The Brooklyn Nets are clearly in rebuilding mode after they traded Mikal Bridges to the New York Knicks in exchange for as many as five first-round picks and three players. As rebuilding teams do, Brooklyn traded for a young player in Ziaire Williams and that move has been received positively in the Nets fanbase and by others in the NBA space as well.
On Friday, the Nets traded for Memphis Grizzlies forward Ziaire Williams and the Dallas Mavericks’ 2030 second-round pick in exchange for forward Mamadi Diakite, one of the three players that Brooklyn acquired from the Knicks in the Bridges deal, and the draft rights to Nemanja Dangubic.
Williams, the 10th overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, has not found his way in the league as of yet, but that doesn’t mean that he isn’t someone worth taking a chance on if you’re the Nets. In fact, Keith Smith of Spotrac has regarded the move as something that is of no risk for Brooklyn and is on-brand for Nets general manager Sean Marks.
“The Nets are taking a flyer on Ziaire Williams. This is the exact type of move a rebuilding team should be making. And this is the kind of no-risk move that has paid off big for Sean Marks in the past,” Smith wrote. Williams, 22, has one year left on his rookie contract for $6.1 million so this is essentially a prove-it year for Williams, a fact that could motivate him to show everything he’s got if he wants to get a big contract next summer.
At the moment, the Nets’ forward spots are stacked with depth as Dorian Finney-Smith, Cam Johnson, and Bojan Bogdanovic, just to name a few, remain on the roster. There have been reports that the Nets could still have some trading to do with their veterans and that will most likely need to happen if Williams is going to see enough playing time for Brooklyn to see if they will invest in him beyond the 2024-25 season.
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