Brooklyn Nets: Brook Lopez At The Center Of It All

After the Brooklyn Nets were ousted in the first round of the 2013 NBA Playoffs by the Chicago Bulls, general manager Billy King went on a shopping spree.

More from Brooklyn Nets

First, he opted not to retain interim coach P.J. Carlesimo, who led the team to a 35-19 finish after Avery Johnson was fired following at 14-14 start.

Then came the acquisitions—Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Jason Terry in a trade from the Boston Celtics, veteran free agents Shaun Livingston and Andrei Kirilenko to provide depth and seemingly every first-round pick between now and Nostradamus’ predicted end of the world in 3797 either traded away or destined to be swapped for a lower pick.

Former New Jersey Nets star Jason Kidd took off his New York Knicks jersey, traded it for a whiteboard and a cup of soda and became a rookie coach in charge of a bunch of veterans he spent years playing with and/or against.

To Kidd’s credit, the Nets turned a 10-21 start into a 44-38 finish—a five-game drop from the previous season—and took out the Toronto Raptors before being swallowed up by the Miami Heat in the second round of the playoffs.

Kidd was ousted, sent to the Milwaukee Bucks after reports of a failed Brooklyn Kremlin coup surfaced. Pierce opted for free agency, Kirilenko was traded, Livingston walked and the original director of the Grindhouse in Memphis, Lionel Hollins, was brought in to coach.

The result was a 38-44 finish—now 11 games worse than when it was determined Carlesimo wasn’t the guy for the future—and a first-round exit courtesy of the Atlanta Hawks.

The one constant through the time in Brooklyn has been Brook Lopez—for better or for worse, and there’s been a lot of both.

In 2012-13, Lopez returned from a season in which he missed all but five games with a broken foot to average 19.4, 6.9 rebounds, 2.1 blocks and earn his first All-Star berth.

In 2013-14, Lopez was averaging 20.7 points a game before his balky right foot betrayed him again and he missed all but 17 games.

Last season, Lopez was healthy enough to play in 72 games, including coming off the bench for 28 of them—his first reserve duty since his 2008-09 rookie season, but he came on strong down the stretch.

The Nets had no lottery balls to play for—their 2015 first-round pick was subject to be swapped with Atlanta’s (29th overall)—so they went for broke in an effort to land an unlikely playoff spot.

Lopez averaged 21 points, 9.5 rebounds and two blocks in 33.9 minutes a game over the final 23 games of the season, shooting 55.5 percent from the floor as Brooklyn went 13-10 (hey, that constitutes red-hot in the nether regions of the Eastern Conference) to grab the eighth and final playoff spot.

Lopez didn’t play badly in the playoffs, either, averaging 19.8 points, nine rebounds and two blocks as the Nets split the first four games with the Hawks before going down in six games.

And now the six-year veteran from Stanford faces a decision this summer.

He can remain in Brooklyn for one more season by exercising his $16.7 million option for 2015-16 and look at breaking the bank in what is expected to be the mother of all free-agency spending sprees in the summer of 2016.

Or he can opt out a year ahead of the bonanza and join DeAndre Jordan as the two top-profile centers in this summer’s free-agent market.

In any event, King said that Lopez—along with power forward Thaddeus Young, acquired in a trade deadline deal from the Minnesota Timberwolves for the decaying remains of Garnett’s career—is the key to everything moving forward in Brooklyn.

“Without Brook Lopez there’s no way we even get to where we got to,” King said earlier this month, via the Brooklyn Eagle. “We’ve got to retain those guys. They say they want to be here, we want them here because then you can build around them and build with them. Every indication we’ve gotten from both of them, they want to be here, we want them here.”

Apr 19, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Brooklyn Nets forward Thaddeus Young (30) scores past Atlanta Hawks forward Paul Millsap (4) during the first half in game one of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at Philips Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports /

In 28 games after the trade, Young averaged 13.8 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.4 steals in 29.6 minutes per game on a .495/.380/.606 slash line before putting up 10.5 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists while shooting 43.9 percent during the series against the Hawks.

Live Feed

4 Trae Young trades the Hawks should consider /

FanSided

These NBA stars might switch teams sooner rather than laterAll U Can Heat

The Whiteboard: Wild cards who could reshape the 2023-24 NBA seasonFanSided

NBA Rumors: Ben Simmons in best shape of his life for third time in 3 yearsFanSided

NBA rumors: Erik Spoelstra is a trojan horse, surprise suitor for JaVale McGee, Ben Simmons still loves PhillyFanSided

A healthy and motivated Ben Simmons can make Brooklyn Nets contenders in the EastSir Charles In Charge

Young has an early termination option on his contract, which has one year to run at nearly $10 million if he declines to opt out.

On one hand, committing to building around Lopez makes sense—he’s an All-Star talent who can score and actually rebounded more like a 7-footer should this season.

But then there’s the question of the 144 games lost to injuries—all involving his foot and ankle—over the last four seasons.

Factor that in and it seems like perhaps an even bigger risk than committing to a core that had the sleek appearance of a luxury sports car … until you saw all the miles on the respective odometers of Pierce, Garnett, Deron Williams, Joe Johnson and company.

There really is nothing that sums up the experience of being a Nets fan more than this—where the idea of committing to a guy whose foot is prone to break if the wind changes direction slightly looks like progress.

Next: The Biggest X-Factor On Every NBA Playoff Team

More from Hoops Habit

Home/Brooklyn Nets