’s 2014 second-round pick. That’s the reason they don’t have a second-rounder this year. They also traded their 2013 second-round pick and cash to the Minnesota Timberwolves for the rights to Bojan Bogdanovic, who was picked with the first overall pick in the second round that year.
2012: The Nets again made two pure cash trades: first sending $2 million for the 41st overall pick to acquire Tyshawn Taylor, and sending additional cash considerations to the Philadelphia 76ers to acquire Tornike Shengelia.
2013: Though the Nets didn’t make any draft-related trades, draft day was when word of the blockbuster Nets-Celtics trade to send Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Jason Terry to Brooklyn for Gerald Wallace, Kris Humphries, MarShon Brooks, Keith Bogans, Kris Joseph, and multiple draft picks.
The Nets have little to offer in the way of trades, unless a team wants to take on a large contract. They can send a little less than $2 million to facilitate a trade, which is about what netted them the 41st overall pick in 2012 for Taylor. They also have a few guys on minimum contracts to grease the wheels.
