Brooklyn Nets: The Nets are being overlooked in Free Agency

Over the course of the season, New York basketball has shifted from Manhattan to Brooklyn, but yet, nobody is talking about the Brooklyn Nets as players to sign marquee free agents.

The Brooklyn Nets are on the verge of clinching their first playoff spot in four years after rebuilding and getting out of the phase where at one point, they were the worst team in basketball. It seems that the tide has progressively been turning in where the elite basketball in New York resides, but that doesn’t deter fans from still finding a way to give the New York Knicks undeserving buzz.

With a 160-325 record over the last six seasons, the Knicks have been an absolute embarrassment even with the countless amounts of talent such as Carmelo Anthony, Kristaps Porzingis, and Derrick Rose.

However, even with all of the lack of successes, the Knicks have still been linked with big-name free agents such as Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving solely based on their history and location of play, but if you look at which team is in a better spot to win now, there’s no question that it’s the Nets.

After their last playoff appearance in 2014-2015, Brooklyn was viewed as the untouchable team that not a soul wanted to play for. They traded away almost their entire future in draft picks to the Celtics and many people thought they got fleeced in the long run.

Also, the front office was under fire and free agents were putting Brooklyn last in their preferred landing destinations, but the moves made in putting them back to a solid ball club deserves more respect from some free agents, and the media.

After investing all of their resources into their win-now team of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, and Brook Lopez, it was clear that the Nets were living in the now and weren’t as worried about the future.

Fast forward a few years and everyone had filed out of Brooklyn to play elsewhere. All of that investment into assets that would inevitably exit, so with only Lopez remaining of the core, the mindset shifted towards rebuild mode without a lot of rebuilding assets such as draft picks to work with.

When Sean Marks took over as Brooklyn’s GM in February of 2016, the whole dynamic of the organization slowly started to shift. Kenny Atkinson took over as the head coach, and overall front office changes were made, which resulted in a skyrocket in bigger signings and trades compared to previous years. It was the beginning of a rebuild, a quick one at that, and it hit its peak in the summer of 2017.

It was no secret that D’Angelo Russell wasn’t working out with the Los Angeles Lakers, and with showtime looking to bring in Lonzo Ball as their next star point guard, it was clear Russell didn’t have a place on the roster anymore.

So, for Brook Lopez and the 27th overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft, the Nets received Russell and Timofey Mozgov. This was it. The centerpiece that the Nets could finally build their franchise around. It didn’t happen in Russell’s first season in Brooklyn, but fast forward to the summer of 2018, and all of that changed.

In less than a month, Marks completely overhauled the roster while keeping an ample amount of salary cap space. He dumped guys like Mozgov, Jeremy Lin, Quincy Acy, and Jahlil Okafor and in return got names such as Ed Davis, Shabazz Napier, and Jarred Dudley. It didn’t seem like much of an upgrade at the time, but these three have become solid contributors off the bench for the Nets and are just part of their success.

Then, they went on to re-sign their sharpshooter in Joe Harris and it definitely paid off. Harris shoots the three at a 42 and a half percent clip this season and is a nightmare for defenses to worry about once he gets going. It seemed to be all starting to work out for the Nets slowly but surely.

Russell was announced as an All-Star this season and rightfully so. He’s averaging nearly 21 points and seven assists and is quite literally everything the Nets wanted him to be. A franchise player that’s only 23 and can mature with the other young, talented core group of guys such as Caris LeVert and Jarrett Allen.

Any way you look at it, the Nets over the past few years definitely know how to pick ’em and they now have a clear identity and direction on where they want this franchise to go. The fact that they had traded away so many draft picks to the Celtics in the Pierce-Garnett deal and still have been able to rebuild faster and more efficiently than the Knicks is a major testament to their great front office.

If I’m Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, or Jimmy Butler, the glamour of playing in Madison Square Garden may not be worth the headache and expectation that comes along with playing for the Knicks.

Considering the Nets have two max contract slots and have done such a great job trading for, signing, and developing their current roster, it shouldn’t be a question that if free agents want to win now in New York, Brooklyn is the place to be come this summer.