With free agency officially starting at 6 p.m. Sunday, it’s unlikely the Nets will make any big signings.
But Brooklyn has already made some franchise-shaking deals (trades with the Knicks and Rockets, re-signing Nic Claxton) and could be preparing an even bigger move.
The trade they made to Houston for the Rockets’ 2025 and 2026 first-round picks after sending Michael Bridges to the rival Knicks for essentially six first-round picks (four unprotected Knicks picks, an unprotected Knicks swap, and a protected Bucks pick) signaled a rebuilding team.
Giving Nic Claxton a four-year, $100 million contract ensured he would be part of the rebuild.
But what happens next?
The Nets are over the salary cap but could have about $80 million to spend next summer depending on how they make moves.
The Nets are not swamped with cash or personnel, despite having access to their mid-level exception ($12.9 million), semi-annual exception ($4.7 million) and four trade exceptions ($20.4 million, $11.9 million, $9.5 million and $6.8 million).
What they have are tradeable veteran assets to move and decisions to make.
Bridges’ longtime friends Cam Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith are both veteran forwards who could suit up on a championship-contending team and potentially bring in more draft capital.
Johnson has drawn interest from the Cavaliers, Kings and Lakers, and his age (28), height (6-foot-8) and 3-point shooting (.392 career) make him a valuable player.
But if the Nets are asking too much for Johnson, Finney-Smith may be a better move.
Sources told the Post that Brooklyn declined to offer two first-round draft picks for Finney-Smith at the 2023 trade deadline.
But with his contract void after next season, it makes sense to move him now.
“He has a player option, so we’re going to look for offers,” former Nets assistant GM Bobby Marks, now with ESPN, told The Post. “There’s a good chance he’ll become a free agent, and then we’ll lose him for nothing.”
By turning Kevin Durant into nine effective first-round draft picks, the Nets will effectively have 16 first-round draft picks over the next seven years.
They could also add to that assets by moving Finney-Smith or Johnson.
Of course, the question they’ll have to answer is whether they plan to preserve salary-cap space for a spending spree in 2025, or whether they plan to use players like Dennis Schroder, Ben Simmons and Bojan Bogdanovic, who are on expiring contracts, to shed salary and acquire more draft picks.
Moving Schroder would force the team to use its mid-level exception to try to sign a starting-caliber point guard like Tyus Jones.
Another question that must be answered is what to do with Cam Thomas, who has to sign a contract extension by Oct. 21.
The guard is averaging a team-high 22.5 points and will shoulder an even bigger burden with Bridges gone.
“It’s going to be interesting because he’s going to be a good player on a weak team,” Marks said. “He certainly experienced a loss last year, but he’s basically in a different role. He’s kind of center stage now.”
Thomas has a bargain contract at $4 million next year, but that’s a double-edged sword.
General manager Sean Marks was happy to take Thomas with the 27th pick in the first round, but because he was selected so low, he was only due a $12.1 million signing bonus as a free agent.
Signing him to a new, higher-value contract now would cost Brooklyn the same amount of cap space heading into next summer.
That’s why it might make more sense to wait, extend a qualifying offer next summer and keep him as a restricted free agent.
“What Cam gets will impact their cap space next year. The challenge in getting him to a significant amount is that he was drafted in his 20s so he has a similar low cap hold Philadelphia had when they acquired Tyrese Maxey,” Bobby Marks said. “So I’m not sure we’re going to pay him more than $20 million. … I think we should figure out how to get through this year and then think about next year unless we can get him on a really good deal.”
