Brooklyn Acquired Reggie Evans Through a Second-Round Swap
In July 2012, the newly renamed Brooklyn Nets acquired hard-rebounding forward Reggie Evans from the Los Angeles Clippers in a sign-and-trade with complicated 2016 second-round swap rights. The teams did not exchange an established starting scorer. The transaction registers ultimately identify Brooklyn as receiving Evans and a 2016 choice associated with No. 55 Marcus Paige, while the Clippers received another 2016 second connected to No. 33 Cheick Diallo. Later trades changed who held the relevant picks, and the option took several years to resolve. Contemporary Nets coverage emphasized that Evans would fill a frontcourt role at a small initial cost. Brooklyn was about to launch its first season in its new arena and needed physically reliable rebounding next to a backcourt led by Deron Williams and Joe Johnson.
Evans Became One of the League Rebounding Leaders for the Nets
Evans played 80 Brooklyn regular-season games in 2012-13 and started 56, averaging 11.1 rebounds despite scoring only 4.5 points per game. His offensive scoring was limited, but his work recovering missed shots and disrupting opponents provided a clearly defined value to a playoff team. He played another 30 Nets games in 2013-14 before the February 2014 deal that moved him to Sacramento with Jason Terry. That later transaction should not be folded into the 2012 agreement; it produced a separate return. For the original Clippers swap, the direct Brooklyn value was a player who could rebound at an elite rate during the first year of the franchise in Brooklyn. The inherited Nets C+ grade acknowledges productive rebounding despite his limited scoring and short total tenure.
The Clippers Eventually Obtained the More Favorable Pick
Los Angeles traded a reserve it could replace within its frontcourt rotation and received the right to exchange second-round choices later. The eventual 2016 pick chain left the Clippers side associated with No. 33 Cheick Diallo, while Brooklyn held the less favorable No. 55 Marcus Paige selection. Those draft positions show that the option could become a legitimate later asset, not merely nominal compensation. Their inherited C grade still reflects that nothing on the immediate Clippers roster matched the 80-game Evans rebounding season in Brooklyn. The later Clippers decisions involving the acquired draft choice require separate tracing rather than attributing the entire NBA career of Diallo automatically to Los Angeles. The Nets acquired near-term rebounding, and the Clippers preserved a more advantageous draft-right outcome down the road.
Final Verdict
Slight Nets Edge. Brooklyn earns C+ for Reggie Evans, who appeared in 80 games with 56 starts and 11.1 rebounds per game in 2012-13. The Clippers receive C for 2016 second-round swap rights that eventually became the more favorable No. 33 Cheick Diallo selection versus No. 55 Marcus Paige.