Following a promising start to the season, the Brooklyn Nets have lost nine of their last 11 games. The new-look squad has not been competitive during that span, ranking 27th in net rating with seven losses by double digits.
Mikal Bridges' struggles have played a significant role in the cold stretch. After averaging 24.7 points and 4.7 assists on 48/38/88 shooting splits over his first 50 appearances with Brooklyn, the breakout forward has come crashing down to earth over the last 11 games, averaging 16.3 points and 3.4 assists on 38/30/76 splits.
Despite this, Brooklyn still intends to build around Bridges in the post-Kevin Durant-Kyrie Irving era, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
“I believe Brooklyn’s intent remains to build and add talent around Mikal Bridges,” Wojnarowski said on Threads when asked if the Nets would consider trading Bridges ahead of the 2024 deadline.
Mikal Bridges, Nets' situation ahead of trade deadline
Brooklyn is in no rush to make a decision on Bridges' future, with the 27-year-old under contract for the next two seasons at $24 million annually. Following the trades of Durant and Irving, the Nets are armed with seven tradable first-round picks to add talent around him. That includes three distant unprotected firsts from Phoenix (2027, 2029) and Dallas (2029), which should be highly coveted.
Nets general manager Sean Marks is using 2023-24 as an audition year, deciding which players he wants to retain when Brooklyn attempts to jump back into contention. That jump will likely come in the form of a trade for a star (Donovan Mitchell?), something the GM left the door open for ahead of this season.
“You never know when your window is gonna be,” Marks said at Nets Media Day. “Like, ‘Hey, we need to really go jump. We need to get right back into it.' We’ll wait for those opportunities… It'll be fun to see who can take a next step with this group, who's gonna be a Net long-term, who's gonna be worthy of that, who rises to the occasion.”
Brooklyn's more pressing questions ahead of the trade deadline surround impending free agents Nic Claxton, Spencer Dinwiddie, Royce O'Neale and Lonnie Walker IV.
Brooklyn has an incentive to stay out of the luxury tax next season due to a CBA clause known as the repeater tax. Teams exceeding the luxury tax line three times in four years are taxed $2.50 per every dollar over the line. That figure increases to $2.75, $3.50 and $4.25 for every additional $5 million. Dodging the tax in 2024-25 would ensure the Nets are not subject to the repeater tax until at least 2028.
With $116.6 million already committed to eight players next season and the luxury tax set for $172 million, avoiding the tax would likely require Brooklyn to part ways with one or more of Claxton, Dinwiddie, O'Neale and Walker. This opens the door for several moves ahead of the Feb. 8 deadline.
Follow Us
Subscribe