The Brooklyn Nets are projected to be one of just a few teams in the NBA to have significant cap space this offseason, which should allow them to be suitors for several big-name players. Time will tell how much cap space Brooklyn is willing to spend in free-agency, but there is a player presumably looking for a sizable contract this summer that could be useful to them.
“Years before they entered the NBA, Michael Porter Jr. and Trae Young made up one of the most dominant duos AAU ball has ever seen. Now, with Brooklyn being among that small group of teams that can clear out some cap space, they could be reunited in Brooklyn,” Andy Bailey wrote for Bleacher Report. Bailey mentioned the Nets as one of the potential landing spots for Washington Wizards guard Trae Young after he declined his $48.97 million player option.
“Of course, the Nets did just take three playmakers in last year’s draft (Egor Dёmin, Nolan Traoré and Ben Saraf), but Dёmin is big enough to slide over and was a much higher-volume three-point shooter than expected as a rookie,” Bailey continued. “Having him as a secondary creator could make the Nets’ offense more dynamic beyond the Young-MPJ two-man game, too.”
The Wizards acquired Young from the Atlanta Hawks via trade in the middle of the 2025-26 season in exchange for guard CJ McCollum and forward Corey Kispert, a deal many believed was not reflective of Young’s value. However, Young was in the midst of one of the worst seasons of his NBA career as he averaged 19.3 points and 8.9 assists per game while shooting just 41.5% from the field and 30.5% from behind the three-point line.
ESPN’s Marc J. Spears reported on Wednesday that while Young is most likely to go back to the Wizards on a new deal, the former Hawks star expects multiple teams to have “max interest” in him this offseason. As Bailey noted, the Nets went all-in on potential playmakers when they selected three point guards in the 2025 NBA Draft, but if Young could be had for a less-than-expected price, Brooklyn could kick the tires on the 4-time All-Star.
This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Could the Nets pursue Wizards’ Trae Young in NBA free-agency?
Reporting by Sharif Phillips-Keaton, Nets Wire / Nets Wire
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By Sharif Phillips-Keaton, Nets Wire | USA TODAY Network
