PORTLAND, Ore. — With the Nets mired in a free fall — having dropped 13 of their last 16 games headed into this West Coast trek — their fans are clamoring for the team to make a move. Seemingly any move.
In the starting lineup. On the sideline. Or a trade. They don’t seem to care.
That’s the kind of cloud surrounding the team heading into Wednesday’s game with the Trail Blazers.
The Nets have looked terrible on both ends of the court, losing three straight and eight of their past nine to fall to 16-23.
But bear this in mind when betting on Brooklyn’s plans: There is a general belief that teams can’t really rebuild in New York.
Nets owner Joe Tsai and general manager Sean Marks seem to be of the same mind.
Of course they can reset, which is what the Nets — and to an extent the Mets — are doing now.
But tearing it down to the studs like the Oklahoma City Thunder and Utah Jazz did in recent years is financial suicide.
There are far, far too many other entertainment options available to the paying customer.
That informed Brooklyn’s thinking when it was forced to deal away Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant last February — eschewing a youth movement to retool around Mikal Bridges, and rejecting all offers for him.
And it will inform their decisions leading into next month’s trade deadline.
It doesn’t mean the Nets won’t sell around the edges, just not from the core.
Veterans Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith and Royce O’Neale — the three oldest players on the roster at 30 — have all drawn varying degrees of interest, both last offseason and again lately.
Seeing at least one if not two moved in the comings weeks seems likely.
But Bridges is averaging a team-best 21.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists, all career-highs.
He’s played solid defense and is well-regarded in the building. Dealing him would signal a tearing it down to the studs.
On Wednesday night, the Nets will face Portland at Moda Center. The Trail Blazers are 10-29 in the midst of their own youth movement.
Shaedon Sharpe, 20, will miss Wednesday’s game, and teenage rookie Scoot Henderson is averaging 15.9 points and five assists.
Despite constant rumors and links, there has never been any evidence that Brooklyn was offered the third pick (which became Henderson) for Bridges this past offseason.
But Nets sources confirmed the team did reject an offer of four first-round draft picks for Bridges, and Hoopshype has since reported that said offer came from the Memphis Grizzlies.
Brooklyn’s trust in Bridges has only grown since then.
That same would likely hold true for any other similar draft-pick heavy offers for Bridges.
Some fans have embraced the notion that reacquiring the draft capital the Nets sent to Houston for James Harden is the only way out of their current malaise. Would Tsai and Marks consider such a move?
Likely not.
Brooklyn sent three first-round picks (2022, 2024 and 2026) and four more swaps (2021, 2023, 2025, and 2027) to Houston for Harden.
The Rockets have already exhausted essentially the first half of that trove, and scouts widely perceive this year’s draft to be poor.
As of Tuesday, the Nets’ pick this season was the eighth overall — meaning paying $4 million to $5 million for a so-so player.
And while there is a value to getting their 2027 swap back, Brooklyn does already hold two other first-rounders that year — the unprotected Phoenix Suns pick they landed in the Durant deal, and the top-eight-protected Philadelphia 76ers’ selection from the Harden trade.
With their current skid, if the Nets aren’t going to rebuild they need to remodel. At the right price.
They’ve been linked with Atlanta’s Dejounte Murray in multiple reports.
The Hawks gave up three first-rounders and a swap for Murray, and are reportedly willing to move him now for two firsts. Would one be the right price for the Nets?
Murray has proven to be better on the ball than off, a shot-creator. Notably exactly what the Nets need, with Dinwiddie struggling and a staggering minus-90 in his last seven games.
For perspective, Henderson is a league-worst minus-187 in that span, a stark reminder of how tough growing pains can be in a total rebuild.
Don’t expect the Nets to undertake one anytime soon.
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