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Nets salvage win on three-game road trip with last second win over Pelicans

 


The Brooklyn Nets just keep on surprising and they did so again on Monday night. 

The Nets outlasted the Pelicans in a down to the wire affair to improve their record to 5-6 on the season. 


Nets fans are frustrated that the wins keep piling up and the NBA draft lottery odds keep going down. 

At the end of the day, building a winning culture should supersede any type of tanking scenario just for a ping pong ball's lucky chance to take the top overall pick.

It's early on in the NBA season, but this Nets team looks to be more playoff ready than draft lottery ready. 


NBA pundit thinks 'Nets best option' for Bucks, Giannis



 Bill Simmons has made a career of predicting NBA basketball moves. 

He's had some hits and plenty of misses. 

In his latest podcast on The Ringer, Simmons insists that Giannis Antetokounmpo to Brooklyn is a home run for both sides.




 The Nets plethora of draft picks, valuable veterans, and Ben Simmons' expiring deal might be enticing enough for Milwaukee to pull the plug on a disastrous 2-8 campaign. Giannis and Dame Lillard are clearly not working together.

Sean Marks would have to think long and hard as to whether Giannis fits Brooklyn's timeline and if his injury history and penchant for getting coaches fired is a great fit for the Nets franchise. 

Nets playoff odds alarmingly high for those rooting for a tank job



 The good news is, according to the latest playoff odds: the Brooklyn Nets are extremely likely to make the playoffs. 

The bad news for the Nets tankers based on the latest playoff odds: the Brooklyn Nets are extremely likely to make the playoffs.

 



According to basketball reference, the Nets have an 80% chance at making the 2025 NBA playoffs. 

This comes on the heels of back-to-back, competitive road losses to two of the premier teams in the Eastern Conference in the Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers .

While the sample size is minuscule at just 10 games, the Nets have shown signs under Jordi Fernandez. They are a true superstar away from being competitive in the Eastern Conference field. 

After getting burned during a superstar chasing era, it appears that Sean Marks and the Nets brass is going to take a more patient approach and build through the draft and use existing valuable vets to create more cap space and increase the draft stock. 

So while the fan base is split 50-50 on whether the Nets should truly tank and go for a top NBA draft lottery pick, as presently constituted through ten games, it appears the Nets will not be lying down for any team in the league and be competitive throughout this season. 

Nets can't make the same mistake with Fernandez that they made with Atkinson



 The Brooklyn Nets have a great coach in Jordi Fernandez. They had a terrific coach from 2016 to 2019 in Kenny Atkinson. 

Due to a mass influx of superstars, including Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, they parted ways with their head coach back in 2019 to acquiesce to the stars' demands. 

Both of those stars, along with James Harden, left the Nets at the altar and it's clear five years after the Nets made a coaching change, that it was the wrong decision.

Jacque Vaughn took over for Atkinson at the end of 2019 and through the NBA bubble season during COVID-19.

Then, Sean Marks had the bright idea of hiring his former teammate with no head coaching experience whatsoever in Steve Nash. 

That, along with a bunch of internal dysfunction and lack of commitment from supposed leaders, led to a talented Nets roster failing to win a single Atlantic Division crown, Eastern Conference crown or NBA title. 

Now, the Nets are in an early similar position to where they were with Atkinson in 2016. Brooklyn is a gritty, never say die team that is making the most out of its talent with a competent and tough-nosed head coach.

Sound familiar?

Brooklyn's rebuild looks to be more of a retooling as Fernandez is fast tracking success at an overachieving 4-5 record. Many NBA pundits and even Nets fans were anticipating or even rooting for a tank season where the Nets would at worst land a top five NBA Draft Lottery pick.  

That scenario is very much on the table since Brooklyn started 13-10 last year with Jacque Vaughn in his second stint as head coach before being fired at the end of last year. 

The lesson learned here is when an organization hands over the keys to a star player, that player does not have the long-term interest of the team or the franchise at hand. 

The Nets bent over backwards to please Irving, Durant and Harden and have nothing to show for it. 

Now that another coach killer in Giannis Antetokounmpo is disenfranchised with the direction of the Bucks under Doc Rivers, the Nets need to tread lightly.

The Nets have been listed among the top landing spots for the Greek Freak, but the soon to be 30 year-old with an injury history, certainly presents some risks. 

Marks and company cannot derail what looks to be a promising retooling of the franchise just to please another superstar player. 

So while adding Antetokounmpo to the current mix in Brooklyn would be enticing, the front office and ownership brass needs to ensure that the plan is clear for Fernandez to have as much runway as possible to build a winner in the borough. 



Tank you very much, Nets lose OT battle in Boston



 Not many NBA fans or sports handicappers had Friday night's game between the Brooklyn Nets and Boston Celtics at TD Garden going into overtime.

Jordi Fernandez and crew pushed Joe Mazzulla, Jayson Tatum and company to the brink of defeat. 

In fact, Brooklyn led from the open tip until 4:24 left in the 4th quarter of play. 

Tatum led the way for Boston with 33 and Cam Thomas paced the Nets with 31. 

The defending champions took all they could handle and body blow after body blow before letting their talent and superstars take over late. 

Dorian Finney- Smith played terrific defense on the final play of regulation as Tatum's desperation three sailed wide of the rim to send the game to the extra session. 

In overtime, Brooklyn fell 108-104. The Nets  should not hang their heads. 

This was supposed to be a year where the Nets would be in the hunt for top picks in the NBA Draft Lottery, but it appears that Fernandez will not allow this team to give up, no matter what players are on the floor. 

The Nets finding their leader of the future along the sidelines is a major development for this franchise and an attractive selling point for prospective free agents and for trade targets down the road. 

So while some will be disappointed by a hard-fought loss in Boston, the Nets aspirations to get into the NBA Draft Lottery may not be entirely dead. 


Knicks feeling buyer's remorse by mortgaging future for Bridges

 



The New York Knicks made a franchise altering decision this summer. 

In a move that was somewhat unprecedented, the Knicks executed a trade with the Nets to send six future picks to Brooklyn in exchange for Mikal Bridges.

The trade helped jump start a Brooklyn rebuild that was long overdue since the mass exodus of Kyrie Irving, James Harden and Kevin Durant. 

Knicks general manager Leon Rose was hailed as the executive of the year for bringing in Bridges.

He made another splash move by sending Donte DiVincenzo and Julius Randle to Minnesota in exchange for Karl Anthony Towns. 

So after 3-4 record, and Bridges looking more like a role player than co-star, early returns have been promising for Brooklyn and disappointing for the Knicks. 

 Giannis Antetokounmpo is clearly unhappy with Milwaukee, a team that is tied with the Philadelphia 76ers at 1-6 for the worst record in the NBA.

Since Rose cleared the cupboard of draft picks and tied up any future salary flexibility, it's nearly impossible for New York to make a play for the Greek Freak. 

The Nets, on the other hand, are in an interesting position as they sit at 4-4, good enough for third in the Eastern Conference. 

They have a bevy of vets including Dennis Schröder, Cam Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith that would be valuable trade pieces for a contending team. 

Giannis has listed the Nets as a top destination should he ask out of Milwaukee, which looks to be a matter of when not if.

Unless the Knicks turn things around in a hurry, it appears the Nets have decidedly won this trade. 

Nets get freaky with Milwaukee in this proposed trade

 


The Brooklyn Nets are not good soldiers. This was supposed to be a tank year, but now Brooklyn looks like it could be a factor in the Eastern Conference playoff race. 

In a historically good rookie draft class, the Nets may be headed in the right direction as far as winds are concerned, but the wrong direction in regards to NBA Draft Lottery ping pong balls. 

The Nets own Milwaukee's top four protected first round pick in 2025. Sending the Bucks their pick back along with a few additional draft picks may allow a deal like this to go through. 

Will the Nets try to short-circuit a rebuild and bring in the Greek Freak?




Right now, Brooklyn is not nearly as futile as many experts expected them to be, and in fact they may be in contention for the play-in or a playoff spot. 

Adding Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kris Middleton would be a major shot in the arm. 

Middleton certainly has injury concerns as does Giannis who has been injured through several of Milwaukee's playoff runs. 

Nonetheless, with the Bucks headed nowhere fast at 1-6, Giannis' days there could be numbered and the Nets are atop his short wish list along with Miami.

The Knicks essentially took themselves out of a potential Giannis move by trading for Karl Anthony Towns and sending six draft picks to Brooklyn for Mikal Bridges.  

Things will certainly heat up come the trade deadline if Milwaukee continues heading South and the Nets keep piling up wins. 

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