The Brooklyn Nets were essentially forced to blow up their star-studded roster prior to the trade deadline after Kyrie Irving forced a trade away from the team. One of the players the Nets got in return for Irving was Dorian Finney-Smith, and they seem rather high on the 6-foot-7 forward.
That fact is evidenced by a recent report that the Nets rejected offers for Finney-Smith that would have netted them two first-round draft picks.
“Brooklyn essentially brought back [Mikal] Bridges, Cam Johnson, Spencer Dinwiddie and Dorian Finney-Smith for [Kevin] Durant and Irving, along with five first-round picks, another first-round swap and four seconds,” Brian Lewis of the New York Post wrote.
“Sources told The Post that multiple teams offered two firsts for Finney-Smith, and HoopsHype reported they rejected Memphis’ offer of four firsts for Bridges.”
Though the superteam that was once the Nets clearly fell flat on its face, the Nets do now have the opportunity to initiate a somewhat accelerated rebuild thanks to the talented players they gained in the Irving and Durant trades.
Still, it is somewhat surprising that the Nets weren’t willing to bite on two future first-rounders for Finney-Smith. He’s a solid player, but at 29 years old, he has likely hit his ceiling. He doesn’t really possess tons of upside to build around.
Prior to the trade, he was averaging 9.1 points, 4.7 boards, 1.5 assists and 1.0 steal per game this season with the Dallas Mavericks.
It is possible that the Nets were getting offers on Finney-Smith prior to the Durant deal. Perhaps the front office felt that Finney-Smith was a great piece on a roster still centered around Durant.
Though the Nets still possess the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference, things are absolutely not trending in the right direction if the team still has a goal of making the playoffs this season.
Since the Irving deal went down on Feb. 5, the Nets have lost four of five games. They’ve lost two straight more recently.
A game on Wednesday will pit the Nets against the Miami Heat. The Heat are just 1.5 games behind the Nets in the standings. The New York Knicks are just half a game behind the Heat.
A loss for the Nets against the Heat would definitely not set them up for success in the final stretch of the regular season following the All-Star break.
