NBA Rumors: The Brooklyn Nets boldly believe they can add another star player in free agency or trade this summer.
Heading into the start of the season, the belief was that the Brooklyn Nets were going to be a dark horse threat to make some noise in the Eastern Conference playoffs. However, shortly after the season began, it quickly became apparent that wasn't going to be the case. The Nets got off to a slow start and never truly recovered. Heading into the final stretch of the season, the Nets are sitting outside the top 10 in the Eastern Conference standings and are lottery-bound.
To make matters even worse, the Nets don't own their first-round draft pick this year. As part of the James Harden trade, Brooklyn owes their 2024 first-round to the Houston Rockets and it's unprotected. But even though the Nets don't own their first-round pick, they still have confidence they can build a contender around their core. That's because the front office believes they'll be able to attract stars in part because of their location in New York.
The Nets are betting that the combination of Mikal Bridges, Cameron Bridges, and their proximity to New York will be enough for them to be players to attract stars during the offseason.
Which stars could the Brooklyn Nets target this offseason?
Looking at the landscape of the league, it's hard to pinpoint what stars the Nets could be targeting. Over the last few months, the one superstar that the Nets have consistently been linked to is Donovan Mitchell. However, there's no guarantee that Mitchell is going to be asked to be traded or that the Cleveland Cavaliers would want to trade him. Another star player the Nets were linked to before this past year's NBA Trade Deadline was Dejounte Murray.
In a sense, you get where the front office is coming from. If the Nets have already been linked to a pair of stars during the season, you can only imagine how much more that is going to be the case when the offseason rolls around.
The big question is whether or not the Nets have a good enough roster in place that would point to going all-in for a star player this summer. I suppose if the right one is available, the Nets shouldn't hesitate.
Heading into the offseason, the Nets could be big players in the trade market and potentially in free agency. And they seem to be confident they can land another star player.