Nets' Draft-Night Blockbuster Among Most Surprising Moves of Offseason

The Brooklyn Nets had an interesting offseason, and one of their moves caught the rest of the league off-guard.

Last season was a strange one for the Nets. After a fun start to the season, Brooklyn began selling many of its top performing veterans in an attempt to tank in the final months of the season.

While some of the Nets’ most impactful players like Dennis Schroder and Dorian Finney-Smith made their way to new teams early in the year, Brooklyn also surprised some by keeping Cam Johnson around. As it turned out, that was because they were ready to make an offseason deal that would catch the league off-guard.

On draft night, the Nets sent Johnson to the Denver Nuggets for Michael Porter Jr. and a 2032 unprotected first-round pick. According to this year’s NBA GM survey, that deal was among the most surprising of the offseason, with it receiving a vote in John Schuhmann’s poll.

While it appears to have received only one vote in the question dominated by Milwaukee’s Damian Lillard-Myles Turner saga early in free agency, the fact it received a vote at all is quite intriguing. In the survey, it’s officially worded as “Michael Porter Jr. trade to Brooklyn,” which likely emphasizes that the surprising piece of the puzzle was Denver’s decision.

Of course, it makes sense that Denver making that deal would have seemed more surprising than Brooklyn doing it. Just two years ago, Porter was starting for the Nuggets on their run to a championship, but sending him out the door for Johnson makes some sense, even if it was a bit surprising.

While the surprising part of the deal lies on Denver’s side, there is a case to be made that the deal is just as surprising from Brooklyn’s point of view. Last season, the Nets refused to deal Johnson despite having some offers on the table.

With a seemingly high asking price, sending Johnson out in the early stages of the offseason for Porter and a pick was a bit underwhelming. While the 2032 pick is the crown jewel of the deal, there’s no guarantee that the Denver pick will turn into anything, and it certainly doesn’t help them in this rebuild outside of being a trade piece.

Sure, the swap of Johnson and Porter makes sense on the floor for both sides, but the timing and return for both sides still made it one of the most surprising deals of the summer.