3 burning questions for Nets ahead of the February 8 trade deadline

What if the Nets trade for another All-Star?

If the Nets decide to trade for someone of Dejounte Murray's caliber (let's just use Murray as the example because it's a significant trade rumor that might come to fruition), what will likely happen is that they cough up a role player or two, plus even more draft compensation to Atlanta in exchange for the guard.

Even if Marks were to keep Bridges and Thomas, and with a healthy Ben Simmons returning from injury, this team might not even get a chance to compete for the playoffs with the addition of the Hawks' stud.

Sure, with Murray they get better on both sides of the ball, but by how much? On top of this, is it good enough to make them a serious playoff team?

At this point, probably not.

Regardless of whether they make the Play-In Tournament or not, the Nets are not winning a playoff series with Murray, and they'd more than likely end up in Cancún just a few weeks later than if they were to miss it altogether.

The pro here is that you have solid players to work with after adding a player like Murray into your core, but it requires immediate action to get out of the hole of mediocrity.

Stagnation is unacceptable.

If Marks makes a move for Murray, and fails to do anything significant after the fact, it's another wasted trade. The organization would have to be confident that they can build from one blockbuster move to the next.