The Nets’ disappointing second round exit in this past year’s postseason sent them on to a summer of uncertainly, which lended itself in a new coach for Brooklyn and a lot of new players, as some mainstays departed to other teams. Every offseason is busy for the Nets and general manager Billy King, who looks to start anew in the 2014-15 season with his center–Brook Lopez–finally recovered from a brutal broken foot.
There were a bunch of moves the Nets made, or didn’t make but tangentially involved them, this summer, and since I wasn’t able to cover them as they happened, I’m going to do my best at an overview of them now. By the way, a little more than two months remain until the Nets open up their regular season schedule in Boston against the Celtics.
Even though the Nets didn’t originally have any picks on draft night (due to the Celtics trade last June and other deals), they still managed to pick up a trio of solid prospects. Brown, a guard from Oklahoma State who was overshadowed by Boston lottery pick Marcus Smart during his time in Stillwater, is an explosive guy who may even make an impact this season.
Thames, from San Diego State, is another guard, but he signed in Spain recently, so he won’t be on the Nets until next season at the earliest. Jefferson, a forward out of Baylor, showed some promise in Summer League but remains stuck behind Brooklyn’s glut of transitional guard/forward players.
July 2nd: Nets trade head coach Jason Kidd to Milwaukee for two future second-round picks
This has got to be one of the stranger trades in recent NBA history.
Purportedly, throughout his first (and apparently only) season at the helm of the Nets, Jason Kidd was pressuring ownership to give him front office control of the team, superseding Billy King in the process. The Nets wouldn’t budge, creating a rift between head coach and general manager that only started to widen after assistant coach–and Kidd’s former (New Jersey) Nets coach–Lawrence Frank was relegated to non-game duty after a spat with Kidd.
With the Nets’ sudden playoff disposal by the Heat, a decision had to be made and stunningly, the Nets’ front office decision was to ship Kidd off to Milwaukee to become the head coach of the Bucks, who took highly-touted college forward Jabari Parker out of Duke with the draft’s second overall selection. A very unceremonious way for a Nets legend to be relieved of his head coaching duties after just one season.
July 7th: Nets hire Lionel Hollins to be new head coach
Almost immediately after the Kidd trade was put in concrete, Hollins–the former coach of the Memphis Grizzlies–was mentioned as a viable replacement. He may not be the “sexy” option a lot of fans, and myself, were expecting Brooklyn to pursue, but he has a long NBA track record and commands the respect needed to build a contender. In 4.5 seasons, he turned the Grizzlies from the worst team in the Southwest Division to being just four wins away from the Finals.
He was hired for three years, with a fourth-year team option that could maximize the contract’s value at $20 million (according to the linked article above from ESPN). Overall, appears to be a solid move by Billy King, who realized that the tumult that came with Jason Kidd’s tenure wasn’t what this Nets team needed for the upcoming season.
In this deal, which also shuffled around some draft picks and rights to foreign players, the Nets filled the backup point guard slot left open by Shaun Livingston leaving for Golden State. Also, Brooklyn got a 2013 first-rounder in Karasev, another guard, who is just 20 years old. All they gave up was Thornton, acquired at the trade deadline during the season from Sacramento, who was way too hot-and-cold to ultimately be effective.
Basically, this means the Nets traded Reggie Evans and Jason Terry (sent to the Kings for Thornton) for Jack and Karasev. Giving up two aging role players for a solid point guard and really young European swingman? That’s an exchange most NBA teams would make in a second.
July 11th: Shaun Livingston signs with Golden State Warriors
As one of the best comeback stories the NBA has seen in awhile, it was unlikely that Shaun Livingston would return to Brooklyn for a second season after his breakout 2013-14 campaign. The Nets took Livingston, who has been hampered by knee injuries for his entire NBA career, off the scrap heap last summer and he was a godsend, especially when paired with Deron Williams in a two-point-guard backcourt.
There was a slim chance the cap-strapped Nets would have the funds to reward Livingston with the multiyear deal that he deserved. Golden State ended up giving him a three-year, $16 million contract as he will backup the so-called “Splash Brothers” in Steph Curry and Klay Thompson.
July 13th: Paul Pierce signs with Washington Wizards
Just like Livingston, Paul Pierce’s stay in Brooklyn only lasted one season as The Truth signed a two-year, $11 million deal with the Washington Wizards in July.
Pierce’s year with the Nets was an up-and-down one, as he made some incredible, Pierce-like buzzer beaters and other key shots–most notably to win Game 1 of the Raptors series this postseason–but also went through debilitating scoring droughts. In Washington, he joins an upstart team with a nice mix of youth and veterans. There was a lot of talk that he may rejoin Doc Rivers in Pierce’s hometown of LA with the Clippers, or even with the Lakers, so DC was a bit of a surprise choice.
July 14th: Alan Anderson re-signs with Nets
Anderson, who signed with Brooklyn last summer after two years with Toronto, was another candidate to possibly leave the franchise this offseason, but decided to re-sign for two years and just about $3 million. The 31-year-old was effective this past season, but found inconsistent playing time after the Nets acquired Thornton from the Kings.
Bringing him back for another season–and maybe a third (the contract includes an option for a second year)–allows for some continuity on a team with a significantly-changed roster. Also, with the losses of Thornton and Pierce, he provides some backcourt size and helps out with depth for new coach Lionel Hollins.
July 22nd: Bojan Bogdanovic signs with Nets
Brooklyn wrapped up its offseason by signing Bogdanovic, whom the Nets acquired the draft rights to in 2011 by sending cash considerations to the Timberwolves. He and current Net, Mirza Teletovic, are cut from nearly the same exact vein: they’re both around 6-8, maybe 6-9; both from Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina; and are big guys who can shoot the three.
Mirza broke out last season, and the Nets are hoping Bojan can do the same in helping to cut through defenses via spreading the floor well.
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