The Brooklyn Nets: A tale of hope, mistakes, failure, and rebuilding: Part 2
By Jim James
2012-13 – Pre Trade
Where we left off yesterday, the Nets had just relocated to Brooklyn at the start of the 3rd season under Mikhail Prokhorov. In Early July 2012, the Nets traded a big core of their team – Jordan Farmer, Johan Petro, Jordan Williams, Anthony Morrow, and DeShawn Stevenson along with a 2013 Houston pick (Shane Larkin) the Atlanta Hawks’ way for Joe Johnson. Deron Williams choosing to run it back for another season along with the return of Brook Lopez coming back from injury and all 3 averaging around 55 points per game combined. As well as with the firing of Avery Johnson as head coach replaced by P.J. Carlesimo all got Brooklyn to a 49-33 record and a 4th place finish in the East. However, their playoff run was short, going out in 7 in the first round to a 45-win Chicago team.
2013-15 – Post Trade (Part 1)
On June 28, 2013, the Brooklyn Nets agreed to a deal with the Celtics that saw them receive Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Jason Terry in return for Kris Humphries, Gerald Wallace, MarShon Brooks, Kris Joseph, Keith Bogans, and unprotected 1st round picks in 2014, 2016, and 2018 with a swap option in 2017. A squad that had 3 championships among them for a squad that had and still has 0. The team also picked up past-his-prime Andrei Kirilenko from free agency.
It was set. Mikhail Prokhorov had his dream for jersey sales. A team that featured Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Jason Terry and Andrei Kirilenko. On paper, it looked like a dream for wins, too, and it would have been, if it were 7 years before, but it was 2013. The team had added another former great as coach, Jason Kidd, but they only finished with 44 wins. However, they got past the 3 seeded Toronto Raptors after a clutch play with seconds left in Game 7, but they crumbled under Lebron. They were led in points, even with all the stars, by Brook Lopez, but due to ANOTHER big injury, he played less than 20 games and left the retirement home at it. They only averaged 67 combined, all 6 of them, with Garnett, Kirilenko, & Terry only averaging a combined 15 points. They needed to be better if their weren’t going to waste the traded picks. But with the 6 having an average age of 34, history suggests that they would only get worse with time.
Well, in the 2014 offseason, Paul Pierce & Jason Terry bolted with the first opportunity they got, to the Rockets & Wizards respectively, and a now 39-year old Kevin Garnett was averaging 7 per game, so currently that was what they had from that trade. It didn’t look so genius now, did it? However, additions of Thaddeus Young & Jarrett Jack somewhat softened the still hard blows. Jason Kidd was out – Lionel Hollins was in, but everyone’s production dropped, even the promising Brook Lopez. They finished 38-44, but still made the playoffs, only to lose in 6 to the 60-win Atlanta Hawks squad.
The future was looking grim for the Brooklyn Nets, and things will start to look up in the next part, but only before getting ugly.
Stay tuned for Part 3!!!