Brooklyn Nets: The Peculiar Position They Find Themselves In
By Greg Chin
The Brooklyn Nets find themselves in a peculiar position that doesn’t happen quite often. At 18-25, the Nets are clinging on to the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, with the Charlotte Hornets and the Detroit Pistons hot on their heels.
The squad is talented enough that they should make the playoffs, but it doesn’t take a basketball analyst to realize they won’t go far in the postseason.
Earlier during the season, the Nets made it clear that Brook Lopez, Deron Williams, and Joe Johnson were up for trade. They were listening to any trade offers for the Nets’ Big Three, seemingly calling it quits on the experiment that brought all three together in 2012.
In that time, they’ve amassed the biggest wage bill in the league, with luxury tax payments that rival several teams’ actual payrolls.
The word out on the street is that the Nets’ owner, Mikhail Prokhorov, has had his fun with the team, and intends to sell it to the highest bidder – but in order to make the team more appealing, he has to first jettison some of the more expensive salaries.
Which brings us to the peculiar position the Nets find themselves in: should they blow up a team that is capable of making the playoffs?
So far, the Nets have sniffed around and were involved in several trade rumors. The biggest one to date was the three-way trade between the Nets, the Charlotte Hornets, and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Of course, that deal didn’t materialize, and it seems as though it might fall through.
The Miami Heat have been linked with making a play for Lopez, and Deron Williams has been rumoured to be a target of the Sacramento Kings – but it’s all just hushed whispers at the moment. Nothing concrete has materialized, yet.
It seems as though the Nets are caught in two minds. Their ideal plan would be to trade any of the Big Three for expiring contracts and assets, without taking in any long-term salary commitments. However, the problem here is that neither of them are having a good enough season to entice desperate teams to part with assets.
The NBA is becoming a hoarder’s market – first-round draft picks have increased exponentially in value, and it will take a lot to convince a team to part with it.
The rumored acquisitions for the Nets so far have included: Josh McRoberts (Heat), Lance Stephenson (Hornets), and Jeremy Lamb (Thunder). None of those seemed appealing enough to the Nets to convince them to part with Lopez, and if so, it’s hard to imagine any better offers out there for them – and Lopez is the one with the highest trade value.
It’s clear that the Nets’ priority is clearing salary, but not at the detriment of losing value on their assets. It’s a tough line to toe, and everyone is unsure what the Nets plan to do next. Meanwhile, the team keeps trudging along, keeping a brave front while the off-court circus continues to be the focus of their attention.