Brooklyn Nets: Bring It All Down
By Steve Krebs
As the trade deadline (Feb. 19) approaches it is apparent the Brooklyn Nets have every intention of moving anyone who holds even the slightest amount of value, for lack of a better term, their stars.
With the exception of Mason Plumlee, who is not entirely guaranteed to elude this inevitable house-cleaning, the whole roster is only an agreement away from being on the move.
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With the Nets slipping further out of the Eastern Conference playoff race, there is really not much of a choice for the organization but to pretty much raise the proverbial white flag, and start the process of building towards a brighter future.
The expectations for this campaign were blown way out of proportion considering the lack of talent, depth, and identity that makes up the roster – despite popular opinion, this did not seem like a playoff contending team then, and the 18-26 record demonstrates they are not one now.
They are flat out a hard bunch to watch, and truth be told this turbulent time is not predicated on the performance of the individuals on the court as much as it is those running the organization – especially at the very top.
Owner Mikhail Prokhorov has done his very best to sit idly by while the Nets were run into a situation where they are set back about about four/five years by making a very expensive, yet unrealistic push for a title last season.
An obvious, but still honest criticism would be to point out the fact he [Prokhorov] was a major advocator of compiling players from overseas who produce in a more specialist role, and obviously are not the most consistent, rather than more talented names around the NBA.
GM Billy King not only signed two players older than 35 years old in an attempt to make a push in April, but he did so at the expense of securing any kind of contingency plan for the future. With all due respect, King’s bad decisions have only managed to bleed ownership dry.
The unloading of the current roster is merely a maneuver to sell off their highest paid contracts before the team is sold, which seems to be in the next season, or the one after that at the very latest.
Who Will Be On The Move By The Trade Deadline?
Because the Nets are trying to make it seem like they have some sort of leverage in the matter, they will continue to hold off for a deal that gets them something in the way of a decent return, but the fact is they either have to trade (even if it is for twenty cents on the dollar) , or fall even further behind in terms of rebuilding, with very little cap space available.
Deron Williams (rib), Brook Lopez (foot) were the first names rumored to be on the move, considering both have missed their fare share of games this season (19 combined), which seems to be the case every season, teams will be looking to pay an extremely low premium – this will most likely be the case in the end.
Joe Johnson is the name of the week being associated with trade rumors, suggesting he could be dealt to the Charlotte Hornets for the likes of Sir Lance Stephenson.
Not only would it make the most sense to keep Jarrett Jack because he is a capable, and talented point guard, but along with Mason Plumlee that is at least a step in the right direction to having some youth to build your team around – though, this is probably a pipe dream, because Jack would certainly retain a lot of interest on the market.
It’s about to be a fire sale in Brooklyn, and in the next few weeks, it appears the team will go from what some are calling under performing, to a complete horror show.