BROOKLYN – During the Joe Johnson trade, the Brooklyn Nets traded their 2015 first-round pick with the Atlanta Hawks for their 2015 first-round pick. Also, the Nets are on the hook with other future first round picks that they traded away. They currently owe their 2016 first-round pick to the Celtics, also, the Celtics have the right to swap first round-picks in 2017 with the Nets. With all of that being said, building through the draft is simply not an option for the Nets.

This year, the Nets hold the 29th and 41st overall picks in the draft. The team is in need of a talented young prospect, they most likely won’t be able to get one at the 29th overall spot. They know that, which is why Nets general manager Billy King stated that the team is interesting in trading up.

Billy King on the Nets trading up, via Thomas Duffy of Nets Daily:

“I will say that we’re trying to move up in the draft. We’ll explore options to get higher. … We already know of some teams who maybe want to move their pick so we’ll be talking to them next week.”

Unfortunately for the Nets, they don’t have a lot of desirable assets to trade. Mason Plumlee is the only player that comes to mind that has reasonable trade value, however, the Nets are most likely not willing to trade him. That is especially the case since the Nets would be running the risk of losing Brook Lopez in free agency and then not having Mason Plumlee to fall back on.

Consider this, teams are going to require more assets from other teams that are interested in moving up in the draft. This is the case because the salary cap is expected to rise exponentially this off-season. With more cap space to spend, teams will be looking to keep as many small contract players on their roster, in order to throw cash at big-time free agents.

There are a lot of factors that play into moving up in the draft, for the Nets, those factors aren’t necessarily helping. They may have interest, but it will take a lot more than interest to get a deal done. Brooklyn doesn’t have future first round picks to deal, or players that are desirable on the trade block. They might be able to move up a few spots, but most likely, they won’t be able to make a significant leap in the draft.