The NBA is filled with haves and have-nots, from superstar-laden contenders to draft lottery dwellers. There’s no team, though, that’s more depressing at the moment than the Brooklyn Nets.
There was actually a time when the franchise was fresh and exciting after they re-branded themselves with a move to New York’s popular bustling borough in 2012.
Thanks to deeply-flawed general management and short-sighted moves, however, what was once an up-and-coming franchise has slipped to the lowest depths of the league with very little light at the end of the tunnel.
The Nets are flat-out terrible this season, sitting winless at 0-7 in the weak Eastern Conference.
Joe Johnson, once arguably the face of the franchise, looks washed-up at the age of 34. Their point guard position – the deepest position in the NBA – which was inconsistent with Williams at the helm, has been downgraded all the way to Jarrett Jack, a career sixth-man/role player.
Brooklyn’s most redeemable asset, centre Brook Lopez, is one of the most skilled big men in the league, but is extremely injury-prone and will inevitably miss games at some point.
All of that is bad, but just in terms of the on-court product and present outlook, the Nets aren’t that dissimilar to the lowly Philadelphia 76ers or Los Angeles Lakers.
Preparation. #BrooklynRepresent pic.twitter.com/XnjWDTR35O
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) November 10, 2015
The difference, other than the 76ers and Lakers having more promising young players, is that being so bad may end up being worth it in the long run for those teams.
That’s because the 76ers and Lakers could end up with a franchise-altering star with their first-round draft picks. Brooklyn has no such chance, due to their unprotected 2016 pick being owed to the Boston Celtics as part of that Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce trade in 2013.
There’s a realistic chance that come June, the Nets could hand over the first overall pick – the most coveted singular asset in the NBA outside of a superstar – to Boston…then surrender it again the next two years because of a pick-swap owed in 2017 and an unprotected first-rounder owed in 2018.
How Nets general manager Billy King still has a job is a whole other conversation, but just because Brooklyn doesn’t own its coming picks doesn’t mean they should do everything possible to decrease the value just to save some face.
The picks are gone regardless. What’s best for the franchise now is to trade Lopez, as well as Thaddeus Young, for whatever future return they can get and start replenishing the barren chest of draft selections.
This team has no present or future at this point, which is why a complete teardown and restart is needed.
But it will be a long, grim road.
