Nets trade deadline notes, including if Nic Claxton will be moved

A few Nets notes as we get closer to Thursday’s NBA trade deadline...

A report recently suggested that Brooklyn would make Nic Claxton available prior to the trade deadline. I can say confidently that a team would have to blow the Nets away to acquire Claxton. 

Per sources familiar with the matter, the Nets want Claxton on the team for the foreseeable future and will be aggressive in trying to re-sign him this summer. They will probably have competition from the small number of teams with cap space. But the Nets are not looking to shop Claxton ahead of the deadline.

DORIAN GOING? 

One factor in re-signing Claxton? The repeater tax. Brooklyn will likely finish this season below the luxury tax line. The club needs to stay under the luxury tax line next season to avoid the onerous repeater tax, which is triggered by a team being in the luxury tax in three out of four years. So it could be challenging for the Nets to re-sign Claxton, keep all of their rostered players and make competitive offers to their pending free agents.

As the Nets get closer to Thursday’s trade deadline, it’s worth noting that Milwaukee had continued to show strong interest in Dorian Finney-Smith as of late last week. The Bucks’ interest was initially reported by the New York Post. 

Finney-Smith is under contract through next season with a player option in 2025-26. So Brooklyn is not under pressure to move him by the deadline.

In a big picture sense, it will be interesting to see which direction the Nets go in at the deadline.

They enter Tuesday’s game against Dallas at 20-29 and in 11^th place in the Eastern Conference. That is well below where they hope to be at the end of the regular season.

So you would think some changes are coming. As previously noted, Brooklyn and Atlanta had checked in on deal involving Spencer Dinwiddie, who is on an expiring contract.

Various reports suggest Dinwiddie is likely to be moved before the deadline.

Last month, there was a report that strongly questioned Dinwiddie’s desire to play. That’s a strong accusation to make. To me, it’s one that doesn’t have much merit. Dinwiddie has been asked to guard some of the top players on opposing teams regularly this season. That tells me that the Nets don’t feel that he’s quit on the team.

His offensive numbers are subpar. I’m not making excuses for him there, but it’s worth noting that he has been more of a floor spacer rather than ball-handler as the Nets have featured Mikal Bridges and Cam Thomas on offense.

He’s also had limited opportunities to operate in pick and roll and isolation situations as they have given Bridges increased responsibility. Any organization in Brooklyn’s position would probably do the same thing with Bridges. It makes sense to feature him as the No. 1 option on your offense. I just think that factor – along with the others mentioned above – should be factored in before anyone states that Dinwiddie has quit on the team.