After the Nets finished their pre-All-Star break schedule with a 95-86 loss to the Grizzlies in Memphis on Tuesday night, coach Lionel Hollins was asked if he thought the team would have the same roster after the Feb. 19 trade deadline passes.
“Yes, I do,” Hollins said.
Though Hollins isn’t in charge of personnel — that responsibility lies with general manager Billy King — it would be unlikely if the coach didn’t have an idea of what the front office was thinking.
So, if the Nets do stand pat when the deadline passes, will it be the right decision? It may be simply because of a lack of more appealing options.
For most teams that find themselves in the position the Nets are in, with a 21-31 record and a roster full of veterans, it often would make sense to try and strip down the roster by trading away any players of value for young players and draft picks, clearing salary-cap space.
But the Nets aren’t in that position, because they will be swapping first-round picks with the league-leading Hawks as part of the trade that brought Joe Johnson to Brooklyn in 2012. The fact the Nets won’t benefit from falling further down the standings — as well as the fact they enter the All-Star break only a game out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference — means any trades would only make sense if they could improve the team for the final 30 games.
Finding such a deal, however, is easier said than done. If the Nets were to make any move, it would almost certainly involve at least one of their three high-priced stars — Deron Williams, Johnson and Brook Lopez.
But with Williams struggling mightily, as well as being owed over $40 million over the next two years, the trade market for him isn’t exactly booming. And though Johnson still is a player who could help any team in the league, with a salary north of $23 million this season and $24 million next, there aren’t many teams that could make a move for him, and even fewer that would be able to make one that would help the Nets remain in contention.
That leaves Lopez, the longest-tenured Net and the one most often rumored to be on the move. Lopez has a manageable contract — he could become a free agent this summer, and if he chooses to opt-in to the final year of his deal it’s for $16.7 million — and has played well this season, but after multiple fractures of the fifth metatarsal in his right foot there are concerns about his durability.
There also is the fact Lopez is a unique player in today’s NBA: an excellent low-post scorer, possibly the best in the league when he’s going well, and a big man who, while he is an adequate rim protector, struggles with both rebounding and defense.
All of those factors are why, when the Nets nearly traded Lopez in proposed deals with Charlotte and Oklahoma City last month, they were getting underwhelming packages in return. Lopez is averaging a team-best 15.9 points on 51 percent shooting since Jan. 1, so the Nets may be better off making a playoff push.