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Nets not interested in trading Mikal Bridges to Trail Blazers

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James Foglio
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James Foglio Sports Editor

James is a Basketball Insiders contributor. He earned his bachelor's degree in English and Creative Writing at Southern New Hampshire University. James enjoys watching sports and helping gamblers win money.

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Updated8 hours ago on April 18, 2024

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Brooklyn Nets not interested in trading Mikal Bridges to Portland Trail Blazers

The Brooklyn Nets are not interested in trading Mikal Bridges to the Portland Trail Blazers, per sources. Bridges has been mentioned in a number of hypothetical trade scenarios. However, he’s not being shopped to Portland for logical reasons.

“The Nets don’t seem to have much incentive to play ball here,” said John Hollinger of The Athletic. “Brooklyn owes unprotected picks to Houston in 2024 and 2026 and unprotected swaps in 2025 and 2027.”

According to a few NBA betting sites, the Denver Nuggets are the odds-on favorite to win the championship. Some sportsbooks are showing the Miami Heat with second-best odds.

“Thus, Brooklyn trading its good players and tanking would do a lot more for the Rockets than the Nets. Brooklyn’s likely best path forward is to muddle along with a Bridges-centric team, especially since he’s signed through 2026 to one of the league’s best contracts.

“… The Nets aren’t interested in trading Mikal Bridges to Portland and would want more than the No. 3 pick and Simons (or Shaedon Sharpe) than just those two assets, if they did.”

Brooklyn Nets are not interested in trading Mikal Bridges to Portland Trail Blazers, seek more than No. 3 pick and Anfernee Simons in return

Besides Markieff Morris, Brooklyn already lost Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant in trades this past regular season. Therefore, it seems illogical for Nets G.M. Sean Marks to trade Bridges in exchange for the No. 3 pick and Anfernee Simons after his exceptional fifth year.

More importantly, Mikal Bridges averaged career highs of 20.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 35.7 minutes per game in 83 starts split between the Phoenix Suns and Nets.

After an in-season trade to Brooklyn, Bridges scored a career-high 45 points in the Nets’ 116-105 win over the Miami Heat on Feb. 15. Furthermore, the Villanova product became the first player in NBA history to average 25 points per game on 50-40-90 splits in the first 10 games with a new team.

Additionally, the 6-foot-6 forward/guard recorded three 40-point games with Brooklyn. The only other Nets with three 40-point games this past regular season were Durant and Cam Thomas. Above all else, Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn needs more talent to work with.

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