Nets' trade to get their picks back is looking bad

The Brooklyn Nets gave up a lot this summer to get their 2025 and 2026 first-round picks back from the Houston Rockets. It's looking like a lopsided deal for Houston.

Going into the summer of 2024, the Nets finally committed to rebuilding. But hurting their ability to tank was lingering picks owed to the Rockets from their trade for James Harden in 2021. Brooklyn sent Houston its first-round picks in 2022 (used on Tari Eason), 2024 (Reed Sheppard) and 2026, plus pick swaps in 2021, 2023, 2025 and 2027.

Brooklyn got its own picks back in the next two drafts, but at a steep price. Houston got the right to swap first-round picks with the Phoenix Suns this June instead, the Suns first-rounder in 2027 and the two best picks among the first-rounders of the Suns, Dallas Mavericks and their own in 2029.

The decline of the Suns and the relative success of the Nets has made this year's exchange less appealing. Brooklyn has the league's 7th-worst record, while Phoenix is 12th-worst and has lost nine of their last 11 games. With Phoenix likely to trade Kevin Durant this summer and with a roster nearly devoid of young talent, that 2027 pick could be in the lottery, and the prospects for 2029 aren't rosy for the Suns.

Since the Mavericks traded 25-year-old Luka Doncic for 31-year-old Anthony Davis, that 2029 Dallas pick also looks valuable. Meanwhile, the Chicago Bulls or San Antonio Spurs could still drop below the Nets in this year's standings.

The Nets made a four-for-two draft pick exchange, and now might lose the deal on quantity and quality. They may have misjudged their own team, and they certainly misjudged the Suns and Mavericks.