After a disappointing start to the season, it appears that the Brooklyn Nets are making their star trio of Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, and Brook Lopez available for trades according to ESPN.
The news that Brooklyn will be looking to trade its “Big 3” is a bit shocking this early in the season, and especially in the Eastern Conference, but it is a smart move for the Nets, as they simply aren’t a title contender nor will they be in the coming years.
When Brooklyn made the move to acquire Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett from Boston it was not to just make the playoff, but to win a championship, which was something that was a stretch even with that team.
In order to create the super starting lineup of Williams, Johnson, Pierce, Garnett, and Lopez it cost the Nets not only a ton of money, but also a ton of draft picks.
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This past offseason there were signs that the Nets were clearly heading into a different direction after what was a failed plan to try and win a championship. The major move, or lack thereof, was the Nets letting Pierce walk without offering him a contract, as he went to play with the up and coming Washington Wizards.
Brooklyn surely would have been fine seeing Kevin Garnett retire so they wouldn’t have to pay him his ridiculous $14 million dollars this season to try and eliminate some contracts.
Billy King will now have to draw up a new plan of how to rebuild this Nets roster, and this will likely be more challenging than it was to build.
The trio of Williams, Johnson, and Lopez is an expensive one, and will be difficult to move, but it can be done in what will almost certainly have to be separate deals.
Williams, who was brought on to be a star for the Nets as they knew they were heading from New Jersey to Brooklyn, has never seen the success that he had in his days with the Utah Jazz. On his current five-year $98 million dollar contract, Williams is owed $21 million dollars next season, and then $22.3 million in the 2016-17 season.
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The last few years have been filled with poor play and lots of injuries for Williams, who has missed time with various ankle injuries, and most recently had both ankles surgically repaired this past offseason.
Johnson is the most expensive of the three players, as he is the third-highest player in the NBA, and in the next two seasons will be making $23.2 million for the remainder of the 2014-15 season, and next year will be making $24.9 million. Johnson has been the healthiest of the three players, but his contract was thought to be untradeable when the Nets made the deal for him from the Atlanta Hawks.
Lopez will be another difficult player to trade for King. To go along with a $16.7 million dollar player option for next season, Lopez has been unable to stay on the court. Last season, Lopez missed almost the entire year due to a foot injury that required two procedures, and then in March he need another surgery on his left ankle to repair torn ligaments.
Nothing will be happening immediately, but it will be certainly interesting to see how the Nets perform knowing that their trio of stars are likely to be moved.