In 2013, the Brooklyn Nets shipped their future up to Boston to build a championship roster. General Manager Billy King acquired Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce from the Boston Celtics to build one of the fiercest starting lineups in the Eastern Conference. Today, it’s more than clear that the trade backfired.
After a surprising first year in Brooklyn, Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov told general manager Billy King to make the team a winner as soon as he can. King brought in Garnett, Pierce and Jason Terry from the Celtics in exchange for Gerald Wallace, Kris Humphries, MarShon Brooks, Keith Bogans and Brooklyn’s first-round draft picks in 2014, 2016 and 2018. Boston also earned the right to swap first-rounder with the Nets in 2017.
To summarize the deal: Billy King traded away the future of the Brooklyn Nets for a two year window. In total, the Nets spent $197 million on salary and taxes during the season for a 44-win team and one playoff series win.
In the following offseason Terry was traded, Pierce became a free agent, and Garnett was traded a few months after that. To make things worse, if this season stays on the path it’s on, they may have to hand over a top-5 pick to the Celtics.
Feb 10, 2015; Memphis, TN, USA; Brooklyn Nets head coach Lionel Hollins (C) looks on from the sidelines against the Memphis Grizzlies at FedExForum. Mandatory Credit: Justin Ford-USA TODAY Sports
Despite this depressing future following a now-catastrophic trade, King openly admits that while the trade for Pierce and Garnett didn’t work, he believes that the Nets can turn things around.
“We took our shot and it didn’t work,” he said. “And now to see some of these guys develop and to get it back and for us to have the cap space [next summer], we can do it pretty quickly. We want to win but we knew we may take a step back when some of the decisions were made. But what I like is we’ve put ourselves in the position to beat a Golden State, we just didn’t make the right plays. That’s just learning how to win. We’re talking the steps.”
Optimism? Really? There isn’t much to be optimistic about. Brooklyn’s offense is anemic, scoring 95.5 points per game (28th in the NBA), ranking last in three point percentage (29.6%) and their shooting efficiency is a disheartening 0.996 (28th in the NBA). They have few natural playmakers and the offense is built around Brook Lopez, an inefficient Joe Johnson, and point guard Jarrett Jack, who would be a back-up, if lucky, on any other team.
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Defensively the Nets are giving up 102.8 points per game (22nd in the NBA), and have the second worst average score margin in the league with a -7.3. Lopez, who’s efficient on offense, is a slow-footed big man, and the Nets get little to no rim protection and have a nonexistent perimeter defense. Opponents have a 37.7 three point percentage against Brooklyn, 3rd worst in the NBA.
So it’s great that Billy King is being optimistic and all, but the reality is that the Nets are atrocious and will continue to be for the next several years. Even though the Nets play in New York City, players want to win which makes it even harder for King to bring in a marquee free agent to such a saddening team next summer.
“Now we’re focusing on trying to gain younger assets, as we did this year, and we’ll keep doing that,”- Billy King
I give the Nets front office a lot of credit for trying to cash in on a title, in fact I love when an organization goes all in on trying to bring home a championship. The problem is, they did little to nothing to protect themselves if things went south, where they are now.
The Nets could, and likely will, finish in the bottom half of the lottery this year and have to send a top pick to Boston, who could very well be a playoff team. This could happen next season as well if the Nets get a higher draft pick than the Celtics.
The only savior for the Nets now is the impending salary-cap boom, which will give them cap space to sign some top players. There are two problems with that:
- As mentioned before, superstars in the NBA want to win, and would not come to a team that has no hope for improvement.
- The spending big method is the same method that dug this hole for the Nets two years ago. Ultimately, what the team really needs is a fresh start with young talent to develop and build around. Which is a difficult task because they don’t own their own draft pick until 2020.
Next: How Far Can Brook Lopez Carry Nets?
Unless the Nets figure out how to turn it around this year or next, it will be a painful few years until the Nets finally dig themselves out of the hole from their disastrous trade with the Celtics, which seems more lopsided now than ever before.