The Brooklyn Nets have been one of the NBA’s most surprising teams this season. Under rookie head coach Jordi Fernandez the Nets’ hard-nosed style of basketball and unselfish mentality have the team punching above its weight class sitting at 8-10 on the season which currently is good for the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference.
For a team that is well on its way to exceeding the 19.5 wins the preseason over/under was set at, Brooklyn has no doubt been surprising and the focus may shift slightly, from blowing up the veteran core to instead correcting their roster imbalance as the team looks to continue building it’s culture around player development.
The Lakers and Nets match up well as trade partners
For the Nets who own a war chest of draft picks from 2025 to 2031, prioritizing young players to develop may be the ultimate goal when selling off veteran pieces. The Nets’ roster is very wing-heavy. Their best trade chips play out on the wing, and many of their primary developmental pieces like Noah Clowney, Jalen Wilson, Ziaire Williams, and Trendon Watford are forwards by trade.
Outside of star shooting guard Cam Thomas, the Nets don’t have much young talent to develop in the backcourt. Taking it a step further, the Nets’ backcourt depth, young or otherwise is lacking.
The Lakers, on the other hand, are looking for ways to add pieces around stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Los Angeles has been eyeing Brooklyn’s veteran role players dating back to the summer and more recent reports suggest that the two teams have been in contact with each other often.
The Lakers are looking for 3-and-D players to plug in around their two stars, an upgrade at the backup center spot, and perhaps even another primary ball handler to help ease the pressure off of James. The Nets have all of those assets that they might part with for the right price, and LA has a young guard prospect that might be enticing enough for Brooklyn to pull the trigger on a trade.
A trade package involving Dorian Finney-Smith and Jalen Hood-Schifino makes sense for both sides
Nets’ forward Dorian Finney-Smith fits what the Lakers are looking for like a glove. The 6-foot-7 forward combines the defensive chops and versatility with the ability to hit the three ball the Los Angeles covets. Additionally, the Nets can offer up 23-year-old center Day’Ron Sharpe to fill out a trade package.
Sharpe hasn’t played yet this season while recovering from a preseason hamstring injury, but his dominance on the boards and strength as an interior defender are qualities the Lakers’ other centers don’t possess. Adding him to LA would also allow the Lakers to play their MVP candidate Anthony Davis at his preferred power forward spot more often.
For the Nets, Hood-Schifino has been lighting the G-League on fire. Averaging 22.0 points and 5.5 assists per game while shooting 47.3% from the field and 43.2% from three, the 21-year-old would give the Nets a young guard to develop alongside their young collection of forwards. Despite being more of a combo guard, Schifino has enough playmaking chops to log time at the point alongside Cam Thomas.
To make the money work, LA can send back former Brooklyn Net point guard D’Angelo Russell. Russell has struggled this season shooting the basketball posting a field goal percentage of 38.2% and an ice-cold three-point percentage of 28.1%.
Russell last played for the Nets during their last rebuilding era and was one of the key faces of that young team. Now coming back as a veteran mentor, he would give Brooklyn another primary ball handler to further add balance to the roster, or perhaps help facilitate another trade involving Dennis Schroder.
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Why the Nets wouldn’t make this deal
There are a lot of reasons to like this deal for the Nets from the possibility of acquiring a young guard to develop, to adding balance to the roster, and to setting up the team to make future moves. Russell’s contract is expiring, while Finney-Smith holds a player option for the 2025-2026 season, so it also guarantees that the Nets will clear salary in the offseason.
Above and beyond that, it also opens up more playing time for the likes of Ziaire Williams and Jalen Wilson, both of whom have shown out when Finney-Smith has missed time due to injury.
However, there’s one reason the Nets might hesitate to pull the trigger on the trade, and that is the hole that losing Sharpe would open up on the roster. The Nets have gotten manhandled on the boards this season and rank near the bottom in the league in rebounding, as well as points in the paint and second-chance points scored and allowed.
Losing Sharpe would guarantee that trend continues, and for a team focused on playing fundamental basketball, Sean Marks may decide that rebalancing the roster around backcourt players isn’t worth the potential that the young center can reach in his first season playing under Jordi Fernandez.
With Sharpe’s return imminent the Nets will have ample time to evaluate his fit in Fernandez’s system ahead of the trade deadline, giving the team the necessary insight to make the best possible moves to balance out the roster while fostering the culture and development they’ve been working so hard to build.
