With an emphasis on pick quantity, quality, and a more diversified portfolio stretching out in further years, the Houston Rockets recently traded a pair of draft assets from the Nets (2025, 2026) back to Brooklyn for four future first-round picks and swaps from the Phoenix Suns (2025, 2027, and 2029) and Dallas Mavericks (2029).
Thanks to that trade, Brooklyn now controls its first-round draft capital in 2025 and 2026. Combine that with the recent trade of Mikal Bridges to the New York Knicks, and many NBA observers expect the Nets to be among the league’s worst teams in the upcoming 2024-25 season — and thus, in the running for a high draft pick and the chance to select an elite 2025 prospect, such as Cooper Flagg.
It all leads to a reasonable question: Could Rockets general manager Rafael Stone have stayed the course with his previous draft portfolio while potentially adding another top prospect (such as Flagg) to an improving team in Houston (41-41)?
The answer, most likely, is no. Now that all trades are official, Nets general manager Sean Marks commented on the thought process. Here’s what Marks said, via James Herbert of CBS Sports:
They’re absolutely connected. I think when you look at doing the deal we did with the Knicks, that was really only possible by controlling our own destiny a little bit more… where we get our picks back from Houston.
sean marks on the bridges deal and the rockets deal: "they're absolutely connected. i think when you look at doing the deal we did with the knicks, that was really only possible by controlling our own destiny a little bit more, where we get our picks back from houston."
— James Herbert (@outsidethenba) July 8, 2024
Translated, had the Rockets stayed the course, the Nets would have kept Bridges and likely been a respectable team. Brooklyn went 32-50 last season, which was only the ninth-worst NBA record, and they had the non-taxpayer mid-level exception — offering a starting annual salary near $13 million — to further add to the roster.
It’s still unlikely that the Nets would have been a playoff team, in that scenario, but it’s probable that their pre-lottery odds slot would have been toward the back half of the order (as opposed to the top). Granted, it would still be possible for the Rockets to move up, but the draft odds would not be nearly as favorable as the current scenario in which the Nets do not have Bridges and are fully rebuilding.
Thus, with peak upside limited, that’s what led the Rockets to prioritize an additional quantity of picks that go out in further years. From there, Brooklyn and Houston found an agreeable structure to best suit the preferred timeline of both teams, and the rest is history.
As for 2025, given the strength of the Western Conference and Kevin Durant’s ongoing injury history, it’s not implausible that the current first-round swap right that Houston owns with the Suns could be comparable in value to the previous swap with the Nets (with Bridges, which would have been the case had Houston stood pat).
So, as it pertains to Flagg, the chances are likely reduced but not completely implausible. Fans in Houston will simply need to cheer for the downfall of Phoenix, now, as opposed to Brooklyn.
