One NBA writer has named Joel Embiid, Damian Lillard and Trae Young as the Brooklyn Nets’ top three trade targets. Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report believes the Nets should try to trade for Embiid, Lillard or Young.
“If the Nets aren’t going big this season, then where, exactly, are they going? Even if Mikal Bridges keeps looking like the star he so often appeared as following his deadline deal to Brooklyn, this club won’t make major noise with one All-Star and a lot of role players around him,” Buckley wrote in his latest NBA trade column. “The Nets should be thinking long and hard about finding Bridges a co-star. Especially since they have the pieces to get a megadeal done, as they’re owed future firsts from the Philadelphia 76ers, Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks. Plus, they have prospects, plug-and-play support players and a slew of mid-sized salaries to flesh out an offer.
“Brooklyn should aim at the very top of the trade market. Any one of Embiid (the reigning MVP), Lillard (a seven-time All-Star) and Young (a top-15 scorer and passer each of the past four seasons) could be the game-changer this group needs to crash the elite ranks.”
NBA TRADE, NEWS & RUMORS: Joel Embiid, Damian Lillard, Trae Young, Brooklyn Nets Updates
Embiid averaged 33.1 points and 10.2 rebounds last season for the Philadelphia 76ers. The Sixers swept the Nets in the first round of the 2023 NBA playoffs but lost to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Semifinals in seven games.
Lillard still wants the Portland Blazers to trade him to the Miami Heat despite the NBA’s initiative to warn Lillard and his agent that any further comments made “suggesting Lillard will not fully perform the services called for under his player contract in the event of a trade” will be subject to discipline, according to NBA insider Shams Charania of The Athletic. However, the Blazers and Heat have not made progress on a Lillard trade. Lillard averaged 32.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and 7.3 assists last season for the Blazers.
NBA TRADE, NEWS & RUMORS: Joel Embiid, Damian Lillard, Trae Young, Brooklyn Nets Updates
Finally, Young averaged 26.2 points, 3.0 rebounds and 10.2 assists last season for the Atlanta Hawks. The two-time All-Star was ninth in the NBA in total points, 10th in points per game, first in total assists and second in assists per game.
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