The Brooklyn Nets have struck out this offseason and it is only July. They couldn’t acquire any superstars again. The last time they were able to land superstars was when they mortgaged their future for Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce in 2013. Their last playoff series victory was back in 2007. Ever since 2007, they have been unable to get a meeting with LeBron James or Kevin Durant. The Nets this offseason instead set their sights on the mid free agents by offering a total of $125 million between Allen Crabbe and Tyler Johnson. That didn’t end well either as both the Blazers and Heat both matched the Nets offer sheets for both Crabbe and Johnson.
The Nets might be finished with their offseason moves and they are looking to focus on rebuilding this team. The summer league is where developing all of these young up and coming talent that is on the roster comes into play. Guys like Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Sean Kilpatrick, and Chris McCullough will all be looking to improve their game along with draft pick Isaiah Whitehead.
Youngster Rondae Hollis-Jefferson should finally be healthy after missing 53 games as a rookie with an ankle injury. When he was healthy he was a defensive force with 1.3 steals in just 21.2 minutes per game but he is still very raw on the offensive end of the floor. Rondae definitely has to take that next step and improve this season. The Nets did add some backcourt depth by signing free agent veteran guards Grieves Vasquez and Jeremy Lin. Yesterday, they added veteran forward Luis Scola who will likely be teamed up in the front court with Brook Lopez this coming season.
Yes, I do believe the Brooklyn Nets will be one of the worst teams in the NBA this coming season. They aren’t a finished product at all. But the one thing I will give general manger Sean Marks is that he did what he had to do by getting rid players he needed to get rid of. He got veteran players that could hold down the fort until he got a player he could build around. That is the first step when building a team and we have seen this happen to plenty of teams like the Philadelphia Sixers. Even though the Nets will be one of the worst teams in basketball, they have positioned themselves to seeing what they have now and try to figure out who they can build this team with.