Brooklyn Paid Cash for the Last Pick of the 2014 Draft
Toronto selected San Diego State point guard Xavier Thames with the No. 59 overall selection on June 26, 2014, then sold his draft rights to Brooklyn for cash on June 27. The Raptors transaction record shows the original selection and next-day transfer, while the Nets register also includes several other cash-for-rights deals in the same draft period. Thames had been a Mountain West Conference Player of the Year and an effective college scorer, giving Brooklyn a potential developmental guard for a low draft cost. He was not being acquired from Toronto as a contracted NBA veteran, and the deal did not include a second future draft pick. The Nets hoped to reserve an opportunity to sign him while Toronto chose immediate money rather than keeping another young guard in its pipeline.
Thames Did Not Translate the Rights into Brooklyn NBA Minutes
Thames later pursued professional playing time outside the Nets regular-season rotation, including overseas opportunities. He never appeared in a Brooklyn NBA regular-season game from these draft rights. That absence is important to the on-court evaluation: his strong San Diego State senior season and later non-NBA work cannot be listed as Nets points, assists or starts. The club did acquire an internationally usable prospect right and the freedom to assess him in future camps, but he did not develop into a starting point guard for Brooklyn. The inherited Nets C grade reflects the inexpensive speculative opportunity rather than delivered NBA court production. Brooklyn had already built a veteran roster, so there was never a clear path to immediate extensive minutes from the 59th pick.
Toronto Collected Cash and Preserved Its Guard Rotation
The Raptors received cash considerations and no NBA player through this exchange. Their roster had Kyle Lowry and other guards occupying available playing time, so selling a late second-round choice was financially sensible. No later Toronto player can be automatically credited to this transaction, and the cash value is not specified in the inherited canonical record. Toronto used the sale to obtain a predictable small return from a selection that carried substantial development risk. Its C grade matches Brooklyn C and the Even Trade label because the difference was between a speculative right and certain money rather than an obvious exchange of established player talent. The original June 26 draft and June 27 trade dates should also remain distinct; they were linked parts of the same draft-right acquisition.
Final Verdict
Even Trade with C grades on both sides. Brooklyn obtained Xavier Thames's No. 59 draft rights but never received NBA regular-season games from him. Toronto received cash the day after drafting Thames. This low-cost draft-rights sale yielded an option for the Nets and immediate financial compensation for the Raptors.