The Brooklyn Nets have been on the struggle bus as of late, currently sitting at 13-25 following Friday evening's road loss to the Denver Nuggets. The Nets recently made some major moves by trading Dennis Schroder to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for draft capital and then dealing Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton to the Los Angeles Lakers for D'Angelo Russell, who is currently out of the lineup due to injury.

In their relatively brief history since moving to Brooklyn, the Nets have never been afraid to make big swings both via free agency and trade, and according to the latest intel, they could be attempting to do so once again in the near future should the opportunity present itself, per NBA insider Marc Stein on his Substack account.

“The scenario repeatedly cited in conversation with rival teams always winds up in the same place: The Nets have long been described and continue to be painted as a team determined to be in position to trade for Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo someday,” reported Stein.

However, Stein also noted that “there remains zero expectation that the Bucks would even consider the notion of trading Antetokounmpo unless he pushed for it.”

Still, “rumbles nonetheless persist that the Nets are positioning themselves to be ready for such a moment if it arrives,” per Stein.

An audacious franchise

Brooklyn Nets center Nic Claxton (33) shoots the ball in the second half against the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena.
Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

As previously noted, the Nets have never been shy about swinging for the fences in an attempt to draw in star talent.

This has backfired severely for the team at times, such as when the team traded for late-30s version of Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett in an attempt to build a superteam and instead essentially gifted the Boston Celtics the run of dominance they are currently enjoying.

The team also lured Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving during free agency in 2019, later pairing them with James Harden. That team found much more success when the three stars were on the floor together, but unfortunately, that was an exceptionally rare occurrence, and the furthest the Nets ever got was Game 7 of the second round.

Now, the Nets have seemingly embraced a full-on rebuild, and it remains to be seen whether they will look to move on from Russell, who doesn't necessarily fit their timeline building around young players like Cam Thomas and others.

The Nets also have other tradeable pieces, including most notably Cam Johnson, whom numerous contenders would likely be willing to part with a lot for.

In any case, Brooklyn will next take the floor on Sunday vs the Utah Jazz.