The Brooklyn Nets – A tale of hope, mistakes, failure, and rebuilding: Part 3
Post Trade: 2015-17 (Part 2)
We left off in the 2015 offseason, before the 3rd season after the awful trade that saw the Nets remortgage their future. Speaking of which, the 2015 draft had come around, where their pick wasn’t owned by Boston, it was owned by Atlanta, who selected Kelly Oubre Jr, and then traded him to Washington. Leaving the team was the rest of the Big 6 except Joe Johnson. But to replace them, were they desperate enough to pick up one of the most feeble #1 picks in league history? Yes, they were. They picked up Andrea Bargnani on a 1 year deal. They finished the season 21-61, Joe Johnson averaged only 12 points per game, and they went through another 2 head coaches, and along with not having their draft pick AGAIN this year, the locker room spirit wasn’t too bright. However, for Brooklyn fans, there was one happening that made there be light at the end of that long, long tunnel. On January 10, 2016, on the same day that they fired heach coach Lionel Hollins after a 10-27 start, GM Billy King stepped down from GM.
Even if Billy King’s reign was over, the fight to get past this dark time wasn’t, and it was a long time until it was. However, the Brooklyn Nets were getting back into the youngster industry, and nothing was going to stop them. In the 2016 NBA Draft, they wanted a first rounder, and they chose the 20th pick, Caris LeVert, who they got via trade from the Pacers. They also traded for Isaiah Whitehead from the Jazz, and Marcus Paige from the Clippers. The 2 latter never did anything much, but the first became an integral part of the Brooklyn Nets franchise. However, this did nothing but distract the Nets fans from the 20-62 season they were about to have. They also signed Spencer Dinwiddie, another future integral piece, but again it was Brook Lopez leading the team, the only player to have stayed, through this mess. But soon even he was going to abandon ship.
The Salvation: 2017-19
In the 2017 offseason, big changes were made to this team. Kenny Atkinson became the head coach, and their key piece this whole time, Brook Lopez was traded to the Lakers, who would not keep him, along with the rights to Kyle Kuzma, for D’Angelo Russell. A new front man to the team. Even with these changes, the Nets still finished a deflating 28-54, with D’Angelo Russell & Rondae Hollis-Jefferson leading the scorers. A still unremarkable season for an unremarkable team.
However, woohoo!!!! Word on the street before the 2018-19 season was that the Brooklyn Nets were going to do something this year. Acquiring names such as Jarrett Allen and Joe Harris, both of whom were going to break out that year, was inspiring. Rumour was that they were going to do something, and did they ever do something!. They got their first winning record since before the Pierce-Garnett trade, and got the 6th seed. They were a carbon copy of the east version of the Los Angeles Clippers, a team coming off the rebuild, were facing good teams in the 1st round, and had no superstars. But the Nets lost in 5 to the Sixers, but they were on the up! They had their own 1st round pick again, and this time, there was even bigger rumours on the street.
Stay tuned for Part 4!