The Brooklyn Nets have lived up to some of the preseason hype, as their plethora of supremely talented offensive juggernauts have helped the team take ownership of the league’s best offense.
Despite their success, contenders in the East might use the Trade Deadline as a reason to potentially one-up the Nets.
The James Harden trade has left Brooklyn with minimal tradeable assets, as most of the capital that could’ve been used is in the hands of either Houston or Cleveland.
Still, the Nets have three of the game’s best in Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden. With those three making Brooklyn instant title contenders, rivals in the Eastern Conference might be more willing to go over the top at the trade deadline with the hope of crafting a more balanced team than the top-heavy Nets.
Before trading for James Harden, the Nets had a defensive rating of 109.3, which ranked 13th then and would rank 5th currently.
— Alec Sturm (@Alec_Sturm) February 10, 2021
Since the Harden trade, their defensive rating has been 119.0, which ranks 27th for the past month and would rank 30th for the entire season.
If any one of these three trade rumors linking rival teams to star players materialize, Brooklyn’s road to a title will get exponentially more difficult.
These three trade rumors could be horrible news for the Brooklyn Nets.
No. 3: Victor Oladipo to the New York Knicks
Oladipo could help out the Nets’ Atlantic Division rival.
Oladipo ended up in Houston as a side effect of the Harden deal, as the Indiana Pacers decided to swap the impending free agent for a younger, cheaper player with a higher offensive ceiling in Caris LeVert. Still, Oladipo remains one of the game’s best two-way players, and he could be on the move one more time before he becomes a free agent.
The New York Knicks, who are contending for a playoff spot, have some fingers in the Oladipo pie. While the Knicks have one of the best defenses in the league, they have had some trouble putting the ball in the basket. Oladipo, averaging 19.8 points per game this season, would help tremendously on that side of the ball.
While Brooklyn doesn’t have a need for Oladipo or the assets to get him, watching him go to the Knicks, even for half a season, could be really crushing. It could make the Knicks a viable team in a year where many expected the Nets to completely dominate their local rivals.
While the Nets are currently a tier or two above the Knicks in the NBA hierarchy, they need to do everything in their power to not let them off the mat after their surprising start to the season, Trading for Oladipo will only make the battle for New York that much more difficult, as an already lethal defense will add an elite perimeter defender.