Thomas’ Growth Hasn’t Made Him Untouchable In A Nets’ Trade

AP Photo/Frank Franklin

The NBA’s draw extends beyond the games and its magnificent athletes. For many fans, trade talk is almost as compelling.

We can’t help ourselves. The chatter, which I would estimate is 99.9% speculative, begins once the league champion is crowned in June and lasts to the few minutes past the official trade deadline, which is February 8 this season. It doesn’t matter if the “reporting” is wildly inaccurate; it can still be fun to conjure and compare potential deals. With a host of players signed to new contracts in the summer now eligible to be included in trades as of December 15 (according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks, 12% of the league is still off limits), let the trade machines roll!

In recent days, Cleveland’s four-time All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell has been mentioned by some as a possible trade target for many teams. Since he hasn’t publicly leaked his desire to be moved (which the league has now said is a no-no with the player subjected to a fine), no reporter truly knows Mitchell’s intentions, nor do they know how the Cavs, who have him under contract for the next two seasons totaling $72.5 million (with 2025-26 a player option) feel about trading him or what they would want in return. The operative term of the last variable is a “haul.”

Michell is a native New Yorker, so obviously some will finagle ways for him to end up playing for the Knicks or Nets. My personal view is that he would be a fit for both clubs, but this is a Nets forum, so I’m going to focus on that.

Brooklyn, to be clear, doesn’t seem to be extremely motivated at the moment to make another leap into the deep end by expending significant assets for a star. The Nets (13-11) are playing fairly well, all things considered, even if you include the two noncompetitive efforts in the first three games of their five-game road trip. Their 124-101 rout in Denver on Thursday, a night after an emotional 116-112 victory over former Net Kevin Durant and the Suns, was purely a schedule loss.

The organization’s most logical mission for this season should be to reset the program through younger players while staying below the $165.3 million luxury tax threshold to avoid onerous “repeater taxes.” According to spotrac.com, Brooklyn only has about $8 million of such room.

Still, it’s hard to ignore that Mitchell, at 27, fits with the current core’s timeline. As I wrote in my prior post, the Nets’ guard play has been inconsistent, sometimes maddeningly so. Spencer Dinwiddie and Cam Thomas can point to certain stats (isolation scoring, foul drawing, etc.) that prove their values, but no serious person would deem such a backcourt as championship caliber.

That there is a portion of Nets Nation who would hope the team kills any deal for Mitchell that includes Thomas is particularly irksome to me. Yes, Thomas is only 22 and has made improvements in his all-around game this season, but let’s not assume he’s a lock to reach Mitchell’s level. Further experience alone may not be enough for him to even eventually match Mitchell’s consistency, physicality, and overall impact on winning. Thomas’ 5-for-13 outing in Denver was actually his highest field goal efficiency in his last six games. The longest such “streak” that saw Mitchell shoot below 50% from the field this season has been three games.

Injuries have kept Mitchell under 70 games played for the last four seasons and he’s already missed five of Cleveland’s first 25 games in 2023-24 with a hamstring issue, but you could say this about almost any player not named Mikal Bridges. Thomas sat out nine games after spraining his ankle coming down on the foot of Clippers forward P.J. Tucker on November 8. Every NBA court is filled with such proverbial land mines.

I’m sorry, but Thomas isn’t an “untouchable”, not when it comes to landing a legitimate All-Star. I keep thinking back to all the teams that allegedly passed on trading for KD because they refused to offload some very good but lesser players. Again, I use “allegedly” because such reporting on internal trade discussions is spotty at best. However, how is Toronto feeling these days? They still have Scotty Barnes; and they also seemed destined for a third lottery landing in four seasons. Miami is always a tough out, but imagine how much more dangerous they’d have been with Damian Lillard as opposed to Tyler Herro?

Sometimes, sticking to your guns pays off, as it has done with teams acquiring James Harden—the Nets sure got the short end of that stick with Ben Simmons instead of forcing the Sixers to part with Tyrese Maxey while the Clippers were able to retain Terrence Mann in the ensuing flip. But Harden was always a special case, a master of sabotage when he wanted out.

Would I be upset if Nets General Manager Sean Marks offered Thomas along with Royce O’Neale and Dinwiddie as part of a package for Mitchell? Absolutely not…but get back to me when picks are being negotiated. Unless it’s for the perpetually-afflicted Simmons instead of Dinwiddie and O’Neale; then please give up the store. (Half kidding.)