PICKING IT UP: A look at Nets future picks post-deadline

Yippee. By picking up second rounders in both the Philadelphia and Milwaukee trades, the Nets now have at least one pick in every draft going forward. The last time the Nets could say that was in 2010. They also have a surplus second rounder, from the Indiana Pacers that could be conveyed from now through 2023, depending on protections.

Since joining the Nets two years ago next weekend, Sean Marks has acquired eights pick in 10 trades, three firsts and five seconds.

Here’s the latest breakdown of what the Nets have gained ... and what they had lost...

2018

—Gained: The Nets have the Raptors lottery-protected first rounder, which at the moment is the 28th. Picked up in the Justin Hamilton-for-DeMarre Carroll plus picks trade, 2017.

—Gained: The Nets have the less favorable of the Lakers and Magic second round picks the Raptors had acquired. Also from the Carroll trade. At the moment, that’s the 40th pick in this year’s draft.

—Gained: The Nets can pick up the Pacers second round pick, but only if Indy doesn’t make the playoffs, part of the Thaddeus Young-for-Caris LeVert trade. At this point, it looks like the steadily improving Pacers will make the playoffs, so no pick. The protection stays in place through the 2022 draft. After that, it is “extinguished,” as they say in the trade and the pick will become unprotected in 2023 if it has already been taken.

—Lost: The Nets first round pick goes to Boston, unprotected, the last payment on the 2013 trade with the Celtics. Boston traded the pick to Cleveland as part of the Kyrie Irving deal. At the moment, the pick is No. 6. A couple of more Nets losses and it could get into the top 4. Who cares? Right?

—Lost: The Nets second round pick is likely going to the 76ers. At the moment, it’s the 37h pick. The Nets agreed to swap picks with Philly as part of a 2014 salary dump that dispatched Andrei Kirilenko and Jorge Gutierrez to the 76ers for Brandon Davies and the 2020 pick outright. Then on Draft Night 2015, the Nets sent their swap rights to the pick south to the Hornets as part of the deal for the 39th pick in that draft. The 2018 swap rights were used to secure Juan Pablo Vaulet’s draft rights. The Hornets also received cash considerations of $880,000 and the Nets 2019 pick outright. There’s more machinations, but you don’t need to know them. Trust us.

2019

—The Nets have their own first rounder, unencumbered. The last time they had their own first round pick was 2013.

Gained: The Nets acquired the Knicks second rounder in the trade that sent Trevor Booker to the 76ers for Jahlil Okafor and Nik Stauskas.

Lost: The Nets sent their second rounder to the Hornets for their second round pick in the 2015 draft, which was the 39th pick and which was used to take Vaulet. As noted above, the Nets also sent the Hornets swap rights to their 2018 second rounder and cash considerations of $880,000. The pick has been moved twice since 2015 and is currently owned by the Magic. The Magic acquired the pick on Draft Night 2017 in a trade with the Grizzlies for Ivan Rabb.

2020

—The Nets have their own first rounder.

—In last week’s trade of Tyler Zeller for Rashad Vaughn, the Nets also picked up a second rounder from the Bucks. It will go to the Nets only if it falls between pick Nos. 31-47. If it falls outside that range, the Nets will get the Bucks’ unprotected second-round pick in 2020. As of now, with the Bucks winning, the pick is No. 52. So the pick will almost certainly move to 2020.

Lost: As noted above, the Nets sent the 76ers their second round pick outright as part of the salary dump that dispatched Kirilenko and Gutierrez to Philly in December 2014. The pick has been moved once, on Draft Night 2017. It was used by the 76ers to help them acquire a first round pick.

2021

—The Nets have both their own first and second round picks. The last time that happened was 2011. So ten years.

NOTES

The Brooklyn Nets hold the rights to two previous picks:

Juan Pablo Vaulet, a 6’7” small forward who doesn’t turn 22 until March and is still with Bahia Blanca in Argentina. He has had at least four ankle surgeries (both ankles) in Argentina and the U.S., three of them subsequent to his being drafted. He is currently averaging 9.3 points and shooting 49.5 percent in 15 games as he continues his rehab from his latest surgery, which took place last March. His shooting numbers are all up. He was recently named to the Argentine national team that will compete in FIBA Americas later this month. A year ago, during the Argentine league holiday break, Vaulet traveled to New York for a medical check up and some training at HSS Training Center, even traveling with the team to two away games. No word on whether a reprise is scheduled for this year.

Aleksandar Vezenkov, a 6’9” small forward who turned 22 in August, taken with a Celtics pick acquired in the swap of picks in the 2017 Draft. His situation with F.C. Barcelona remains murky. After Barcelona suffered a five game losing streak in October, its then-coach benched Vezenkov and another player. For 51 days, he was inactive as the coach, Sito Alonso experimented with other line-ups. Then, a few weeks ago, he was re-inserted but quickly benched again. Last week, Alonso was fired. No word yet on what the new coach, Serbia’s Svetislav Pesic, plans for Vezenkov. He’s averaging 9.3 in the Spanish League and shooting 36.8 percent from deep. He did play for Bulgaria in the FIBA World Cup qualifying tournament last month, averaging 13.5 points in two games. He is on the second year of a three-year contract. Hard to believe he’ll be back in Barcelona.

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The Long Island Nets also hold G-League rights to two former NBA players who became free agents this week. The Nets traded for both last October.

Jamaal Franklin, a 6’5” shooting guard, is arguably the best all-around American player in China. Franklin is finishing up his season with Sichuan Blue Whales Sunday. The Whales will be not be playing in the CBA playoffs so he will become a free agent. Before Sunday’s finale, the 26-year-old Franklin was averaging 31.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 2.3 steals, shooting 36.8 percent from three. Two years ago, he averaged a triple double.

Okaro White, a 6’8” power forward, was traded by the Heat to the Hawks at the deadline, then waived by Atlanta. White, 25, appeared in only six games this season before suffering a broken left foot. He is unlikely to be healthy enough to play again this season and is not under contract beyond the 2017-2018 season.

Holding a player’s G-League rights does not offer any benefit to the parent club other than it expresses an interest. Long Island has twice acquired Franklin’s G-League rights. They first acquired his rights a year ago in the G-League expansion draft, then lost them to Memphis in this year’s expansion draft. They traded for them again in October.

No word of Brooklyn Nets interest in either now or in the future