Brooklyn Nets Own Shocking Number of First-Round Picks After Kristaps Porzingis Trade

Hats off to Sean Marks.
The Brooklyn Nets logo at half court on Dec. 8, 2019.
The Brooklyn Nets logo at half court on Dec. 8, 2019. / Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images
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The Boston Celtics on Tuesday agreed to trade championship-winning center Kristaps Porzingis to the Atlanta Hawks in a three-team deal that also involved the Brooklyn Nets, who will receive Atlanta's Terance Mann plus the team's No. 22 pick.

With that extra selection on their side, the abysmal Nets have now stockpiled a truly ridiculous—and potentially record-breaking—number of first-round picks ahead of Wednesday's NBA draft.

Indeed, as of Tuesday evening, the team is holding onto No. 8, No. 19, No. 22, No. 26 and No. 27 in tomorrow's first round. That's enough to completely rebuild their starting five if they wanted.

Assuming they do not trade away a selection between now and the start of the draft, the Nets will begin the event with the most first-round selections since at least 2009, when the Minnesota Timberwolves entered with four first-round picks, per For The Win's Blake Schuster.

As for what could be their first get at No. 8, Sports Illustrated's Kevin Sweeney projects BK grabbing Duke's Khaman Maluach, who is just 18 years old and 7'2". But it's also possible they use their capital to instead trade up, and select a prospect that much closer to the top of the board.


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Brigid Kennedy
BRIGID KENNEDY

Brigid Kennedy is a contributor to the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in November 2024, she covered political news, sporting news and culture at TheWeek.com before moving to Livingetc, an interior design magazine. She is a graduate of Syracuse University, dual majoring in television, radio and film (from the Newhouse School of Public Communications) and marketing managment (from the Whitman School of Management). Offline, she enjoys going to the movies, reading and watching the Steelers.