Why the Nets Should Explore Trades Instead of Waiving Players Like Keon Johnson

Soon, the Brooklyn Nets will be in cut-down mode. They've got a jam-packed roster and are in need of personnel relief.

Brooklyn has already begun addressing this issue, waiving both Tosan Evbuomwan and Keon Johnson in the last week. The former was, admittedly, understandable. While Evbuomwan was highly impactful during his time as a Net, he still could've been viewed as expendable. Clearly, he was.

But the latter is different. Johnson started 56 games last year. He averaged over 10 points and one steal per night. He's just 23 years old. And now, he's free to sign with whomever he chooses.

The salary cap has obviously been a major hindrance on any team outside of the Nets this summer, so the decision to waive Johnson isn't all that surprising. While he wasn't as productive as Johnson, we can't act like a former first-rounder and collegiate star, Olivier-Maxence Prosper, wasn't just waived as well, because no team was willing to take on his rookie contract. Player value is at a weird stage in the NBA right now. The lack of money has teams second-guessing everything.

But the glaring difference between Johnson and Prosper is the contract. The latter was on a two-year, $5.6 million rookie contract while he was being shopped on the trade market. The former's contract wasn't even fully guaranteed.

Even when accounting for the panic surrounding the salary cap, it's hard to believe a rival wasn't willing to even throw cash considerations at Brooklyn in exchange for Johnson. Maybe he just isn't valued by other teams the way he was with the Nets? Perhaps, but that theory can only prove true if no one ends up signing him, which doesn't seem likely.

It appears Brooklyn may very well have just opted against seeing if there was any interest in Johnson around the league before making the decision to move on. At least as of today, it doesn't look like trading him was even a thought, from a strictly speculative standpoint.

Maybe information will eventually be released that proves otherwise, but that isn't presently available—if it exists.

While they're still in the mindset of stockpiling picks, the Nets need to be looking at every opportunity possible to add more draft capital. Look at what that strategy resulted in this past June.

A team's odds of hitting on one of five draft selections are far better than hitting on one of one. It's not a guarantee, but when determining the future of a player like Johnson, pursuing some compensation has to be prioritized.