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Sharif Phillips-Keaton
May 18, 2024 3:03 pm ET
The Brooklyn Nets are embarking on an offseason in which they will be trying to make as many moves as possible to improve the team enough to make it back to the playoffs next season. While time will tell if the Nets decide to limit their moves to free-agency or if they will go beyond that with a trade, it could be time to discuss a homecoming of sorts.
Nets guard Mikal Bridges is one of the players that the Nets want to build around as they navigate their way through this rebuild and by all accounts, Bridges is off the table in any trade. However, there are plenty within Brooklyn’s fanbase who believe that the Nets should fully enter their rebuild by trading Bridges for draft picks and/or young players.
There have been a number of teams in the NBA that have tried to trade for Bridges since he came to the Nets, but Brooklyn has balked all offers to this point. Despite Brooklyn’s reluctance to even consider, a nice thought exercise would be what a potential Bridges trade to the Philadelphia 76ers would look like and Sixers Wire editor Ky Carlin joined Nets Wire for some dialogue on the possibility:
What can the Sixers offer the Nets in exchange for Bridges? Is it worth it for the Nets?
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NW: The main asset that the Sixers would be able to offer the Nets would be the first-round picks that they have available from this upcoming 2024 NBA Draft to 2030. Philadelphia only has four players under contract, but Tyrese Maxey will most likely be on the team next season.
I don’t see the Sixers giving up Maxey in a Mikal Bridges trade when they didn’t want to include Maxey in the James Harden trade that happened two seasons ago. Investing in Philadelphia’s future could be worth it for Brooklyn within a vacuum, but the Nets are already invested in the Phoenix Suns’ demise and those draft picks convey soon enough given the uncertainty in Phoenix right now.
Plus, the Sixers may not be able to depend on MVP center Joel Embiid five years from now, but Maxey should still be there so Philadelphia’s future is not necessarily as bleak as a team like the Suns, for example.
SW: Well, at the moment? Not much in the way of players. The Sixers currently only have four players under contract for the 2024-25 season. Three of them are non-guaranteed and the other is Joel Embiid.
However, when considering the position Brooklyn is in at the moment, one has to wonder if it will accept a slew of draft picks to jump-start a bit of a rebuild for them. Free agent to be Tyrese Maxey will certainly be there as well on a max deal in the long term.
Even with maxing out Maxey, Philadelphia has the cap space to just absorb Bridges’ contract without having to give up any players. It might be worth it for the Nets to do so, Sharif. Especially, when considering their current situation and it would shed some salary in order to re-sign Nic Claxton.
Would Bridges improve Philadelphia’s status in the Eastern Conference?
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NW: Significantly. Adding Bridges as the third-best player to a core of Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey would work wonders for the Sixers, especially for its perimeter defense. While Bridges has been miscast as the primary scoring option in Brooklyn, one thing that became clear is that Bridges can handle more responsibility within an offense and for a team like Philadelphia that has been looking for a consistent third option, Bridges would fit that bill to a T.
SW: Absolutely. The Sixers have been searing for a two-way player to throw in next to Embiid and Maxey for the longest time. Morey will have his options to look over and scan for the future, but he has to at least give Sean Marks a call and see what it will take to get Bridges. This is such an important offseason for Philadelphia and a guy like Bridges helps in terms of making a deep run into the playoffs.
Would Brooklyn even move Bridges to within the division?
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NW: It’s hard to imagine this happening given how much flack the Nets are receiving for giving the Houston Rockets the opportunity at the No. 3 overall pick in this upcoming draft. If Brooklyn wants to compete for a title anytime soon, it would not be good business to make a direct rival better given that Philadelphia would always be better than Brooklyn given that they have Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. Even if the Nets were able to trade for a star this summer or sign a big-time free-agent next summer, Bridges is still 27 years old and could be playing for Philadelphia until he’s 37.
SW: When considering the Nets moved James Harden to Philadelphia in 2022? Why not? Granted, that was a different situation when considering the Ben Simmons saga that the Sixers were dealing with, but it isn’t inconceivable to think that the Nets would send Bridges to Philadelphia. Also, Brooklyn would get some draft picks in return and that is important for them at the moment.
Would the Nets rather wait and see what new coach Jordi Fernandez can do with the roster before making a Bridges trade?
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NW: I believe that the decision to trade Bridges comes down to a number of factors. The Nets would like to see if Jordi Fernandez can help Bridges regain the form that he had to end the 2022-23 season (when he averaged 26.1 points per game in the regular season and 23.5 points per game in the playoffs against the Sixers), but they would also want to see if Bridges can grow with emerging young guard Cam Thomas.
Brooklyn has made it clear multiple times in the past that Bridges is not available for trades, but I believe that the Nets will eventually have to consider if Bridges fits the timeline of the rest of the team if Brooklyn does not fast-track this rebuilding process by trading for a star-level player.
SW: I don’t think so. While Fernandez is a new face and a new voice for this Nets team, why wait? This current iteration of the Nets is not going anywhere and Bridges is a bit miscast as a No. 1 option. He would fit like a glove next to Embiid and Maxey and Philadelphia would be able to move forward with those three as its core. You’re the expert on all things Nets, what do you think?
Takeaways
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At the end of the day, the Nets have made it clear that they are not moving Bridges for any reason and have had plenty of good offers for him. While some fans disagree with how steadfast Brooklyn is on holding onto Bridges, the point is that the Nets plan on having him around for when the team is able to compete for the playoffs and beyond. Ultimately, this conversation is to show what other teams would be willing to give up for Bridges and how other fanbases view him as well.
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