Free agency is a chance for teams to fortify their ranks, fill gaps on their rosters with suitable role players, or to attract the next superstar. Oftentimes, this is a simple enough thing if the team knows that there is one available player who embodies exactly what they need. Other times, however, it is more of a leap of faith in which teams have to hope that certain players will turn out to be precisely what the team needs and live up to their contracts.
Obviously, not every free agent signing works out, and every franchise has a list of those that it would most likely prefer to forget. So, here are the six worst free agent signings in Nets’ franchise history.
6. Andrei Kirilenko
Signing Kirilenko was not an entire swing and miss by the Nets, but it also was not one of their proudest moments. In 2013, they signed the forward to a two-year, $31 million contract. The problem is not that it was a terrible signing, but that the team could have used the roster spot to develop a younger player.
Kirilenko was already in his twilight years when joined the Nets and averaged career-lows all across the board. After playing only 52 games in Brooklyn and providing little production, Kirilenko was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers in 2014. The deal included forward Brandon Davies being sent to Brooklyn, who contributed even less than Kirilenko and soon went to play in Europe instead. So, unfortunately, the Brooklyn Nets got very little out of this signing.
5. DeAndre Jordan
Jordan came to Brooklyn in a package deal with fellow free agents Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. Jordan signed a four-year contract for $40 million, which seemed like a good deal for a solid center at first. In his first season with the Nets, Jordan led the team in field goal percentage and rebounds. He provided little interior defense, however, and his minutes dropped significantly compared to previous seasons.
Former Nets coach Kenny Atkinson preferred to develop youngster Jarrett Allen instead of starting Jordan. Allen now plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers and made his first All-Star team last season. During the playoffs, Jordan struggled to get minutes at all. This was rumored to cause tension between him and his star teammates.
All this eventually led to Jordan being traded to the Detroit Pistons for Jahlil Okafor, who only played 26 games with the Nets, and Seku Doumbouya, who never suited up for the team at all. Signing Jordan is certainly not the biggest plunder the Nets ever committed in free agency because he delivered in his first season. It is quite the disappointment, however, that they could not get that same production for the entire length of the contract. Besides, his connection to Irving, Durant and the drama they brought to Brooklyn only adds to the amount of disappointment the Nets suffered since 2019.
4. Gerald Wallace
Wallace first came to the Nets via a somewhat panicky move at the 2012 trade deadline. When his contract expired after that season, and he entered free agency, the Nets resigned Wallace on a four-year, $40 million deal.
After signing that net contract, Wallace’s production dropped off badly. He averaged only 7.7 points compared to the 15.2 points from the previous season, 2.6 assists and 4.6 rebounds. Furthermore, he also shot around 10 percent worse from the three-point line than he had in his contract year, and his field goal percentage around the rim plummeted as well. It became quite obvious that Wallace was declining and, while still providing solid defense, he slowly but surely faded to the background of the Nets’ offense.
Long story short, the Nets did not get what they had hoped for from Wallace, who also suffered several injuries. In the end, Wallace only played one season of his contract before getting traded to the Boston Celtics. It was frustrating that Wallace could not replicate his level of play from the previous season for both him and the team, but to make matters worse, the pick the Nets gave up for him brought Damian Lillard to the Portland Trail Blazers .
3. Deron Williams
Intrigued by his shooting, cutting and point guard abilities that he had shown before with Utah and New Jersey, the now Brooklyn Nets signed Deron Williams to a five-year $98.8 million contract in the 2012-13 season. That does not sound like a bad deal for a three-time All-Star, but things did not turn out like the Nets had hoped.
Williams played very well in his first season with the Nets, but after that, his numbers dropped continually. By the 2014-15 season, his point average had fallen from 21 to 13 and his assist numbers had dropped as well. While Williams was still a good player, he was plagued by injuries and not living up to his expensive contract. He was supposed to be the Nets’ franchise player, but it slowly became clear to all parties involved that he was not that player anymore. The dream of contention with Williams as their centerpiece died, and it was time to move on.
The 2014-15 season was subsequently and unsurprisingly his last one with the Brooklyn Nets. After playing only three of his five contract seasons, Williams finalized a buyout from the team, costing the Nets plenty of money and another free agent disappointment.
2. Jayson Williams
A lot of what happened with Jayson Williams and the Nets was not his fault, but the immense size of his contract makes this one of the worst free agent signings in franchise history. The then New Jersey Nets resigned Williams to a six-year, $86 million contract after he became a free agent in 1998. That contract came after Williams had a career year, averaging a double-double, leading the league in offensive rebounds and making the All-Star game.
The Nets had high hopes for Williams and what he would be able o bring to the team for the next six years. Williams only played 30 games of his new contract, however. On April 1, 1999, Williams collided with a teammate and broke his leg. The injury led to a major surgery and turned out to be the end of Williams’ career. After sitting out the 1999-2000 season, Williams officially retired, crushing the Nets’ vision of finding success around him. Obviously, none of that was Williams’ fault, but it was still a big disappointment that this promising free agent signing did not pan out for the Nets.
To top hat off, Williams had a lot of legal trouble, involving assault and firearms. While most of that came to public attention after his retirement, there were also incidents during his playing career, which made him somewhat of a risky signing in terms of negative media attention.
1. Kyrie Irving
When the Nets signed free agents Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant in 2019, they were widely regarded as the winners of free agency and as serious title contenders. Things did not turn out well, though. Instead of competing for a title, the Nets became the drama hotspot of the NBA.
Durant was obviously involved in the drama, asking for the head coach and general manager to be fired, but to his credit, he showed up and performed on the court whenever he could. Irving, however, was right at the center of the tire fire that became the Irving-Durant-Harden era of the Nets’ franchise.
When Irving first signed his four-year $141 million contract, it seemed like a good deal for the Nets who got one of the best point guards and scorers in the game, but Irving did not deliver quite as much as he was expected to. It all started when he refused to get the Covid-19 vaccine and became illegible to play home games in Brooklyn. As a result, the Nets sent him home altogether until December 2021 when he came back as a part-time player.
After the supposed super team was swept in the 2022 playoffs, Irving was given the option to look into other contract opportunities. Eventually, he opted into the final year of his contract, but more drama was on its way. In October 2022, Irving tweeted a link to an antisemitic film, refused to apologize and was suspended again. After a while, he decided to face the music and did everything the NBA required him to do to get back on the court.
It seemed as if the Nets had found their groove and were finally attempting to live up to their potential until Irving requested a trade on February 3rd, 2023. That very trade request led to the team blowing up their roster after a tumultuous, failed experiment to build the ultimate title contender.