Amid a stronger start than most people anticipated, the Brooklyn Nets are not looking to find ways to contend this season as they plan their strategy leading up to the trade deadline in February.

One source told ESPN's Brian Windhorst the Nets will have "just about everyone" on their roster available in a trade "as long as they don't take back any long-term money," but they won't be "giving anyone away" simply to make a move right now.

The Nets didn't hide their intention to start rebuilding over the summer. All of their moves were designed to increase their future draft capital. They acquired six first-round draft picks, including four unprotected picks and an unprotected pick swap, from the New York Knicks in the Mikal Bridges trade.

In a savvy bit of business, the Nets also reacquired their first-round picks in 2025 and 2026 from the Houston Rockets. They originally sent to those picks to Houston as part of the James Harden trade in January 2021.

These moves seemed designed to kickstart the long-term plans for Brooklyn, but the current team isn't cooperating in the way the front office might prefer. The Nets are one of three teams currently tied for seventh in the Eastern Conference with a 9-11 record.

Cam Thomas, who is only 23 and could be a key part of their future plans, is having a breakout season. The LSU alum averaging 24.7 points on 38.9 percent three-point shooting, but he is going to miss at least three weeks due to a hamstring injury.

The Nets have a lot of expiring contracts that figure to be desirable in trades. Ben Simmons, Bojan Bogdanović and Dennis Schröder are all set to become free agents next summer.

Windhorst noted the Nets could have up to $70 million in cap space going into the offseason.

There is a risk that the Nets might win too many games too early in the season to finish among the group of teams with the highest odds in the draft lottery, but they have plenty of levers to pull that would allow them to go into the tank if that's the route they want to pursue.