11 picks and $100M in salary: How the Nets can build a contender ahead of 2023 NBA Draft

That’ s a whole lot of capital to use in trade negotiations as general manager Sean Marks looks to rebuild his team following the mass exodus of superstars from Brooklyn. And make no mistake: Acquiring someone like Damian Lillard, Bradley Beal or even Jaylen Brown won’ t come cheap. As the Denver Nuggets hoisted the Larry O’ Brien trophy following their gentleman’ s...

The Nets could have up to 11 first-round draft picks over the next seven summers. They can also create upwards of $100 million in outgoing salary this offseason alone while keeping their newfound core together.

That’s a whole lot of capital to use in trade negotiations as general manager Sean Marks looks to rebuild his team following the mass exodus of superstars from Brooklyn.

And make no mistake: Acquiring someone like Damian Lillard, Bradley Beal or even Jaylen Brown won’t come cheap.

Grabbing a new star is the name of the game after the Nets fizzled via a first-round sweep at the hands of the Philadelphia 76ers these past playoffs. As the Denver Nuggets hoisted the Larry O’Brien trophy following their gentleman’s sweep of the Miami Heat to claim the NBA title, the prerequisites to making a legitimate NBA Finals run became clear.

Size, depth, shooting, star power and a timely bill of health are what it takes to win it all in this league, and the Nets as currently constructed lack in the size and star power categories.

Marks is effectively two pieces away from bringing another championship contender to Brooklyn.

And to get a piece, you’ve got to give a piece. Here’s what the Nets have to offer:

FIRST-ROUND PICKS

The Nets have two first-round picks in Thursday’s NBA Draft alone: their own (No. 22) and a pick from Phoenix via the Durant deal (No. 21). The Stepien Rule would prevent the Nets from trading their pick in 2024, but they own two first-round picks in 2025, up to three firsts in 2027 and another three first-round picks in 2029.

Draft-pick compensation has been a staple in each of the mega deals teams have reached over the past two seasons. Case in point: After depleting draft pick reserves to acquire James Harden from the Houston Rockets, the Nets replenished that stash by trading Durant to the Suns and Kyrie Irving to the Dallas Mavericks.

It cost the Minnesota Timberwolves four first-round picks, a first-round pick swap, four role players and a rookie drafted with a late first-round pick to pry Rudy Gobert from the Minnesota Timberwolves. As another reference point, it cost the Atlanta Hawks three first-round picks and a first-round pick swap plus a salary filler to strike a deal with the San Antonio Spurs for Dejounte Murray.

If the Nets are hoping to take a sizable step towards championship contention and are planning to do so via the trade market, they should have their eyes on fish far bigger than Gobert or Murray, which means the price tag will be exorbitant for a superstar caliber player.

It’s a good thing the Nets have more than just draft compensation to offer.

TRADEABLE PLAYERS

The Nets have been steadfast in their desire to build around star wing Mikal Bridges, and paramount to keeping him happy in town is keeping his best friend Cam Johnson under contract. Johnson becomes a restricted free agent this summer, and the Nets reserve first right of refusal on any competing offer sheets he receives on the open market. If they choose to let the market dictate his value rather than offering him an extension outright, the Nets will still be able to match the market’s best offer and keep him in town.

Starting center Nic Claxton is also entering the final season of his two-year extension and emerged as an early Defensive Player of the Year candidate before roster exploded at the trade deadline. And steady veteran forward Royce O’Neale emerged as a franchise favorite, a model veteran for head coach Jacque Vaughn given his willingness to accept any role and any number of minutes while shouldering a heavier minutes load than any other player on the team.

There is then a firm line of demarcation that makes the remaining players on the roster available for the right deal — and even O’Neale and Claxton could be included in a trade package should an offer to good to refuse present itself.

If the Nets are in the market for a superstar, that star’s contract will likely be upwards of $35 million annually. Spencer Dinwiddie, Joe Harris and Dorian Finney-Smith are the third, fourth and fifth-highest paid players on the roster with both Dinwiddie and Harris on the hook for $20 million next season alone.

It is a no-brainer: Should the Nets have interest in acquiring a superstar, at least one or two of those players could be on the move.

Second-year scorer Cam Thomas could also be an attractive trade chip after his historic scoring spurt of three straight 40-point games immediately following Irving’s departure from the team. The Nets, however, are not expected to retain reserve unrestricted free agent Seth Curry, creating a legitimate path for consistent minutes for Thomas should he play himself into Jacque Vaughn’s favor.

The Nets also have a wild card: former All-Star forward Ben Simmons.

Simmons is the highest-paid player on the team, on the hook for $78 million over the next two seasons. Back injuries, however, have rendered Simmons nearly unplayable in Brooklyn ever since his arrival as part of the Harden trade. He appeared in 42 games at a limited capacity and averaged just seven points, six rebounds and six assists after missing the entire second half of the 2021-22 season following the trade to Brooklyn.

With the NBA Draft just a week away, the Nets could very well stand pat and use their late first-round picks to inject fresh blood into the organization. It’s far more likely, however, for Marks and his staff to be on the phone lines, wheeling and dealing in an attempt to maximize Brooklyn’s assets and build a legitimate contender for years to come.

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