There’s an expectation among some executives around the league that the Nets will shop some of their prominent veterans, including Michael Porter Jr., between now and the Feb. 11 trade deadline, Jake Fischer of The Stein Line reports.

The Nets do not control their own first-round pick in June, since they still owe Houston for the 2021 acquisition of James Harden. Brooklyn could have the additional motivation of pouncing on a depressed trade market, due to an anticipated lack of true sellers. The new lottery system is discouraging some struggling teams from selling off players for draft capital, with an unnamed Eastern Conference team strategist telling Fischer, “There will be less sellers than ever before.”

Porter Jr. is making $40.8MM this season and will be an unrestricted free agent in the summer.

Here’s more tidbits from Fischer:

• The Pacers, who have struggled with Tyrese Haliburton sidelined by a hamstring injury, are testing the market for potential mid-tier improvements. The Stein Line previously reported that Indiana was one of the teams interested in Nique Clifford before he was dealt to the Thunder.
• After getting stripped of so many picks as punishment for circumventing the salary cap, the Clippers might be convinced to shop Max Strus, Kris Dunn, Derrick Jones Jr. and perhaps Brandon Ingram to replenish their draft stock.
• Are the Bucks giving the NBA investigators even more ammunition in their investigation into Gary Trent Jr.’s extension? The league is probing into Trent’s four-year, $64MM contract after the shooting guard signed a pair of one-year, team-friendly deals. Several rival teams are openly wondering why Trent isn’t in Milwaukee’s rotation, considering the contract it gave him.
• Teams with losing records might look to make deals shortly after Dec. 15 — when most of July’s free agent signees become trade-eligible — rather than the February trade deadline, Fischer hears. That would allow the acquiring team to get roughly 30 more games out of a player for likely the same outgoing expenditure of draft capital than would be given up in February.