Brooklyn Nets: What Now?
By Jim James
Last Summer, I kicked off a full-on revival of this blog by doing a 4-part series on the Brooklyn Nets since *that* 2013 trade, and it ended on a positive note, with the upcoming season being the first full season with the big three.
Turns out there was no full season.
Almost 1 full year since then, the Brooklyn Nets are in panic mode. After a 7th place finish, only one of their own 1st round picks until 2027, James Harden gone for a wild card Ben Simmons and both of their stars on the outs, it’s not a good position for the New-York based side. Where do they go from here? I will tell every route they can go, so stay tuned!
Route 1: Go for it
This is the path I champion for Brooklyn. They trade Kyrie and KD for the best package they can. They could get Ayton, Bridges/Booker, and Westbrook from trades and remain contenders, if it all blows up they can reset, and by then it will be 2024 or 2025 anyway. However, even if this does happen, I don’t see too much success in the future for the Nets, but this is in my opinion the best case for Brooklyn. Here are trades that I think would be good value for the Nets. It should go well, but if it doesn’t (common for the Nets), they have a backup plan.
Route 2: Blow it up
This is Bob’s fave strategy. He thinks Brooklyn should trade them for young players and picks. Although this may be a bone-headed strategy in my view, I concede there still are a few reasons to do this. Brooklyn has their pick next summer with no restrictions on it, so could have a really nice young team for the 23-24 season, and could do somewhat like what the OKC Thunder have done in stockpiling picks. However, if it does go south, they don’t have their own pick until 2028 and it could be like what happened to them in the previous decade, something that should have been a once in 50-years (if not more) kind of thing. Here are two trades that could work.
Route 3: The Last Dance
The worst (in my opinion) option out of the 3 as a NBA fan, in which Brooklyn keep both, try for one more year, let Kyrie walk in 2023, and trade KD the same summer. This could be catastrophic as well for the Nets, as a big 3 for one more year spells trouble. I think they should take action now while they have their ‘23 1st rounder, and so does the rest of the NBA fanbase in my opinion.
Shorter post today, but I wanted to get this out on the KD trade, and giving it a few days to mature. We will be back with a follow up at the next major development. In the now, though, I’m Jim James, and Until Next Time.