Let’s get it Dub Nation. As training camp begins and the Golden State Warriors are getting back into the swing of things, I’m continuing my review of what the rest of the NBA has done, division by division.
We’re still in the Atlantic Division right now, and I’ve already covered the Boston Celtics and the Toronto Raptors. Next up on the list is the Brooklyn Nets, fresh off of winning their third straight title with the super trio of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden.
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Wait wait, you mean to tell me those three stars have been gone for hella long and the franchise is a wasteland that hasn’t won anything since Dr. J was playing? Whoaaa.
Last season the Warriors went 2-0 against Brooklyn. On December 29th at Barclays, Golden State won 120-107. The rematch at Chase on March 25 was tighter, 109-106, and the leading scorer was Gui Santos with a career-high 31. Santos detonating on Brooklyn was a pretty clear indicator of how badly the non-Knicks New York team was spiraling.
These guys eventually collapsed to a 20-62 finish as their season mercifully ended. Brooklyn walked into the summer trying to figure out a new identity, which can be an exciting thing! But perpetual rebuild mode is enough to break the hearts of even the most hardened fanbase. I wonder if the Nets are ready to play an inspired brand of basketball that would keep all of their supporters from burning their jerseys and bandwagoning the champion orange and blue of their neighbors.
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Nicolas Claxton left for Chicago, Ziaire Williams went to the Lakers, and the draft brought in Mikel Brown Jr., Joshua Jefferson and Tyler Bilodeau. Also, financial freedom! Isn’t that what everybody wants if you’re not winning championships?? Per Nets Daily:
Who can forget flexibility!?! To recap, Brooklyn still has $4.9 million in cap space, the $9.4 million room exception, the full $8.5 million in cash considerations plus 32 draft picks. You know the math … or should by now! 13 firsts, 10 of which can be traded, and 19 seconds, all of which can be traded. And at the moment, no Nets player has a contract that extends beyond 2027-28.
And then they traded for Julius Randle.
CBS Sports’ Sam Quinn was confused too:
Brooklyn’s front office probably faces the biggest disparity between perception and reality of any in basketball. The prevailing narrative surrounding the Nets is that they’ve been poorly run and their outlook is bleak. True, they haven’t yet found any truly foundational players, but they have a clean cap sheet and a six-pick first-round draft surplus (not including swaps, though in fairness they owe their 2027 swap to the Houston Rockets). The reality is that this is a pretty promising blank slate if you’re willing to take the long view.
The Julius Randle addition makes no sense. He’s an expensive floor-raiser in his 30s. The Nets don’t need their floor raised. They don’t control their own pick this year, so the relegation zone isn’t a concern. He overlaps positionally with Michael Porter Jr. (whom they have neither traded nor extended, strangely). He’ll take the ball out of the hands of their many young players who need it.
I gotta admit, I do enjoy seeing Michael Porter Jr. pull up with zero conscience and fire up shots from beyond the arc like a real flamethrower. It reminds me of Klay Thompson sometimes; except less accurate. I can see a world where certain nights MPJ and Randle thrive off inferior defenders and light up the scoreboard. I also am curious to see how the Nets win games if they aren’t both clicking. But is Porter Jr. really just trade bait for a potential contender?
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Per Sports Illustrated, here’s MPJ’s thoughts on the topic: “I’ve voiced that I’d love to be in Brooklyn and that I’m enjoying playing with these guys. And I think we’ll be a lot better this year, obviously. … The way these young guys have gotten better just in one year, I’m excited to see what we can do. So that’s where my mind is at and I’m not even thinking about anything else.”
I’ve seen the Nets take two major swings at the title in the last dozen or so years. There was the time they assembled Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Deron Williams, and Joe Johnson for an aging superteam back in 2013. Then there was that KD-Kyrie-Harden trio that the pandemic and injuries washed away. To see this franchise struggling while their NY neighbors guzzle championship champagne shows just how close despair and success live.
I expect the Warriors to give these guys the business when they meet this season. And with how stacked their division is, it’s gonna be tough to make some noise. They’ve got the athletic Toronto Raptors, the chip-on-their-shoulder Boston Celtics, and the new and improved Philadelphia 76ers all staring down at them in the standings. And whenever Brooklyn needs a break from looking up at the division, it can glance across the East River and watch the Knicks hang a banner.
Have fun with that, Brooklyn.
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