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Brooklyn Nets Rumors: Toronto Raptors Interested In Thaddeus Young?

By Kenneth Teape

Apr 3, 2015; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Brooklyn Nets forward Thaddeus Young (30) drives against Toronto Raptors forward Terrence Ross (31) during the third quarter at Barclays Center. Brooklyn Nets won 114-109. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 3, 2015; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Brooklyn Nets forward Thaddeus Young (30) drives against Toronto Raptors forward Terrence Ross (31) during the third quarter at Barclays Center. Brooklyn Nets won 114-109. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports /
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Brooklyn Nets Rumors: Could the Nets trade Thaddeus Young to the Toronto Raptors for the right price?

The Brooklyn Nets are in a precarious position. They are having an awful season, with a record of 14-40 and missing the playoffs basically a forgone conclusion. They are in the process of finding a general manager to replace the reassigned Billy King, so it is difficult for them to make any roster moves with the NBA Trade Deadline quickly approaching.

But, if they are able to get a general manager in place, the Nets should be open for business on the trade market. They do not have much in the way of assets, as they owe a ton of picks to other teams from previous trades King made, so they will be looking to recoup some of those assets if they look to trade anyone.

The player atop the list of candidates to be moved is swing man Joe Johnson. Johnson has a massive contract, so it may be difficult to trade him; a buyout at some point is a more likely outcome. But, there are other players that are garnering interest on the trade market, such as power forward Thaddues Young.

Young, who re-signed with the Nets this past offseason for four-years, $50 million, is having a solid season despite the rough record, averaging 15.2 points with a team-high 9.1 rebounds with 1.7 assists and 1.5 steals per game. Young was re-signed along with Brook Lopez this past summer to give the Nets two building blocks in the front court.

Owner Mikhail Prokhorov is supposedly opposed to a complete rebuild, as he wants the Nets to be contenders as soon as possible. He views Young and Lopez as the building blocks to attract free agents this upcoming summer to try and get the Nets back on the right track. That is probably wishful thinking, as there aren’t many places in as tough a spot as the Nets in the NBA.

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Because of that, trading Young and trying to get some assets to really build the roster with could be the right move. It would take a lot to get Young from the Nets, but one team that has expressed interest in acquiring the Nets’ power forward is fellow Atlantic Division member Toronto Raptors.

While on TSN 1050 radio in Toronto, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst heard the team is interested in Young, the Phoneix Suns Markieff Morris and Denver Nuggets’ Kenneth Faried. It has been no secret that Morris is on the block, as it is a matter of when, not if, Morris is moved as he has been involved in multiple altercations this season with his team. The availability of Young and Faried has not been as apparent though. Here is what Windhorst had to say about the Young situation:

"I think they’re gonna go for it. I think from what I understand, from what I’m hearing, they’re pretty aggressive in the trade market. They’re looking for power forwards. I’ve heard them attached to Thaddeus Young. I’ve heard them attached to (Nuggets forward) Kenneth Faried. I’ve heard them attached to (Suns forward) Markieff Morris. They have extra draft picks. I wouldn’t trade that New York Knicks pick unless it was for a blockbuster acquisition, because you can’t protect it, you can’t protect another team’s pick. I would do it if I could put, like, a top-five protection on it. But you can’t do that. You can’t say, allright, we’ll give you two of our picks if it falls in the top five. But they have assets to do it. They have some young players."

There would have to be some finagling with the pieces being exchanged, as both the Nets and Raptors are over the salary cap, so the salaries of the players being swapped would have to match up. The Brooklyn Game says that either Corey Joseph or Patrick Patterson would have to be the main player being sent back to the Nets for the salaries to match, with other pieces being added to make the salaries work.

While that would be a step down player wise, it would be tough for the Nets to turn down first round picks of any kind. They need assets in the worst way to build back up the roster, as they have seen in recent seasons that a quick fix can cause more problems than solutions.

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The Nets need to learn from the mistakes made during the Billy King era and take a slower, more thought out approach to building their roster than going for a quick fix that will cripple the future again.

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