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Brooklyn needs to build a bridge and get over Mikal

 


Mikal Bridges is a New York Knick. The supposed centerpiece of a Nets post-Big Three era is now a distant memory. 

Sean Marks built a warchest of picks and capitalized on the Knicks overpaying for a zero-time All-Star. 

The Nets will be in the Cooper Flag sweepstakes. That means plenty of losing and therein lottery balls hopefully bouncing their way. 

In the meantime, the Knicks will be looking to dethrone a Celtics team that just inked Jayson Tatum to the richest contract in league history and has all of it's starters and key reserves locked up for at least the next few years. 

The Sixers added Paul George, Caleb Martin and Andre Drummond to a core of a rising Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, and Kelly Oubre. 

The Bucks and Pacers will look to be a factor, while Miami can never be discounted with Jimmy Butler and Erik Spoelstra.

The Knicks have a pathway to the finals, but after losing Isaiah Harkenstein, there's a glaring need for them at backup center. 

The Bridges trade will be a constant talking point in the Big Apple, but while the Knicks will have the pressure of being winners in the short-term, the Nets can patiently wait for draft picks, the right free agents and trade opportunities to come across Marks' desk.



Tsai's minority ownership sale to Koch's start of something bigger



 All big things start small. When the New Jersey Nets were owned by YankeesNets LLC in the early 2000's, there was a New York City real estate mogul that threw his hat in the ownership ring.

His name: Bruce Ratner. He's the main impetus for the Nets moving to Brooklyn and he used the deep pockets of then minority owner Mikhail Prokhorov in 2010 to help make it happen two years later.  

Prokhorov made big championship promises and mortgaged the future to chase said dreams. Once that endeavor failed, Prokhorov accomplished his mission of moving his Russian financial assets over to the United States and sold a majority stake in the team to current owner Joe Tsai in 2017. 

Two years later, Tsai took full ownership control and now five years after that has sold a 15 percent stake in the team to Julia Koch of the notorious Koch family for a whooping $6 billion valuation.

Are we sensing a pattern here? 

Anytime the Nets have had a minority owner the last few decades, that said party ends up taking full control of the team.

Expect that with the vast family fortune that the Koch family has amassed that's it's only a matter of time before Tsai sells.

Tsai has multiple business ventures outside of the Nets that command his time and attention. There have been multiple superstars that bailed on the franchise with him at the helm.

I don't think Nets fans would be sad to see him go. Both the Tsai's and Koch's have skeletons in their closets, but the former has had a brutal ownership tenure.

The question is not if, but when there is another ownership change in Brooklyn. 



Knicks traded for the wrong former Net

 


The New York Knicks went all in on the wrong star. Actually, Mikal Bridges has never been an All-Star and probably never will be one. 

But the fact remains the same, Bridges was not the right move for James Dolan's Knicks.

The superstar the Knicks actually needed was former Brooklyn Net savior turned John Hancock, Kevin Durant.

There have been multiple reports that the Suns were willing to move off Durant and adding him to the Knicks core might make them a title favorite. 

Given his age, Durant may actually cost fewer draft picks than Bridges. 

Now, Isaiah Harkenstein will likely go to the highest bidder after the Knicks locked up OG Anunoby to a four-year, $213 million contract.

Durant to the Knicks would have been scary hours at MSG, but I guess we'll never know. 


Nets trail only this one team in future draft assets

 


The Brooklyn Nets have an embarrassment of future first round picks. In fact, they have 13 first rounders between the 2025 and 2031 NBA Drafts.

And guess what? More could be on the way.

Dorian Finney-Smith is a highly coveted player across the league and he might possibly net Brooklyn at least another future first rounder.

Cam Johnson is a valuable 6-foot -8 wing with accuracy from long range. Teams may look to attached a future first round pick to any deal where he's included.

Don't forget expiring contracts in Ben Simmons and Dennis Schröder. Teams that are looking to clear salary cap space next summer to make a play for a big free agent, will find those two players'contracts useful. 

When all is said and done, Brooklyn may come close to Sam Presti and Oklahoma City's ridiculous draft stock.

Nets fans are fully embracing the rebuild and Sean Marks is now well armed to build a long-term contender in Brooklyn. 

Nets' extension eligible scoring threat primed for career year

 



The Brooklyn Nets doled out a four -year, $100 million contract extension for big man Nic Claxton this past week. 

Brooklyn's center is entering his fifth year since being drafted with the Nets and will be here for the foreseeable future. 

The Nets have a young, dynamic scorer that is due for an extension, Cam Thomas. 

Thomas may very well compile serious scoring numbers with the Nets rebuild underway and no bonafide scorers on the roster. 

Thomas is entering the final year of his four-year rookie deal. Thomas will turn 23 this year and averages 22.5 points per game last season in an expanded role in the Nets offense.

With Thomas likely handed the keys to the team, expecting him to knock on the door or blast through the 30 point per game threshold is realistic. 

Sean Marks' intentions are always shrouded in mystery, so he could very well be in talks behind the scenes to lock things up long-term. 

Until an official report of an extension comes through, if Thomas starts the season without the extension, it may end up costing Brooklyn a pretty penny after he puts up career numbers in 2024-25. 



Knicks gave Nets' GM 'get out of jail free card'



 The Brooklyn Nets were headed nowhere fast. With Mikal Bridges as the supposed building block of the franchise, the Nets stumbled to a 32-50 record with Bridges looking lackluster throughout stretches of this past season. 

Some speculated that the NBA's Iron Man was wearing down with his consecutive games streak reaching ridiculous heights. In hindsight, Bridges joins a list of other NBA divas that simply wanted to take the easy road out and join his Villanova teammates across the East River at MSG. 

General manager Sean Marks was being harpooned by his own fan base for not flipping Bridges immediately upon the trade with Phoenix last year to teams that were apparently offering four first round picks.

Marks made his fifth coaching hiring in Brooklyn this summer by tabbing Jordi Fernandez as the man in charge. 

Nets fans were not sold on Bridges and unsure what superstar wanted to join Brooklyn after the big three exodus of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden. 

Marks was public enemy number one alongside Joe Tsai, but then Knicks GM handed them a lifeline. 

The Knicks sent Bojan Bodganovic, four unprotected first-round picks, a 2025 protected first-round pick, a pick swap and future two second-round picks.

Bridges will form the Villanova Knicks to try and chase a title. 

Meanwhile, they overpaid grossly for a player that has never made an All-Star appearance and the Nets get out of NBA purgatory.

If the Knicks capitalize on this three to four year window with a championship, then it was all worth it. 

If not, the Nets may just use the treasure trove of picks to build a homegrown title contender in the years ahead.  



Nets PG makes pro debut in another sport



Dennis Schröder is a man of many talents. From the German National basketball team to the Brooklyn Nets and now the German Sixth division of FIBA.

Schröder clearly has the fitness level and footwork required to play at a competitive international level of soccer.

Former Nets coach and two-time MVP, Steve Nash, tried his luck on the pitch, but not in this kind of professional sense. 

It goes to show that the cardiovascular training and endurance that basketball and soccer players show his second to none. 

As of right now, Schröder is slated as the Nets starting point guard with what is anticipated to be a busy off season ahead. 

It's unclear whether the possibility of either Donovan Mitchell or Trae Young stepping into that starting role this summer via trade. 

Schröder will have a very busy off-season between this venture into soccer as well as the 2024 Olympics in Paris with the German squad. 

Kyrie can do the funniest thing against Boston

 


Even mention the name Kyrie Irving in the city of Boston and you'll likely get a few disgusted glances if not worse. While Irving wore out his welcome in Brooklyn with management and ownership, there is still a contingent of the fans that doesn't blame him for how things ended up. 

Boston fans on the other hand, put the entire situation on Irving's shoulders. 

Now, Irving travels to TD Garden next Thursday night, June 6, with the Celtics standing between him and a second ring. 

It's an incredible storyline that even the NBA scriptwriters may not have come up with. 

Irving is locked in and Luka Doncic looks like a man on a mission.

Jason Kidd has an opportunity to win his first ring as a coach and join elite company as one of the few to win a ring as a player and coach. 

The emergence of rookie Dereck Lively and additions of Kyrie Irving at last year's deadline along with Daniel Gafford and Derrick Jones Jr. at this year's deadline may have been the exact moves that Nico Harrison needed to compete a championship puzzle. 

The 2024 NBA Finals will be a tightly contested series, but with the most formidable one-two punch in the game, Dallas might cause a world of hurt for fans in Brooklyn and Boston. 

Kidd blossoming into elite NBA coach

 


Jason Kidd took his lumps as a head coach with the Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks. 

Even his first few seasons in Dallas were mired with disappointment. It now seems that everything is clicking for the former New Jersey Net.

While many Nets fans can't help but root against a Maverick squad with Kyrie Irving, Kidd's presence and leadership has as much to do with Dallas' championship chase as anything. 

Getting Irving focused on basketball and content is a Herculean task. Just ask all his former coaches including: Byron Scott, Mike Brown, Ty Lue, David Blatt, Brad Stevens, Steve Nash, and Jacque Vaughn. 

Irving has always had a contentious relationship with many coaches, but Kidd seems to be the magic elixir to get the most out of the talented guard. 

The kinship that both share during their separate playing careers with the Nets  inextricably links them. 

Irving and Luka Doncic are jiving like coffee and creamer right now. 

On the doorstep of an NBA finals appearance, Kidd Can officially cement himself as an all-time great coach to go alongside a legendary NBA playing career. 

Like Kidd, Irving escapes Nets to win a ring in Dallas

 


Jason Kidd and Kyrie Irving have quite a bit in common. Kidd is and was a Nets franchise legend, while Irving wore out his welcome with ownership and the fan base before he even came close to reaching that stature.

Kidd spearheaded a run to consecutive NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003. His best chance came in 2003 facing the San Antonio Spurs. The Nets went back home to New Jersey with the series tied 1-1 and three straight games at the Meadowlands. 

The Nets were only able to win one out of three and went back to San Antonio for Game 6 with a thirteen point third quarter lead. 

That game slipped out of their grasp with San Antonio's bench, led by Speedy Claxton, pulling the Spurs to the finish line. 

Kidd tried to gut things out in the 2004 season despite requiring microfracture surgery. Kidd essentially played through the injury and push surgery off until the offseason. 

The Nets were dethroned as the two-time reigning Eastern Conference champions by the eventual champion Detroit Pistons. 

After that, ownership turns its attention to a potential move to Brooklyn and was unwilling to resign Kidd's critical running mate in Kenyon Martin. 

Former Executive of the Year Rod Thorn swung a blockbuster deal to replace the sign and traded Harden with a disgruntled superstar from Toronto and Vince Carter. 

The Nets had some success but ultimately could not break through in an Eastern Conference with the Miami Heat featuring Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O'Neal gatekeeping as well as LeBron James and the Cavaliers.

Eventually, Kidd grew disillusioned with the direction of the franchise and was ultimately traded to the Mavericks. 

Kyrie in the other hand, was supposed to be a leader for Brooklyn, but instead created limitless distractions for himself and the organization. He engaged in wars with the media at large. 

The Nets fell laughably short of their lofty goals. So, to compare Kidd's tenure with the Nets to Irving's is an insult to Kidd's legacy. 

After his trade from the Nets, Kidd won a ring with Dallas in 2010-11 behind Dirk Nowitzki's greatness against Miami's big three of Wade, James and Chris Bosh.

Now, Irving can do the same behind Doncic's greatness with the very and franchise. 


Former Nets coach in mix for Cavs job can reunite with LeVert, Allen



 Kenny Atkinson is a hell of a coach. Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant drove him out of town, but the well respected veteran earned himself a ring on Golden State's 2022 Championship team as an assistant. 

Atkinson turned down a job offer from the Charlotte Hornets in 2022 as he's been a little more selective of what kind of roster, front office set up and franchise he's taking over. 

It now appears that Atkinson is in the running for the Cleveland Cavaliers job with JB Bickerstaff handed his walking papers, according to Shams Charania.

 


If Atkinson ultimately becomes the choice, he'll coach two former players that were with him in Brooklyn: Caris LeVert and Jarrett Allen. 

Atkinson was able to tap into both players' potential and get the most out of them. 

Unfortunately, the superstar era in Brooklyn saw Atkinson's demise, but the Cavaliers will be getting a high character coach that helps develop young players and creates selfless leaders. 

With Donovan Mitchell's future unclear in Cleveland, the hiring of Atkinson would be a great insurance policy in case they end up losing their franchise player. 


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