The NBA is quiet right now, so it’s the perfect time to get creative. Over at Bleacher Report, that creative process manifests in mock trades. One new mock trade has the Brooklyn Nets acquiring Myles Turner from the Indiana Pacers.
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The mock trade
Nets get: Myles Turner and TJ McConnell
Pacers get: Nic Claxton, Joe Harris, Day’Ron Sharpe and 2027 first-round pick (top-eight protected via PHI)
Bleacher Report’s angle on the trade
The Nets don’t seem to feel forced to deal Durant, who perhaps sabotaged his own chances of being traded by giving their governor Joe Tsai a trade-me-or-fire-the-leadership ultimatum, as The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported.
If Brooklyn doesn’t like the available offers, it could conceivably still try to make things work with this roster. In that case, flipping some long-term assets for plug-and-play contributors like Turner and McConnell could work.
Turner’s paint protection and McConnell’s disruption would be a boon for the Nets’ 20th-ranked defense, and each could add value to the other end, too. Turner is a good enough shooter (career 34.9 percent from range) to open the floor for Durant and Kyrie Irving to attack, while McConnell’s playmaking (career 5.0 assists against 1.6 turnovers) would add some organization.
The Brooklyn angle
If nothing else, this trade is interesting. There’s a clear direction for the Nets — build around Ben Simmons.
Turner is one of the most credible stretch bigs in the NBA. As someone who is far more likely to pop than roll after picking for his ball-handler, maybe the only better fit next to Simmons is Karl-Anthony Towns.
You could also spin it another way. In the increasingly unlikely event that Kevin Durant rescinds his trade request, acquiring Turner — one of the best shot-blockers in the NBA — provides a more credible pillar of your rim defense. In fact, adding Turner to a team that already has Simmons will dramatically improve Brooklyn’s defense.
Story continues
Now that we’ve established that adding Turner fortifies Brooklyn’s defense around the offensive hub that is Kevin Durant, acquiring a center who plays like the Texas product also helps the offense flow easier. If Turner is spacing the floor instead of clogging the middle, that opens the driving lanes for Durant and Irving to attack the rim.
Turner isn’t amongst the NBA’s elite, but he’s an excellent fit with the Nets. His player archetype, one may be inclined to argue, is the perfect puzzle piece to bring the Nets’ roster construction together in a way that we haven’t seen before under the Durant/Irving administration.
TJ McConnell is a nice backup point guard who can give the Nets some flexibility behind Irving so that Brooklyn doesn’t have to put Patty Mills through a buzzsaw on defense every time they play a time loaded with high-scoring guards.
The Indiana angle
Claxton and Sharpe are fine investments for their rebuilding core. Harris figures to be a trade chip that they flip at the deadline for a draft pick. The incentivizing prize of this trade may be that 2027 first-round pick via Philly. It’s a good bet that the Sixers will be rebuilding by then. So, that pick may be in the lottery.
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Story originally appeared on Nets Wire
