After the successful acquisition of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving last summer, the Brooklyn Nets have managed to turn themselves from an average playoff team to a legitimate title contender in the Eastern Conference. However, it seems like the Nets aren’t done upgrading their roster. When the 2019-20 NBA season is over, rumors suggest that the Nets are planning to surround Durant and Irving with additional star power to boost their chances of fully dominating the Eastern Conference and winning the NBA championship title.
Having a plethora of trade assets, the Nets are indeed capable of engaging in a blockbuster deal in the 2020 NBA offseason. In a recent podcast, Brian Windhorst of ESPN revealed that the Nets intend to use some of their young players as trade chips to acquire a third star who could form Brooklyn’s “Big Three” with Irving and Durant this summer.
“I believe they have telegraphed they intend to use some of their young talent to acquire a third star along with Kyrie and Durant,” Windhorst said, as quoted by RealGM . “Now, we can get enter a healthy debate here about whether Caris LeVert is that third star and they make the decision that he is. But my feel reading the tea leaves, paying attention to what Sean Marks has said and also being aware of some conversations they had at the trade deadline, which was sticking the toe in the water on some things, I think they’re going to swing for the fences whenever the season comes.”
As Windhorst noted, some of the potential trade targets for the Nets in the offseason include Bradley Beal of the Washington Wizards and Jrue Holiday of the New Orleans Pelicans. Beal and Holiday haven’t shown any indication that they are no longer happy with their respective teams, but their names continue to be included on the list of players who are expected to be available on the trade market this summer. Though they haven’t demanded a trade, most people believe that Beal and Holiday are better off spending their prime years playing for a legitimate title contender than staying on a team without a clear path to winning an NBA championship title.
Acquiring Beal or Holiday would undeniably increase the Nets’ chances of bringing home the Larry O’Brien Trophy in the 2020-21 season. Aside from being a very reliable option on the offensive end of the floor, both superstars are capable of excelling in an off-ball capacity, making them an ideal fit alongside ball-dominant superstars like Durant and Irving. Though the Wizards and the Pelicans continue to insist that they have no intention of trading Beal and Holiday, a potential trade package that includes at least one of Jarrett Allen and Caris LeVert and multiple future draft picks could change their mind.