Should the Nets trade Michael Porter Jr. for Spurs' De'Aaron Fox?

The Brooklyn Nets are in the early stages of this offseason where they are hoping to improve the roster as much as possible heading into the 2026-27 NBA season. Brooklyn is coming off a 2025-26 season in which they finished with a 20-62 record that ultimately awarded them with the No. 6 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, but others are suggesting interesting ways for them to improve.

Erik Slater of ClutchPoints recently posted o X that Bill Simmons of The Ringer suggested that the Nets should trade forward Michael Porter Jr. for San Antonio Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox this summer. What makes Simmons’ comments interesting is that Fox is coming off one of the worst postseason performances of his NBA career while Porter is coming off the best season of his career.

As Slater pointed out in his post, Simmons essentially suggested for the Nets to pursue a player in Fox that may not have the highest stock right now along with trading the No. 6 pick for another player that could accelerate the rebuild. Granted, some around the league have suggested that Brooklyn could do something with their pick aside from selecting a player, but it’s clear that the franchise is looking to continue building through the draft.

Fox, 28, is coming off a down season by his standards as he averaged 18.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, 6.2 assists, and 1.2 steals per game while shooting 48.6% from the field and 33.2% from behind the three-point line. When it comes to Fox’s postseason performance, it’s safe to say that he has seen better days, even when accounting for the fact that he was dealing with an ankle injury along the way.

Porter, 27, had the kind of season that many thought would earn him his first All-Star Game appearance as he averaged 24.2 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game while shooting 46.3% from the floor and 36.3% from deep. At the end of the day, Simmons suggested a trade that does not seem like one that the Nets would do, but it did give the Nets fanbase something to discuss as we approach the draft.

I’ve said this even before I became a media member, but there are a lot of times where the mock trades don’t make sense for either side or at least one side. I get why the Spurs would want Michael Porter Jr., but why would the Nets want De’Aaron Fox when they want cap space? https://t.co/ohXCwPqaqJ

— Sharif Phillips-Keaton (@SharifKeaton) June 16, 2026

I enjoy Bill Simmons’ content, but he has some awful Nets takes.

Just heard him propose the Nets trading MPJ for De’Aaron Fox straight up then trading the 6th pick for a star.

So Brooklyn trades its best player for an older player on a terrible contract then trades its best…

— Erik Slater (@ErikSlater_) June 16, 2026

This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Should the Nets trade Michael Porter Jr. for Spurs’ De’Aaron Fox?