Way-Too-Early Nets Trade Candidates for the 2026-27 Season

Overreactions? Perhaps, but there are already a few names to watch as trade chips in Brooklyn this season.

Mar 25, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves forward Julius Randle (30) talks with a reporter after the game with the Houston Rockets at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The 2026-27 NBA season is still a ways away, but that doesn't mean the trade rumors ever take a break. The Brooklyn Nets are in one of the more unique situations of any team in the league, rostering a promising young core while expecting legitimate production from a heap of veteran talent.

This opens the floodgates for trade interest, because although Brooklyn hopes to compete in this new era, this team is still 'rebuilding.' There are already a few players to watch for a potential departure. Four stand out, whether it be because of age or contract:

Terance Mann

It might be a little easier to trade Mann, knowing he'd be under contract for 2027-28, but $31.5 million over the next two seasons is a lot for his limitations. In 2025-26, he averaged 7.2 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 3.0 assists. Brooklyn may have to attach draft capital to offload the shooting guard.

Mann was efficient, posting 46-36-79 shooting splits, but he's still taking minutes from a rebuilding backcourt. He would be a better fit on a more competitive team.

Day'Ron Sharpe

Sharpe, a career Net, has gotten better season after season, receiving more opportunities and playing his role well. 2025-26 saw him average 8.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.1 steals in 18.7 minutes per game. Now, he has the starting center spot after Brooklyn traded Nic Claxton to Chicago.

There has been lingering trade interest in Sharpe over the last few seasons, most recently at the 2026 deadline from the Los Angeles Lakers. If there's an incentive to trade the 24-year-old, the Nets could get serious value for Sharpe, who signed a two-year, $20 million deal this offseason.

Julius Randle

Randle certainly raises Brooklyn's floor, but the ultimate hope is that he replicates the impact he had with the New York Knicks in 2021, propelling them to the playoffs as an extreme overachiever. The hurdle is that since then, he has regressed to a relatively inefficient option after a rollercoaster stint with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The former All-NBA forward has a $35.8 million player option, so unless he returns to that 2021 form, it will be extremely difficult to trade him if the Nets desire a departure. Regardless, Randle is a trade chip as of now, looking to boost his production as a leading scorer on a rebuilding team.

Michael Porter Jr.

Porter and the Nets have yet to reach a contract extension, but if they do before February, the CBA's sixth-month window, during which he can't be traded, will kick in, meaning he'd remain in Brooklyn until the offseason. The actual deadline to get a deal done is the start of 2027's free agency.

Until then, the 28-year-old star should receive interest from teams around the NBA this season. Porter averaged a career-high 24.2 points, 7.1 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.1 steals per game on 46-36-86 shooting splits, which garnered interest from numerous organizations leading up to 2026's trade deadline.