Nets Eye Lottery Leap by Dangling Cam Johnson and No. 19 Pick in Trade Talks

Brooklyn is reportedly exploring deals to move into the top 10, offering Cam Johnson and pick No. 19 to teams like the Raptors or Rockets in exchange for a lottery pick and a contract dump.

Nov 9, 2022; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Brooklyn Nets general manager Sean Marks speaks during a press conference before a game against the New York Knicks at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

The Brooklyn Nets' long-rumored trade-up in the 2025 NBA Draft may finally be coming to fruition.

On Wednesday morning, NetsDaily took to X to announce that Brooklyn may be eyeing a swap to move back into the top-10 of the draft order by dangling its veteran sharpshooter.

"Hearing Nets may want to move up from [pick] 19 to the lottery, offering [Cam Johnson] and #19 to Raptors or Rockets for either Raps 9th or Rockets 10th plus a bad contract," NetsDaily wrote. "That would give Nets two picks in top 10 (presupposing neither team would need picks for Giannis trade.)"

This would be a dream scenario for the Nets, fully embracing the youth movement by striking for another top prospect. Theoretically, trading down while acquiring Johnson is a great move for teams in "win now" mode, but a desire to target Giannis Antetokounmpo may prevent a deal from coming to fruition. NetsDaily points this out at the end of the post.

Should Houston or Toronto look into the idea of adding Antetokounmpo—and reports suggest both will—they'll need all the draft capital they can get to try and pry the "Greek Freak" away from the Milwaukee Bucks.

However, if either side is unable to bring in the two-time MVP, a transaction with similar framework to NetsDaily's description would make sense. Especially for Houston.

Toronto is still in a rebuilding phase of its own. The Raptors are further along than the Nets in that regard, but aren't quite ready to contend. The Rockets, on the other hand, will look to build off an incredibly-sucessful 2024-25 campaign which ended against the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the playoffs.

But NetsDaily believes Brooklyn could still pull off a trade-up even if it's not with Toronto or Houston.

"The possibilities here would not be limited to this scenario and discussions, whether internal or an actual hard offer, are unlikely to be formalized until much closer to Draft Night when moving parts start to fall into place," NetsDaily later added.

With exactly three weeks until draft night, the Nets' front office could soon capitalize on their wealth of assets by swooping in for another promising incoming rookie.

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