Nets in decline as trade deadline looms

Roster could get reshaped ahead of Thursday's game vs. Cavs

February 8, 2024 John Torenli, Sports Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Royce O'Neale may be headed out of Brooklyn by the time Thursday's NBA trade deadline comes and goes ahead of the Nets' game vs. visiting Cleveland. AP Photo by Matt Slocum

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Now that they’re done with Reunion Week at Downtown’s Barclays Center, the Brooklyn Nets hope to get back to some normalcy and, even more importantly, winning in their own building when they host the red-hot Cleveland Cavaliers Thursday night.

That is, if they don’t undergo a roster overhaul or at least a tweak ahead of the looming NBA trade deadline.

Losers of nine of their last 12 home games, including happy homecomings by superstars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, the Nets hope to avoid falling a season-worst 11 games below .500 when they take on one of their potential suitors for a deal before 3 p.m. Thursday.

Cleveland (33-16) visits the corner of Atlantic and Flatbush with the second-best record in the Eastern Conference, thanks to a 15-1 mark in its last 16 contests and an NBA-best seven-game winning streak.

Donovan Mitchell scored 14 of his 40 points in the fourth quarter Wednesday as the Cavaliers roll into Brooklyn off a 114-106 victory at Washington.

“I keep saying it, it’s Feb. 7th,” Mitchell said of his team’s hot streak, which includes a 111-102 triumph over Brooklyn in the 2024 NBA Paris Game on Jan. 11.

“This is great, we’re in a great position,” he added. “But at the end of the day, we’re trying to play until April, be in the best position (then). Definitely not satisfied with where we’re at.”

Cleveland reportedly has interest in Nets power forward Dorian Finney-Smith, whom Brooklyn acquired last February in the deal that sent Irving to Dallas. Finney-Smith is currently out with an ankle sprain.

Also, Nets center Nic Claxton, who will be an unrestricted free agent after this season, is on plenty of teams’ radar as the contenders try to separate themselves from the pretenders by giving up expiring contracts and draft picks for immediate help in pursuit of playoff success.

Claxton ranks sixth in the league with 2.4 blocked shots per game. He is also 12th in the NBA in rebounding at 10.4 boards per contest.

“I mean Nic has been playing some unbelievable basketball, probably the best that I’ve seen him since I’ve been around him,” Nets coach Jacque Vaughn said earlier this week.

Donovan Mitchell and the Cavaliers haven’t slowed down since knocking the Nets off in Paris last month. AP Photo by Christophe Ena

Spencer Dinwiddie has had a diminished role of late in Brooklyn and may be coveted by squads seeking a backup point guard.

Lonnie Walker IV has proven to be an instant boost off the bench for the Nets, who are 11th in the East, 1 1/2 lengths behind Atlanta for the final spot in the play-in tournament.

Walker is out with a hamstring strain, an injury that sidelined him for 17 straight games earlier this season. He will not play vs. the Cavs.

The Lakers, along with other teams, have been mentioned as having an interest in Brooklyn reserve Royce O’Neale, who is heating up as the deadline approaches, averaging a season-best 13.7 points per game this month.

Long-shot deals would involve Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson, both of whom arrived here in the Durant deal days after Irving was sent packing last February.

Dealing their two starting forwards and potential foundation pieces would create a white-flag approach to the rest of this campaign for the Nets (20-30).

But judging from the way they’ve played since climbing to 13-10 on Dec. 13 with a win in Phoenix over Durant the Suns, Brooklyn may be in sell mode ahead of the league’s annual swap meet.

The Nets have gone 7-20 since, including a 136-120 loss here to Durant and the Suns on Jan. 31 and Tuesday night’s 119-107 defeat to Irving and the Mavericks.

Former Nets like Cleveland’s Caris LeVert and the Lakers’ D’Angelo Russell have been mentioned as potential returnees to Brooklyn.

Like most players in the rumor mill, Russell is concentrating on his role on the court rather than where Los Angeles might send him come Thursday.

“I really just genuinely, humbly don’t care because I know I can’t control it for one, and two, I just won’t allow my mind to go there,” he noted this week. “Focus on basketball and not comments and what’s trending on social media.”

The Nets will have to do the same.

At least until the opening tip against Cleveland Thursday night, when they may have already said goodbye to old friends while preparing to welcome new additions.

Nets center Nic Claxton is having his best season, which may result in his departure prior to Thursday’s trade deadline. AP Photo by John Munson

NOTHING BUT NET: The Cavs also edged Brooklyn, 114-113, here on Opening Night behind 27 points by Mitchell. … After hosting Cleveland, the Nets will welcome San Antonio to Barclays on Saturday before opening a home-and-home with Boston here Tuesday. Brooklyn will visit Boston for the second leg of that series on Valentine’s Day. … Johnson (abductor strain) and Day’Ron Sharpe (knee) will also miss Thursday’s game for the Nets.