Nets’ trip to Dallas offers reminder of what could have been, where things stand

DALLAS — The Nets’ game Friday in Dallas could’ve been a reunion with Kyrie Irving, and a stark reminder of their ill-fated Big 3. 

Instead, it’s a cautionary tale about star hunting, and reinforcement for Brooklyn’s new holistic approach in the apron era: Tank. Draft. Develop. 

“Well, I have to say that we’re in a rebuilding year,” Nets team owner Joe Tsai said recently at an “All-In” podcast event. “We spent all of our [2025] picks — we had five first-round draft picks this past summer. We have one pick in 2026 and we hope to get a good pick, so you can predict what kind of strategy we’ll use for this season.” 

That strategy is still intact. 

While a number of teams that traded for high-priced stars are struggling — including Dallas, with Irving still sidelined by a torn ACL — teams are increasingly holding onto their draft picks and building internally. 

And while the Nets headed to Dallas essentially playing .500 ball with red-hot Michael Porter Jr. since Nov. 5 — the same game in which Cam Thomas got hurt — they’re still full steam ahead on their tank and intent to use cap space to land future assets. 

That pursuit could start as soon as Monday when the unofficial trade season opens.

Last year, the Nets shipped out Dennis Schröder the first day the deal could be consummated, and figure to be active again. 

Tsai was referring to his other job — as chairman of e-commerce giant Alibaba — when he told a group of young entrepreneurs at Hong Kong University recently that the secret sauce to succeeding was to do it holistically. 

“You would always want to favor organic development over acquisitions,” Tsai said. “Of course, we’ve also made some acquisitions. Some of them were successful and some have failed spectacularly. But you always favor the organic development because you’re developing it through your team and your team has the best DNA.” 

That meant business, but it also includes basketball. 

Even more so in this apron-era NBA. 

While building superteams was once en vogue — and Brooklyn’s Irving-Kevin Durant-James Harden squad was largely considered the most talented of its day — it came with risks. And the new punitive CBA has amplified those risks to the point that franchises are reconsidering how they do business. 

Teams are leery about trading away huge quantities of first-round picks for stars on the wrong side of 30, and instead hoarding draft assets. That’s still very much what the Nets plan to use their league-high $15.3 million in cap space for, to absorb yet more salary dumps in order to garner other team’s draft picks. 

League sources have consistently told The Post that Brooklyn’s plans remain the same, and both ESPN and Marc Stein have confirmed as much this week. 

That doesn’t necessarily mean Boston’s Anfernee Simons, but it’s still the plan. 

Nets general manager Sean Marks used his league-high $40 million in cap space this summer in four salary dumps, absorbing Porter, Terance Mann and Haywood Highsmith to land a first-round pick (that became Drake Powell), Denver’s unprotected 2032 first-rounder and Miami’s 2032 second-rounder. 

They also paid $100,000 to take a look at Kobe Bufkin, but waived him. 

Even after taking those record five first-round picks in June, Marks is sitting on a cache of 12 future first-rounders and 18 seconds, both league highs. Can he collect more? 

The Nets, Wizards, Jazz ($10.5 million in cap space, $18.4 million trade exception) and Pistons ($14.1 million trade exception) are the only squads with viable cap space. All but Detroit could be in the market for salary dumps, with a league source suggesting Washington or Utah could undercut Brooklyn in that venture. 

Brooklyn could also facilitate moves. 

While they may have missed their timing to land Giannis Antetokounmpo, they could benefit by being a third team in any potential deal. Antetokounmpo’s agent, Alex Saratsis, who also represents Nets guard Cam Thomas, has opened talks with Milwaukee about the Greek star’s future ahead of the Feb. 5 trade deadline. 

But the trade season starts Monday when the 82 players inked this summer are eligible to be dealt. Don’t expect Marks to be idle for too long.