Welcome to Brooklyn: What's Next for the Nets?

As a native of the great land itself, let me be the first to welcome the Nets to Brooklyn! The Barclays Center is looking beautiful and, quite frankly, so is the Brooklyn Nets' future.

Quite a strange but rewarding feeling to finally refer to them as such. The Brooklyn Nets.

Now that the greetings are out of the way, it's time to look ahead to the future. For instance, what will change? What will stay the same? And most importantly, what will moving to Brooklyn mean for the team beyond a simple cross-water relocation?

If you're looking for a quick answer, general manager Billy King will be the first to tell you that the Nets "will not build slowly." Let's take a look at what that could mean and what questions need to be answered!

Avery Johnson's Future Decided

As the Brooklyn Nets unveiled their team logo, there was one man whose comments spoke volumes to what the Nets plan on doing: head coach Avery Johnson.

According to Johnson, at this time next year, the media "will be in [Johnson's] press conference for the 2013 playoffs."

Upon hearing that statement, it's hard to imagine general manager Billy King making a move to get rid of the playoff-hopeful head coach.

This shouldn't disappoint Nets fans, as Johnson is one of the most successful coaches of the past decade. His career record of 240-172 is evidence of such, even with the past two years in New Jersey producing lackluster results.

While he never won an NBA championship as a coach, he's a former player who was a key component of the San Antonio Spurs' 1999 title victory. He's also made the NBA finals as a coach, leading the Mavericks to the 2006 title round.

Why not give him a chance to win with some talent around him?

Who Will Stay, Who Will Go?

As the 2012 NBA postseason comes to a close, free agency will come to a dramatic beginning. At the heart of the controversy will be the Brooklyn Nets, and not due to the player you'd imagine.

Key players throughout the Nets roster are eligible for free agency, including Brook Lopez, DeShawn Stevenson, Gerald Green, Gerald Wallace and Kris Humphries. As the Nets look to the future, each of those players will quote The Clash as they ask themselves, should I stay or should I go?

The slight issue with that theory, however, is that those players may not have the power when it comes to re-signing.

Billy King and the Brooklyn Nets are looking to build a winner right now. While the players previously listed have talent, they have not led a team to become a winner, which is why some of those names may not return. Gerald Green, Kris Humphries and Brook Lopez, however, should be names to legitimately watch.

New Route of Promotion

As a New York City native, it's near-impossible to miss out on the ubiquitous billboards featuring Deron Williams as the Big Apple welcomes the Nets to Brooklyn. From Brooklyn to the Bronx to Queens to Staten Island, it's everywhere to be found. In Manhattan, it's nearly as ubiquitous as your every-corner Starbucks.

The issue is, Deron Williams may not be coming back. That beckons the question of who becomes the Nets franchise player? Who finds their face on the billboards?

Look for the Nets to strike gold early and often in free agency as they build their new promotional campaign.

Realistic or Not: 'We're Not Gonna Build Slowly'

According to general manager Billy King, the Brooklyn Nets are "not gonna build slowly." With a surplus of upper-tier talent available to be signed, it's not impossible for this to be done. The question is, will it?

The Nets have no first-round draft picks and will not have a selection until late in the second round, via the Miami Heat. Due to this fact, the Nets have one option: sign big or fail again.

Players such as Eric Gordon, New York City native Roy Hibbert, Steve Nash and the supposedly targeted Kevin Garnett could all be in play.

Will Brooklyn Re-Sign Deron Williams?

The biggest question mark in the Nets' future is whether or not potential franchise point guard Deron Williams will join them in the move to Brooklyn. While he's made it clear that he will test free agency, it's unclear whether or not the Nets remain a team on his short list. It's also unclear where they'd be positioned should they find themselves on it.

Regardless of where they stand at this very moment, it's hard to imagine the Nets doing anything until they figure out the D-Will dilemma. By the way Billy King is speaking, however, it appears that they will show no signs of hesitation as they look to bring in big-name free agents to build a contender.

With or without Charlotte for 57 points.">Mr. 57.