NEW YORK — A reckoning is coming. A trade, maybe several, that will radically reshape the Brooklyn Nets as we have come to know and love (and/or mock, and/or disdain) them.
Deron Williams could be shipped out.Brook Lopez could follow.Joe Johnson will likely stay, but there's no guarantee of that, either.
The Nets—having spent wildly to chase a title only to find themselves stuck on a gold-plated treadmill—are now working to break the cycle of mediocrity. All they need is a willing trade partner (or two) to take their high-priced stars.
(We'll pause here until the snickering subsides.)In truth, there never was much to love or respect about the Williams-Lopez-Johnson union, perhaps the least intimidating "Big Three" facsimile we have ever seen. Their statistics and salaries projected strength. Their play inspired shrugs, a collective "meh" from the masses.
A breakup is coming, and no one, not even the most devout Nets fan, will mourn the occasion. But it's worth looking back for a moment, too, to remember how they got here.
The Nets never set out to be the costliest mediocre team in NBA history. It just sort of happened that way, through a series of miscalculations, near misses and simple misfortune, all compounded by an owner's unbridled ambition.Yet a greater "what if" underlies all of it: What if the Nets had built organically, methodically, instead of falling prey to the instant-gratification virus that afflicts so many New York teams? (Looking at you, Knicks.)
Would Brooklyn now be cheering a Damian Lillard-Derrick Favors tandem? Maybe.The Nets front office never had that option.
From the moment the Nets were purchased by Mikhail Prokhorov, the swaggering Russian billionaire, the standing order was clear: Get a star. Any star. And get him now.
With the Nets moving from New Jersey to Brooklyn in 2012, the business and marketing folks ruled the agenda. Prokhorov needed a name to put on the Barclays Center marquee and a means to bump the Knicks off the back pages of the tabloids.
Prokhorov boldly predicted a takeover of New York. He erected a billboard of himself and Jay-Z, then a part-owner, across from Madison Square Garden, with the slogan, "The Blueprint for Greatness."
Prokhorov needed star power. He needed a foothold in the market.The Nets "had to have something going to Brooklyn," a person familiar with the franchise's agenda said. "You only have one chance to introduce yourself as a brand."
Carmelo Anthony, who spent his early childhood in Brooklyn's Red Hook neighborhood, might have been that brand.
It's been forgotten now, but the Nets were the front-runners to acquire Anthony from Denver, until the Knicks ramped up their efforts. The Nets' trade offer included Favors, Devin Harris and four first-round draft picks, along with salary-cap filler.
Although reports indicated that Anthony would only re-sign with the Knicks, the Nets firmly believed otherwise. Anthony was so determined to sign a $65 million extension before the lockout that he would have ultimately accepted a deal with the Nets, team officials believed.It all became moot when Knicks owner Jim Dolan commandeered negotiations and caved into the Nuggets' demands. Anthony became a Knick.
And the Nets—desperate for a franchise star—pivoted to Williams, who at the time was 26, a two-time All-Star and an Olympic gold medalist. He had just been named the league's top point guard, ahead of Paul, in an annual poll of team executives.
The Nets sent Favors and Harris, plus two first-round picks, to Utah. They had their man.What looked like a blockbuster, fate-changing deal then looks like a spectacular misfire now. The moody, oft-injured Williams, while still a capable scorer and playmaker, is no longer a top-10 point guard.
And yet the Nets still might have secured a better fate if Howard had simply stuck to his guns back in 2012. Howard was heading for free agency, with an opt-out clause in his contract. He and Williams had quietly planned to join forces in Brooklyn. The Nets had ample salary-cap room.
But with controversy swirling around him, Howard signed away his right to opt out, killing the Nets' best chance for a true franchise star.
Source http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2309456-nets-willingness-to-deal-signals-necessary-course-correction-for-plan-gone-awry
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