The Brooklyn Nets and trade rumors go hand in hand, but their players aren’t paying any attention to the most recent one. After a recent report that the Detroit Pistons and Nets were discussing a Brandon Jennings-for-Thaddeus Young swap, Young shrugged it off.
Young said he learned of the rumor from his wife, Shekinah Young. “She said, ‘you seen the trade rumors?'” Young recalled after the team’s 128-119 win over the Sacramento Kings. “I was like, nah, I ain’t really paid attention to it, man. She keeps me abreast of everything that’s going on. I just try to play basketball. She makes it easy on me where all I’ve gotta do is play basketball.”
The Nets forward is in the midst of a very good year in a dismal Nets season, leading the Nets in rebounding (9.1 per game) and adding 14.9 points, hitting 50.9 percent of his shots. He’s also the lone Nets player to live in Brooklyn, buying a condo in the city over the summer.
But the Nets, who were lacking at point guard even before Jarrett Jack’s season-ending injury, could use a playmaker to bolster their depth. (Whether or not Jennings, who’s coming off the bench behind former Nets trade target Reggie Jackson, is that playmaker is another matter.) Pistons coach and president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy called the rumor “made-up s***.”
“At the end of the day, it is what it is,” Young added. “It’s just a rumor. I haven’t heard anything about it, so it is what it is. If it happens, then I gotta be ready. But at the end of the day, I’m here and ready to play each and every day.”
