Could we see a Rockets and Nets Mikal Bridges trade? | The Athletic NBA Show

Could we see a Rockets and Nets Mikal Bridges trade? | The Athletic NBA Show

The Brooklyn Nets only had one player your guess is as good as mine well they’re super interesting because you know like a month ago it makes sense that you only had one guy in your top 35 of your trade board is Royce O’Neal they’ve won three of

Their last 17 games two against Detroit one against OKC they’re now outside of the play several players who theoretically would be coveted by contending teams but they also do not have full control of their picks until 2028 which makes rebuilding moves more difficult how would you approach this

Deadline if you were with ncks yeah truly look I I would sell if it was me so you’re asking like what I would do I I would sell I would move Mel Bridges I would move oh really everything I can and try and like get everything gone

Yeah like to me like what we’ve seen from male in Brooklyn and I there probably has not been a bigger fan of Mel Bridges in the public sphere than me uh among National media I have loved male Bridges I think he is a stud I think he is like the

Perfect third or fourth option for a great team I don’t think he’s the number one and they need to find the number one guy like they just really really do and look maybe they can while Bridges is on the roster still but you know male is what I

Think he has two and a half years left on that contract getting him would really potentially help another team but also trading him I think would allow them to get very significant pick capital in a way that would really help them like if you’re if you’re Memphis

You’re looking like you’re probably in a circumstance where you’re going to end up with like a top five pick this year something like that you probably move that pick and other stuff for Mel Bridges right now knowing that you’re gonna have John marant Desmond Bane Marcus Smart back

Next season and your closing lineup at that point can be John marant Desmond Bane Marcus Smart Mel Bridges jiren Jackson Jr like that is an absurd lineup that would be awesome and that’s just like one of the teams that I think could theoretically try and get involved and

Like that’s a team that like nobody is considering a buyer now because they shouldn’t be buying given that they had an absurd number of injuries all happen in a single week with Bane and smart and jaw going down like I I think there are so many

Teams that would be involved in a Mel Bridges like potential sweep Stakes that it would drive the price through the roof uh he’s making $22 million a year for the next you know two years Beyond this one he is just the perfect guy for so many

Teams like if you’re the the Lakers you give up everything that you have for him I think if you’re you know if you’re the Thunder you give up everything that you’ve you know not everything because they have way too much but like you give up a lot

Of what the Nets want I think for Mel Bridges yeah if you know if you’re I’m just like trying to think of like other great teams if you’re Philly I think he really would help Philly a lot like that would make an immense amount of sense for them uh if

You’re I’m trying to think of teams that have like a lot of assets if you’re New Orleans I think that’s the kind of like guy that would really represent an interesting shakeup move for them in some way if they wanted to uh and like a good buy for them a good buy opportunity

Because they have a lot of picks uh if you’re the Knicks I think that you go for that and just continue to build the Villanova uh pipeline right like every team Miami would have an immense amount of Interest I would to me the other day Houston because Houston off something to the

Nets that nobody else can and is that control over your owns again which is for them so here’s that’s like the biggest Catch 22 in the league right so if you’re Houston you have these picks you have three more years of their picks I believe Beyond this one right yeah do you

Trade one or two of those for male Bridges knowing that if you do that these picks are going to be like really high leverage high value picks yeah or do you assume that if they’re looking to move Mel Bridges to you potentially that they’re also probably

Looking to Mel Bridges to look to move Mel Bridges elsewhere and thus you can get the full value of those picks on your own where those might end up being seriously like top five picks they move m bridges yeah and assume that we can just have like a pipeline of

Talent coming in that’s like cost controlled and like unbelievably good and super high like Leverage Talent or just like super high leverage picks that you could move in a deal for something like that if I’m Houston I kind of lean toward the ladder if I’m them yeah if they’re offering Mel

Bridges to me I’m kind of assuming that they’d be and I’m not saying that they are for what it’s wor not they’re offering Bridges this is all hypothetical based on what I would do according to Alex’s question here but I have to say that just so people don’t

Like you know lose their minds yeah but if I’m Houston like I kind of bet that you know if they’re talking to me about Mel Bridges they’re probably talking to other teams about Mel Bridges and I would assume he’s going to get moved and I’m GNA bet that these picks

Will be very high value and I if if that’s the case like I wouldn’t want to move those picks Bri I don’t know if I would I might move one of them yeah but yeah I don’t know about a lot of them but but because they hold so much value and they have

Houston’s got some like some bigger unique expiring contracts in Jeff Green and Victor Oladipo like you could just trade them basically Olo Jeff Green and these picks because like those picks really do hold the future like why like the Nets are so uncertain about what they should do because their future is

In a strangle hold because of these picks and so like if they could get them back somehow like Houston wouldn’t have to give up any of their young prospects for it because they hold so much value so it’s just a really interesting situation here’s here’s like also the

Great question for this hypothetical and to be clear still hypothetical because again as far as I know I have not heard anything thing about muel bridges actually being on the market right now yeah uh people seem to think that that’s probably not going to happen two weeks

Still to go anything could change but as of right now that seems like it’s the case if you’re talking specifically about Houston though would you rather move like Jaylen green than one of these picks I I probably would if you’re Brooklyn like do you if you’re Brooklyn

And you’re putting Mel Bridges on the market you’re probably gonna find something better than Jaylen green upside wise but like I’m not a th% sure are you um I’m a thousand percent sure yes I’m sure you think so yes okay I like like in fact th% sure I’ve been low on

Jaylen green for a while so like this is coming from me but there is still like some there is like still a real chance that he can be like a high l scorer in the NBA on some level sure but again like the point the point you’re making is the pi without

Giving up uh yeah without giving up like their younger prospects yeah I I just if I’m Houston I’m kind of playing the game of chicken the other way yeah yeah saying I get that well I’d rather just have the picks and you’re probably going to move this guy anyway so now we’re

Going to end up with like probably two top five picks in the future so why wouldn’t we like would you trade Mel Bridges for a top five pick this year for this year no that’s all I’m getting no no yeah I would rather have Mel Bridges than that

Would yeah would you trade Mel Bridges like so like let’s put actual names to this for a second okay let’s do it would you trade Mel Bridges if you’re Houston okay if you’re Houston would you trade Alex SAR and VJ Ed for male Bridges if I was Houston yeah no chance

Right what you would trade both of those you’d be willing to trade both of those guys for Mel Bridges and eight years that come with Team control over both of them for Mel Bridges for two years they already have two very highly touted prospects and cam Whitmore and amen

Thompson that they can’t even play that much they just went through four years of tanking they really need two more young guys that they have to develop like they’re ready they want to win now they made that deal for Van vet brought in Jeff Green brought in all these vets

Because they wanted to win now so I I’ll counter that and say okay if that’s the case and you think they should move those picks then yeah is male brid is the best you can do by moving those picks that that is a better question that’s yeah yeah I think the answer is

And I love again big big big Mel Bridges fan I think he’s outstanding it’s been weird to see him struggle a little bit on defense this year uh you know again as you pick up offensive usage sometimes those you know struggles can happen a little bit more often

But yeah like I I think that you can do better than Mel Bridges if you’re offering that kind of high upside pick value like does get traded somewhere then all of a sudden now you have like the most valuable picks in the league correct and we just saw like Pascal seak get traded

For three first round picks that might not be all that valuable right yeah and SE yakum is a better player than Mel Bridges uh he’s gonna be more expensive than Mel which is a factor that matters too but like I would rather have SE yakum than Mel Bridges so if that’s the

Kind of player that you can get for three first round picks even if he’s expiring whatever uh there are factors why those picks were those picks I’m thinking if I’m Houston I can probably do better than Mel Bridges for those picks and if they’re offering me Mel Bridges it means they’re probably

Offering Mel Bridges elsewhere yeah Game Theory that’s right this is what I think through here uh no but um in terms of like the other stuff with the Nets to continue to answer your question because now we’ve talked about the nets for a while seriously the Nets are like

The most interesting team at the deadline to me far because and by the way teams around the league like don’t really know what they’re going to do at the end of the day because they do tend to get involved in like Star conversations when these guys come available because they do have

All of these picks but also they’re bad so what do you how do you square that circle is difficult for them uh I don’t know what they’re going to do like they have a lot of guys that I think a lot of teams would really like uh Royce O’Neal

I think would be a really nice addition for a bunch of teams uh you know a guy that can knock down 37 to 39% of Threes give a ton of defensive energy and effort on expiring contract that’s a valuable player for somebody Nick Claxton is on an expiring contract and

You know was one of the six best defensive players in the NBA last season uh this season he’s not quite that but he’s a guy that is really valuable uh you know Dorian finny Smith has proven in Dallas in the past that he can be a really valuable player uh for a number

Of different teams he’s hitting 40% from three this season he’s versatile defensively he’s big he’s long he can take on guys two through four consistently there’s just a lot of guys that I think can be valuable uh on that roster to teams across the league so if

They did sell I think they would get real pick capital back it’s just that it wouldn’t be their own pick capital and at that point you’re tanking and you’re tanking for nothing then yeah yeah I truly think that like the Nets are in probably the worst position in the

NBA right now is where I’m at yeah yeah I don’t know where their win is yeah like Detroit at least has Kate Cunningham what about the Wizards the Wizards are a fair argument against this all right okay but they own all of their own picks they do yeah

Yeah yeah which is a big deal they do but the Nets I mean as as you mentioned like those at if they are trading them they have they’re the value of their trade assets dwarf what the Wizards could get if they if they decide to trade their guy

100% agree with that but I don’t know that any of the assets that the Nets have outside of bridges bring back like significant significant like high-end High upside value yeah yeah I that’s fair it’s more going to be like good like cost control and like team control over prospects draft picks Etc

The Athletic NBA Show discuss the Houston Rockets, the Brooklyn Nets and a Mikal Bridges trade.