The Brooklyn Nets have turned a new leaf, and stuck to their plan throughout the NBA Draft. What is the plan, and is it a good one?
Every year the NBA Draft is a chaotic tapestry of anxiety, excitement, and the not-quite. Trades allow teams to fly around the draft board, acquiring picks, players, and questions from fans and writers alike.
Going into Thursday night’s draft, four teams in the lottery – those teams that did not qualify for the playoffs – had traded out of their slots. The New York Knicks lost their pick to the Toronto Raptors from a trade for Andrea Bargnani that each and every Knicks fan and employee wishes they could take back. The Washington Wizards swapped out their pick for Markieff Morris; Utah did the same to acquire George Hill.
The most derided franchise to lose its spot in the lottery – the Brooklyn Nets – were also the only one to make its way back into the first round. While the Nets did not get the return on their blockbuster deal to acquire Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, they did use their last remaining asset from that trade – Thaddeus Young – to trade back into the first round.
The move to send Thaddeus Young to Indiana was an acknowledgment that the Nets understood their situation and were adjusting accordingly. Under new leadership in General Manager Sean Marks, Brooklyn was no longer mortgaging their future to feign respectability in the present. The Nets accepted that their next great team is a few years down the line, and acted accordingly.
During the season The Lottery Mafia ran a series of pieces called “Turning the Corner” – in short, how lottery franchises could turn things around and build towards a championship level. If the goal was winning a title, how could teams get there? The Brooklyn Nets were one of the teams we dished out advice to.
Their road map was simple enough, if a hard sell to a franchise – and owner – who wanted to win now: be patient. Brooklyn owed last night’s No. 3 pick and two future first-round picks to the Boston Celtics (their 2018 unprotected pick, and a 2017 pick swap). They weren’t going to be able to rebuild a barren roster overnight.
Three points of advice we gave have application for the NBA Draft. First, Brooklyn needed to trade its veterans for picks and young players. The Nets did that, swapping Thad Young for the 20th pick in the draft.
Second, develop a long-term core that was going to grow and become good by 2019, when they could begin functioning as a normal franchise again. Again, the Nets followed the plan and drafted Caris LeVert, a wing out of Michigan. LeVert is the complete package on the wing as a scorer, shooter, and passer, while possessing the length and athleticism to be a great defender. He fell in the draft because of multiple leg injuries, but if the Nets can be patient in letting those heal LeVert could be a future starter on the wing.
Third, since the Nets have a bleak few years ahead of them, they should draft or sign popular college stars who will give excitement to the fan base and fill the stands. They traded the 55th pick and cash to the Utah Jazz to leap into the top of the second round and draft Isaiah Whitehead, one of the top scorers in college basketball last season. Whitehead played his high school basketball in Brooklyn, and the Nets-faithful in attendance at the NBA Draft cheered loudly when his name was announced.
The Nets of a few years ago may have kept Thaddeus Young and tried to trade their few young players, such as Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, for a veteran who could help them win games this season. Or they may have flipped Young for a big-name star of yesteryear whose abilities are much diminished, such as getting into the Derrick Rose market or sniffing after the Pau Gasols of the league.
Instead the Nets have a plan and are sticking to it. They drafted good, young players who can develop into something more. For a team that lost out on the No. 3 pick, the Nets redeemed the NBA Draft into a positive for their team and its future. With other lottery teams making headlines for head-scratching picks or trades that didn’t happen, the Nets have to feel good about how Thursday played out.
Their future isn’t bright (yet), but the first rays of light are creeping above the horizon. If they continue to stick to their plan, things are only brighter from here.
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