I would love a trade that lands Claxton and DFS. But I don't think the Nets would be open to trading them.
About Claxton's contract, in the offseason I myself proposed trading for Claxton for that reason. Unfortunately, even after the loss of Durant and Kyrie, the Nets have stayed in the "trying to win" mode, which means they want to keep their key contributors. That means Claxton (and DFS also) go nowhere, and they aim at finding a way to keep Claxton and work out a reasonable deal to re-sign him (just the same as the Mavs would do if they traded for him).
If you are the Nets and have a nice core of good-but-not-great players, your next move is to package some of them for a star, if you can, not for a package of randos that don't move the needle in their current form, like Powell, Kleber, Green, and Hardy. I hate to admit it, but that's all those players are these days.
About Claxton's contract, in the offseason I myself proposed trading for Claxton for that reason. Unfortunately, even after the loss of Durant and Kyrie, the Nets have stayed in the "trying to win" mode, which means they want to keep their key contributors. That means Claxton (and DFS also) go nowhere, and they aim at finding a way to keep Claxton and work out a reasonable deal to re-sign him (just the same as the Mavs would do if they traded for him).
If you are the Nets and have a nice core of good-but-not-great players, your next move is to package some of them for a star, if you can, not for a package of randos that don't move the needle in their current form, like Powell, Kleber, Green, and Hardy. I hate to admit it, but that's all those players are these days.
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