NBA

Holding assets will pay off in long run for Nets

Look, I get it. Trades are fun. Everyone looks forward to trade deadline day to see what their favorite team is going to do, and what potential upgrades they might make.

The Nets, having one of the NBA’s richest owners in Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, one of its most aggressive general managers in Billy King and a desire to upgrade at power forward, found themselves smack in the middle of the rumor mill for a third straight year.

But Thursday’s 3 p.m. trade deadline came and went without the Nets making any moves. Despite their hole at power forward, that was the right thing to do.

None of the potential options, including the top available player in Atlanta’s Josh Smith, was enough to lift the Nets to the level of the Heat, the only truly elite team in the East. And, given that Prokhorov has made it clear his goal for the organization is to win a championship, it wouldn’t have been wise for the Nets to sacrifice most or all of their movable assets to secure a player who wouldn’t allow them to reach that level.

The Nets did their best to try to get Smith — who certainly would have been a big upgrade over current starting power forward Reggie Evans — by offering a package of Humphries, MarShon Brooks and a first-round pick. Though Brooks is a talented scoring shooting guard and first-round picks are arguably the most valuable commodities under the new CBA, no team in the league’s current economic climate was interested in taking Humphries and the $12 million he’s owed next season.

The only way such a deal could have happened would have been to give up significantly more in a trade — including some combination of two or more first-round picks, the rights to small forward Bojan Bogdanovic, who is playing well in Turkey and whom the Nets view as a lottery-level talent, and rookies Tornike Shengelia and Tyshawn Taylor.

Instead, by not giving up the farm now, the Nets have set themselves up to be major players in the trade market next season. Though Humphries’ contract wasn’t appealing at the trade deadline, it will be much more valuable as an expiring one next season when teams undoubtedly will be trying to avoid being over the luxury tax.

That should give the Nets an excellent opportunity to add a significant piece to their roster while, at the same time, not sacrificing their long-term flexibility. When you consider the Nets currently have three starters in their 30s and have four players signed to veteran’s minimum contracts, they will have several holes to fill moving forward.

But the biggest reason the Nets didn’t need to break the bank to trade for Smith is because of their competition in the Eastern Conference. Yes, the Nets are far behind Miami, but so is everyone else.

After that? The Nets have split their season series with the Knicks, have beaten the Pacers and Celtics twice and split two games against the Bulls. Even with their current deficiencies, there’s no reason to think the Nets couldn’t make a deep playoff run, and possibly even reach the conference finals, without making any moves.

As King said earlier this week, “I think we’re at a point now where I think this group has to play together more than shaking it up and bringing in other pieces.” Now the Nets have maintained their long-term flexibility while still having a chance to make a playoff run this season.

Not making a swing-for-the-fences trade for a player like Smith certainly isn’t the fun route to go. But, in the long run, it was the right one.