Heavy.com’s Sean Deveney, in a summary of things left unresolved at summer’s end, reports that the Brooklyn Nets and their high scorer from last year appear to be at an impasse over an extension, raising the possibility that if it continues, Michael Porter Jr. might be on the trade block.

Porter is in an odd spot because he needs an extension as he heads into the final year of his contract, at $40 million. He showed All-Star ability when given more free reign last year, but that was on a bad Nets team. Brooklyn should be better this year, and Porter will need to show he can keep putting up star numbers on a team that is trying. But if an extension does not get done … what then?

Deveney quotes an “Eastern Conference executive” on the possibility:

“I think what he did last year is legit and teams are going to see it that way. But the problem you have is if you trade for him, are you going to extend him and what is the number? The Nuggets overpaid him when they gave him that extension, and if he wants to be paid based on that, that is not going to be an easy sell. If he can accept getting into a salary slot that makes more sense for him, you can make that trade. It’s an expiring deal but the Nets would get a first-round pick for him still.”

Just turned 28, MPJ is now after that big Nuggets contract an expiring deal worth $40.8 million, which is $7 million more than any other Nets player will receive this year. And even though Sean Marks has said all the right things about Porter Jr. and his agent, Mark Bartelstein, has said all the right things about the way the Nets and particularly Jordi Fernandez, have treated him and how happy he is, it is a business and the two sides have different views on what should happen next.

“I’m sure we’ll have those discussions. I think we’ve got time. There’s no immediate hurry right now with Mike. We value him a lot. He had a terrific year last year, arguably his best year as a pro. I give him a lot of credit for that,” Marks said back on July 16. “It’s been great to see what Mike’s done for us. I look forward to having those discussions, and seeing what Mike can do the rest of the summer and the rest of the season.”

“No, any time you’re in a hurry, that’s when people make mistakes,” Marks added. “We’ve got a well-thought-out plan here over not only the last couple of years but the couple of years ahead. We’re gonna try and find who the next Nets are gonna be. I don’t think we wanna do anything hastily or in a rush here.”

And indeed, the Nets can extend Porter Jr. at any time up until July 6 of next year. But Bartelstein sees things differently, as presumably does his client. MPJ has recently talked about how he sees his life beyond basketball, but this could very well be his last chance to make the big bucks.

“Michael loves it in Brooklyn. Jordi has been great for him… I think it’s a great fit,” Bartelstein said in a SiriusXM Radio interview at around the same time. “But that’s something Sean and I have to sit down and talk about. The Nets have to ultimately chart out their course for the way they want to go forward, and we have to do the same thing for Michael. If we can make it work where there’s a long-term fit, that would be awesome. But that’s what we’re gonna be talking about in the days ahead.”

Reportedly the two sides have spoken since but beyond that, there’s been little news. As Deveney noted, Porter Jr. wants a deal that will pay him beyond that $40.8 million and presumably over a longer term than the Nets feel comfortable with. Indeed, it would appear that the length of an extension may be a bigger issue than money. With many teams hamstrung by the luxury tax and first or second aprons, the trend is for shorter deals. The Nets, while not anywhere near either, see themselves in rebuild, if not tanking mode, and don’t appear to want to take on big, long term deals. As we reported Monday in our Off-Season Report:

They do not want, at least at this point in the rebuild, to cut long-term deals either. Thus, the impasse with Michael Porter Jr. as well as the team and “mutual” second-year options Minott, Day’Ron Sharpe, Moe Wagner and Keon Ellis agreed to this summer.

Indeed, other than seven rookies with their two-year guarantees on four-year deals, only Terance Mann is owed guaranteed money beyond this season. He’s got $31 million left on his deal. Julius Randle has a player option. The roster is built to turn on a dime and unsentimentally move on.

In addition, a solution suggested by more than one set of pundits now seems unlikely. Yossi Gozlan and Sam Quinn speculated in July that the Nets could use some of their cap space to give Porter Jr. an immediate raise to say $49 million, then fill out an extension at a lower salary, perhaps in the 30 million dollar range? In that configuration, the two suggested, the Nets could sign Moe Wagner to the room MLE at $9.2 million and pay MPJ out of cap space. But since then, Wagner was signed out of cap space, not the MLE, leaving Brooklyn with only $1.7 million under the cap, per Spotrac.

Whether Porter Jr. would have accepted that is another thing. There was no indication of that.

He did speak about contract negotiations Monday in an interview with Peyton Watson, his former teammate with the Nuggets, but that discussion on his Curious Mike podcast focused not on his situation but Watson’s. (Porter sure seemed like he was recruiting the 23-year-old to the Nets at one point earlier in the summer, but the Nets never seemed that interested.)

What could MPJ bring back in a trade? Another first round pick to add to the 13 firsts and 19 seconds they have already banked? What about as a nice piece in a trade deadline deal for a younger player come February? Whoever takes him on whether for a pick or player would also have to talk to Bartelstein about his future and the issues would likely be the same for that team as for the Nets. What’s his market?

Bottom line seems that the Nets do indeed like Porter Jr. as player and team leader — and need him if they’re going to satisfy their fans need for some wins this season, Marks and Joe Tsai seem ready to stay their course, that “well-thought out plan” Marks mentioned.

And as noted, there’s plenty to time.

NBA Trade Rumors: Deal Cost for Kyrie Irving, Trey Murphy & More – Sean Deveney – Heavy.com