Brooklyn Nets Admitting Championship Chase Was Colossal Failure
The Brooklyn Nets knew it, they just had a hard time admitting it—until now.
Their radically rebuilt, exorbitantly priced roster produced nothing more than an exercise in futility. Historically expensive futility, at that.
Besides simply testing the limits of owner Mikhail Prokhorov's wallet, the Nets also traded long-term flexibility for a shot at instant gratification. From February 2011 to July 2013, Brooklyn shipped out first-round picks by the busload for players with big names, bigger salaries and declining on-court abilities.
Two first-round picks, promising prospect Derrick Favors and former All-Star Devin Harris were swapped out for Deron Williams. An unprotected first-round pick, later used on Damian Lillard, was sacrificed for Gerald Wallace. Another first-rounder, plus the right to swap two others, was given up to get Joe Johnson. Three more-first round picks and the option to swap for a fourth brought back Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett.
All of those moves were made to give Brooklyn a single shot at championship bliss. "This is the window—this season," Nets general manager Billy King declared in October 2013, per ESPN New York's Ohm Youngmisuk.
It's debatable to say whether that window ever officially opened. If it did, it was closed, locked and boarded up shortly thereafter.
The Nets won a total of 93 games and one playoff series the past two seasons. This year, under new head coach Lionel Hollins, they have limped out to an 8-11 start, posting mediocre (or worse) efficiency marks on both sides of the ball: 23rd on offense, 15th on defense.
And now, still shy of the 2014-15 season's quarter mark, the Nets have reportedly opened their doors for what appears to be a going-out-of-business sale. ESPN.com's Marc Stein and Youngmisuk shared the details of this latest development:
"The Brooklyn Nets have begun reaching out to teams to let them know that former All-Stars Deron Williams, Brook Lopez and Joe Johnson are available via trade, ESPN.com has learned.
League sources told ESPN.com that the Nets...have let it be known that they are prepared to move any of those franchise cornerstones in what would likely be separate deals if they came to fruition because of the high salaries each possess.
"
The Nets, of course, aren't approaching this as a fire sale.
"Sources insist that the Nets haven't abandoned their recent 'win-now mentality' and aren't merely looking to dump salary," Stein and Youngmisuk wrote. "Brooklyn's hope, sources said, is to construct a deal or two that bring back sufficient talent that enables the Nets to remain a playoff team."
That may very well be Brooklyn's desired result. It almost certainly is. Given the sacrifices made to assemble this core, the Nets have to hope for something better than a pennies-on-the-dollar return for their high-priced assets.
But why would the trade market yield anything more?
Consider what the Nets have to offer.
Plagued by nagging ankle problems, Williams hasn't been the same player since joining the franchise. Over his three final seasons with the Utah Jazz, he posted a combined player efficiency rating of 20.8 and held per-game averages of 19.0 points on 48.3 percent shooting and 10.6 assists. This season, he has a 17.6 PER to go along with 17.1 points on 43.1 percent shooting and 6.5 assists.
The 33-year-old Johnson has seen his value decrease thanks to the analytically driven NBA movement away from the isolation style of play he prefers. Once a 25.0 points-per-game scorer and 47.1 percent shooter in 2006-07, he's now good for only 15.7 points a night and boasts a 43.9 percent conversion rate from the field.
Brook Lopez is shooting the worst percentage of his career (48.8) and has seen his scoring dip lower than it's been since his rookie season (16.1). Just 26 years old, he already has five seasons with a total rebounding percentage below 14, the fifth-most for a 7-footer in NBA history (minimum 30 minutes per game). He also has a history of foot problems and has been dealing with a back issue of late.
In other words, don't be surprised if rival executives aren't blowing up King's phone to bring one of these three on board.
Strange as this may sound, the biggest hurdle King has to clear to ship any of them out is not their sagging stat sheets.
That designation belongs to the money these players stand to collect this season and beyond, per ShamSports.com.
| Joe Johnson | $23,180,790 | $24,894,863 | N/A |
| Brook Lopez | $15,719,063 | $16,744,218 | N/A |
| Deron Williams | $19,754,465 | $21,042,800 | $22,331,135 |
Now, Lopez holds a player option for his 2015-16 salary. And Williams can elect to opt out of his 2016-17 money.
Still, as Bleacher Report's Andy Bailey succinctly put it, that's hardly a reason for any team to think about adding any of the three to its shopping list:
"Just saw the report on Joe Johnson, Deron Williams and Brook Lopez. Who's lining up for those contracts?
— Andy Bailey (@AndrewDBailey) December 10, 2014"
Back in February, Grantland's Bill Simmons broke down the NBA's worst contracts. Lopez, Williams and Johnson each held a spot on that list. Lopez checked in at No. 21, Williams ranked fifth and Johnson finished fourth.
Sporting News' Sean Deveney compiled his own list in September. While Lopez was spared in this one, both Williams and Johnson "made" the cut.
"Moving any of those players (let alone all of them) will be nearly impossible," wrote Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes. "... Not one of them is playing well enough to remotely justify those dollar figures."
Of course, there is no such thing as an unmovable contract. The Nets proved that themselves when they traded for Johnson.
But it's going to require one heck of a sales pitch from King, along with a trade partner desperate enough for production to eat one of these monstrous salaries.
If the Nets are able to attract any buyers, they will be teams on the hunt for a door-busting bargain. Brooklyn may not see its players as such, but the rest of the league has to view this trio as clearance items.
"Deron Williams, Brook Lopez and Joe Johnson have been moved to the front table in Barnes & Noble with giant orange stickers on them
— J. D. Hatings (@basquiatball) December 9, 2014"
Maybe that will keep the Nets from making any moves. Despite this recent news, they haven't forced themselves into taking any action yet.
"We're on the phones, we're talking to people, but there's nothing imminent," King said on December 1, per Stein and Youngmisuk.
In a literal sense, the executive is right. There is nothing imminent. Brooklyn could field a few calls, make some of its own and find that no avenue exists outside the organization that leads to a more promising present than the one they already have.
But there is one distressing, unavoidable conclusion to take from all of this.
Brooklyn's championship dream, which continues to look more and more as if it was never based in reality, is over. The title pursuit has finished almost comically short of its intended target.
There is no miracle cure for this mess. Either the Nets will keep their players and continue down the treadmill of mediocrity, or they will sell former stars for scrap and move toward an uncertain future that may not include their own first-round draft pick until 2019.
How does this tragic tale end with a title? It doesn't. The Nets gambled everything and lost. They will continue feeling the effects of those short-sighted decisions for years to come.
No matter where the narrative turns from here, that part of the plot cannot change.
Unless otherwise noted, statistics used courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com.
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