Brooklyn sends a big man to the Motor City to make room for another.
Heading into Labor Day weekend Sean Marks and the Nets decided to enter the holiday weekend with a bang.
Just 24 hours after reportedly reaching a deal with Paul Millsap, the Nets are reportedly trading DeAndre Jordan to the Detroit Pistons to make room for LaMarcus Aldridge to return to the club.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Brooklyn is sending DeAndre Jordan to the Pistons with four second-round picks and $5.78 million in exchange for center Jahlil Okafor and forward Sekou Doumbouya. Only two of the second-round pick involved in the deal originally belonged to the Nets (2022, 2027).
The trade will save Brooklyn $47 million in salary and luxury tax.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Pistons will waive Jordan as part of a buyout. The trade shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone as the Nets had reportedly been working on a buyout of Jordan over the past week.
Jordan was one of the “Big Three” when he signed with Brooklyn in 2019 along with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. In two seasons with the Nets, Jordan averaged 7.9 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks per game.
Last year Jordan averaged his lowest points total (7.5) since 2011-12 and lowest rebounding (7.5) total since 2012-13. During the 2019-20 season, Jordan saw his playing time cut in favor of Jarrett Allen before the season was put on halt due to COVID-19.
With Allen being traded to Cleveland as part of the James Harden deal, Jordan reclaimed his starting role however saw his playing time dwindle with the addition of Blake Griffin. So much so that Deandre wasn’t even in Brooklyn’s playoff rotation.
Why trade Jordan?
The new cap space created by the Jordan deal is being utilized to bring back Aldridge, who signed with the Nets after being bought out by the Spurs. He only appeared in five games before stepping away because of a heart condition.
Aldridge’s new deal is reportedly for one year and worth $2.6 million. Initially reported by Woj, news that Aldridge was coming back came about 30 minutes after the Jordan trade news broke.
After being medically cleared by doctors earlier in the week, reports were that Aldridge was eyeing a return to Brooklyn. Last season Aldridge averaged 12.8 points and 4.8 rebounds in five games with Brooklyn. Alize Johnson will reportedly be waived to make room on the roster.
After a rather quiet beginning to the offseason, the Nets roster is just about fully formed after a waive of recent acquisitions. The Nets now have a plethora of options at the center position. Blake Griffin, Nic Claxton, Paul Millsap, LaMarcus Aldridge, and rookie Day’Ron Sharpe will all be viable options for Brooklyn this season. Oh, and not to mention Bruce Brown.
