Nets’ trip to Dallas reminds us of what could have been – and what lies ahead

DALLAS — The Nets’ game Friday in Dallas could have been a reunion with Kyrie Irving and a grim reminder of their ill-fated Big 3.

Instead, it’s a cautionary tale of stardom, and an amplification of Brooklyn’s new holistic approach in the apron era: Tank. Preliminary version. To develop.

“Well, I have to say we are in a rebuilding year,” Nets team owner Joe Tsai said recently during an “All-In” podcast event. “We spent everything [2025] picks – last summer we had five draft picks in the first round. We have one pick for 2026 and we hope to get a good pick so you can predict what kind of strategy we will use this season.”

That strategy is still intact.

While some teams that traded for high-priced stars are struggling — including Dallas, where Irving remains sidelined by a torn ACL — teams are increasingly holding on to their draft picks and building internally.

And while the Nets went to Dallas since Nov. 5 and essentially played .500 ball with the red-hot Michael Porter Jr. – the same game in which Cam Thomas was injured – they are still full steam ahead on their tank and plan to use the cap space to land future assets.

That chase could begin as soon as Monday, when the unofficial trading season begins.

Last year, the Nets shipped out Dennis Schröder on the first day the deal could be completed, and it appears they will be back in business.

Tsai referenced his other job – as chairman of e-commerce giant Alibaba – when he recently told a group of young entrepreneurs at Hong Kong University that the secret sauce to success is to do it holistically.

“You would always want to prefer organic development over acquisitions,” Tsai said. “Of course we have also made some acquisitions. Some of them were successful and some of them failed spectacularly. But you always prefer organic development, because you develop it through your team and your team has the best DNA.”

That meant business, but that also includes basketball.

Even more so in this NBA era.

While building superteams was once in vogue — and Brooklyn’s Irving-Kevin Durant-James Harden squad was largely considered the most talented of the era — it came with risks. And the new punitive CBA has increased these risks to the point where franchises are rethinking the way they do business.

Teams are leery of trading large amounts of first-round picks for stars on the wrong side of 30, and hoarding draft picks instead. That’s still exactly where the Nets plan to use their league-high $15.3 million in cap space, absorbing even more salary dumps to land other teams’ draft picks.

League sources have consistently told The Post that Brooklyn’s plans remain the same, and both ESPN and Marc Stein confirmed as much this week.

That doesn’t necessarily mean Boston’s Anfernee Simons, but it’s still the plan.

Nets general manager Sean Marks used his $40 million in cap space in four salary dumps this summer, absorbing Porter, Terance Mann and Haywood Highsmith to land a first-round pick (which became Drake Powell), Denver’s unprotected 2032 first-rounder and Miami’s 2032 second-rounder.

They also paid $100,000 to watch Kobe Bufkin, but decided against it.

Even after a record five first-round picks in June, Marks sits on a cache of 12 future first-rounders and 18 seconds, both highest in the league. Can he collect more?

The Nets, Wizards, Jazz ($10.5 million in cap space, $18.4 million trade exception) and Pistons ($14.1 million trade exception) are the only squads with viable cap space. All but Detroit could be in the market for salary dumps, with one league source suggesting Washington or Utah could undercut Brooklyn in that venture.

Brooklyn could also facilitate relocations.

While they may have missed their timing to land Giannis Antetokounmpo, they could benefit by being a third team in a potential deal. Antetokounmpo’s agent, Alex Saratsis, who also represents Nets guard Cam Thomas, has opened talks with Milwaukee regarding the Greek star’s future ahead of the Feb. 5 trade deadline.

But the trading season begins Monday, when the 82 players inked this summer become eligible to be dealt. Don’t expect Marks to sit still for too long.