The Brooklyn Nets: A tale of hope, mistakes, failure, and rebuilding
By Jim James
The Brooklyn era of the Nets’ NBA franchise has been hope wrapped in disappointment wrapped in a big market. Let me guide you through the journey for the Brooklyn Nets
2010-12: Mikhail Prokhorov buys the team
In 2010, the then New Jersey Nets were majority bought by Mikhail Prokhorov, a Russian Businessman best known outside of his Nets ventures in the ONEXIM group and being in the 2012 Russian Presidential Election.
He started in the 2010-11 season, with an abysmal team led by a sophomore Brook Lopez and Devin Harris that lost 70 games the previous season with Kiki Vandeweghe running as the Head Coach & GM. In a 2010 draft that saw the likes of Paul George, DeMarcus Cousins, and John Wall enter the league, the Nets landed 3rd & ended up with… Derrick Favors. An awful season capped off by that. However, Prokhorov saw that changes needed to be made. Kiki was out, and he was replaced by Avery Johnson & Billy King.
However, those 3 changes barely made any difference. The Nets were still on course for a sub-20 win season, until a huge decision was made. On February 23, 2011, the New Jersey Nets traded their 3rd pick Derrick Favors, who at that point had averaged 6 points & 5 rebounds, Devin Harris, and the first round picks that would become Enes Kanter & Gorgui Deng for Deron Williams. Still one of the best Point Guards in the league, but while he was past his peak, he was still at All-Star/All-NBA level. He averaged 15 points & 12 assists in his 12 games in Brooklyn that season, and steered them to a 24-58 record.
In the 2011 NBA draft, the Nets’ pick which as we mentioned before was traded to Utah for Deron Williams, they pulled some strings and swapped picks with Boston for MarShon Brooks, trading away JaJuan Johnson. That season, their last in New Jersey, Billy King’s first act of “Genius” happened. They traded for Gerald Wallace, a player who, although he was a former all star, had peaked in Charlotte and was now well & truly declining at the age of 29. Going the Blazer’s way was Mehmet Okur, Shawne Williams, both of whom never played for the Blazers, and a 2012 draft pick. Who was selected with this pick, you ask? Damian Lillard. Yikes. Although Wallace and Williams combined to score 36 per game, the Nets took a step back and got a 22-60 record, mainly due to a Brook Lopez injury that confined him to 5 games that season.
Seeing that this franchise was going nowhere, Mikahil Prokhorov packed up, and moved the team to Brooklyn hoping for a bright future. Spoiler: He’d have to wait.
Stay tuned for Part 2!!!!