The Nets managed to one-up their action-packed 2012 – which included their long-awaited move to Brooklyn — with an even busier 2013. Between a blockbuster draft night trade and hiring a franchise legend to coach the team, the Nets came into this season with expectations as high as at any point in franchise history, but have fallen far short of meeting them so far.
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1. Extreme makeover: Brooklyn edition
Charles Wenzelberg After committing well over $300 million to overhaul their roster during the summer of 2012 en route to Brooklyn, it had appeared the Nets had very little flexibility moving forward. Instead, they managed to swing a blockbuster trade with the Celtics – that’s what trading away the rights to four draft picks gets ya – for Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Jason Terry. That splashy move began a busy offseason during which the team’s payroll swelled to a league-high $102 million, which means Russian billionaire owner Mikhail Prokhorov owes the NBA roughly another $87 million in luxury-tax payments.
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2. Kidd comes home
The Nets brought Jason Kidd – the greatest player in the franchise’s NBA history – back as its head coach less than two weeks after he retired from his Hall of Fame playing career following one season with the Knicks. The results have been mixed at best: The Nets are off to a woeful start in his first season in charge. Kidd also hired Lawrence Frank – his former head coach with the Nets – to be one of his assistants, but Frank wound up being “re-assigned” from the bench to writing daily reports before the end of November.
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3. Brook of revelation
AP Forget 2013 – the next several years of the Nets’ fortunes arguably rest on the fractured fifth metatarsal in All-Star center Brook Lopez’s right foot. After being lost for the season on Dec. 20 in Philadelphia, Lopez has now broken that bone three different times in the last two years – in addition to having the screw in the foot replaced this offseason after it was discovered to be bent – whether he can be the homegrown, foundational piece for the franchise that his talent merits is unclear.
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4. Little Nate is a big problem
Anthony J. Causi It looked as if the Nets were about to even up their first-round playoff series against the Bulls at two games apiece when former Bull C.J. Watson raced ahead for a breakaway layup with the Nets holding a 14-point lead and just over three minutes remaining. Watson tried to dunk and missed, and the Bulls – led by Nate Robinson – roared back into the game. Robinson scored 12 straight points in regulation to help the Bulls send the game to overtime, and Chicago eventually prevailed in triple-overtime to take a 3-1 series lead before winning the series in seven games, beating the Nets at Barclays Center in the decisive game.
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5. As the ankle turns
Anthony J. Causi After re-signing Deron Williams to a max contract in July 2012, the Nets thought they had their franchise player locked up for several years. Instead, they have found themselves at the mercy of Williams’ ankles, which have bothered him more often than not in 2013. After Williams underwent multiple cortisone shots and platelet-rich plasma treatment just before the All-Star break in February, he was sensational over the final fewmonths of the season. Williams then sprained his right ankle and missed nearly all of training camp, and he already has missed 11 games during the 2013-14 season with a sprained left ankle.