Apron Era Could Impact How Nets Conduct Business

The NBA introduced the first and second aprons during the 2024 offseason, which makes it incredibly difficult for teams that have blown past the luxury tax to make any franchise-altering trades.

Considering that, teams across the league have become increasingly hesitant to part with future assets.

"What I'm telling you is that when I talk to executives, and these executives are not in trade talks with the Bucks or another for a star player right now, the mood in the NBA right now is not give up four first-round picks for anybody," Brian Windhorst said on The Hoop Collective podcast.

"Okay, maybe if Shai (Gilgeous-Alexander) came on, or Victor (Wembanyama)... Like people don't want to do that because the aprons have spooked so many teams. All these teams are worried about getting into apron trouble where they can't reset their rosters. And you get into a situation like the Celtics were in where you got to rip your team down."

"This is how teams are thinking right now. They're a little freaked about the aprons. There ain't going to be no five first round pick trades. I know that we saw those for a while. That's just not to happen."

The Brooklyn Nets have been involved in a number of blockbuster trades over the years, trading Kevin Durant to the Phoenix Suns and rerouting Mikal Bridges to the New York Knicks a little over a year later.

In those deals, the Nets picked up an exorbitant amount of first round draft picks. To the surprise of many, Brooklyn used all five of its first round picks in the 2025 NBA Draft rather than use some of them to trade up or acquire serviceable talent across the league.

Given the amount of first round draft picks the Nets have, it'd be ideal for the franchise to eventually use some of them to land a superstar who suddenly becomes available, as that'd be their surest path to title contention, unless one of their young players develops into a bonafide superstar and/or they land a top five selection in the 2026 NBA Draft.

For now, it seems like that Nets will choose to prioritize developing their young talent, as a superstar who best fits their timeline doesn't seem to be available.

However, the Nets will be well positioned to go all in on that star whenever they become available, given their treasure trove of future assets.