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I've given some thought on the recent blockbuster trade, and figured I would provide a thunder fans take on it. I don't see it making the nets better than the Heat, Bulls, Pacers, or Knicks if they trade for Rondo. I don't see them winning a title in the 2-3 years that KG and Pierce will be in Brooklyn. And they won't be able to draft replacements for any position because they won't be drafting in the first round for awhile now without a trade. What do you guys think?

First, knicks arent getting rondo, they have nothing to offer other than shumpert. Second, nets matched up very well with the pacers this year, beating them 3-0 in the season series. The reason is because nets were able to neutralize their size and grind it out style. Brook neutralizes Hibbert. Deron owns hill and JJ is much better than lance stephenson. With pierce and kg, nets have only improved their two weakest positions. Nets struggled with David West a lot but with kg on him, nets have the advantage there too.

As for the bulls, they face a lot of uncertainty with rose as well. Will he be the same player? Will he be able to handle Thibs' heavy minutes rotation? Will he be injury prone now?

For the nets draft picks, the nets management is confident that they will be a playoffs team for years to come. The idea is that those draft picks will be in the 20s. I agree that its uncertain to tell what could happen 5 years from now but i have faith in this ownership's willingness and committment to be competitive.

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Can you elaborate as to why you can't see them beating those teams?


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The Nets and Pacers won the same number of games last season. I'm confounded at some of these articles and comments I've read the past few days saying how much this improves the Nets and then concluding that Indiana is still indisputably better.

Basileus777 wrote:The Nets and Pacers won the same number of games last season. I'm confounded at some of these articles and comments I've read the past few days saying how much this improves the Nets and then concluding that Indiana is still indisputably better.

Same thing two years in a row. The Pacers match up really well against Heat and people fall in love with Hibbert and are going to expect big numbers from him.

Pacers are a good team but I don't think they're superior to the Nets.

infam0us wrote:

Basileus777 wrote:The Nets and Pacers won the same number of games last season. I'm confounded at some of these articles and comments I've read the past few days saying how much this improves the Nets and then concluding that Indiana is still indisputably better.

Same thing two years in a row. The Pacers match up really well against Heat and people fall in love with Hibbert and are going to expect big numbers from him.

Pacers are a good team but I don't think they're superior to the Nets.

I don't even have a problem with someone thinking the Pacers are on an upward track and will still be better than the Nets, just don't portray them as something far beyond Brooklyn.

^^ Classic example of what have you done for me lately...

I really don't care about a few late first round picks. 75% of those picks end up in busts anyway.

None of those picks will end up being even half of what KG and Pierce are right now.

We have not ruined our future because we can't draft a few scrubs. And we can buy a pick if we really need to.

Salaries we have under contract for 2015-2016:

Deron Williams: $21,042,800
Brook Lopez: $16,744,219 (PO)
Joe Johnson: $24,894,863

That adds up to $62,681,882.

I will say that the danger period of 2016-2018 is very real, especially if Boston rebuilds quickly with Wiggins.

But my plan after the next 2 seasons would be to sign a bunch of 1-year deals and take us over the lux tax for 2016. I don't think we'll be a great team, but hopefully a playoff team. Maybe JUST outside the playoffs. We'll send a decent pick Boston's way.

But after that season, we head into what should be a great free agent class with just Deron and Brook signed on in 2016. We could even move Deron at that point to stockpile assets and assemble a good team with Brook during this time period. I think there's a great chance we're a playoff team in 2017 and 2018, and a good playoff team at that, because of the free agents we would be able to acquire during the summer of 2016.

So all in all, 2016 is more of a question mark than 2018 imo. Because I have a good feeling that we'll do well during the 2016 offseason, way better than we did in the 2010 offseason at least, and will be able to build a good team moving forward.

At minimum, we're going to have Deron and Brook signed on for a while, and I think as long as those two remain a part of our core, we'll be a somewhat good team at least and won't have to ship out great picks to Boston after these 2 years are up.

Simply from the way this team spends, it's going to be difficult for them to suck enough to land a high lotto pick. I think it's fairly unlikely Boston will get anything higher than a late lotto pick from the trade.

Basileus777 wrote:Simply from the way this team spends, it's going to be difficult for them to suck enough to land a high lotto pick. I think it's fairly unlikely Boston will get anything higher than a late lotto pick from the trade.

What I'm thinking of though is...will we ever get a 1st rounder at this rate? Because considering the way we spend, we'll just keep shipping off future 1st rounders in order to put a competitive team on the floor.

therealbig3 wrote:

Basileus777 wrote:Simply from the way this team spends, it's going to be difficult for them to suck enough to land a high lotto pick. I think it's fairly unlikely Boston will get anything higher than a late lotto pick from the trade.

What I'm thinking of though is...will we ever get a 1st rounder at this rate? Because considering the way we spend, we'll just keep shipping off future 1st rounders in order to put a competitive team on the floor.

They can only trade their first rounders every other year, so they'll have to keep half of them, even if they give away the rights to swap picks.

I basically agree with therealbig3 here.

The danger zone is after the next two years of being a contender with KG and Pierce we have 1 year in 2015-16 with big contracts and no room to move until 2016 and that big free agent class.

Pierce requested to go to Brooklyn, I'd extend him for two years at the deadline so his contract falls in line with JJ's and even D Will's.

Lopez will be giving a new deal after opting out in 2015 but depending on how he is playing we could move him.

I believe KG will retire after the next 2 seasons so in 2015 he will be gone leaving, D Will, JJ, Pierce and Lopez to compete for another season in which I still firmly believe they will be more than good enough to be a playoff team but probably more likely 4-8th seed range. That pick will go to Boston in 2016 and be a mid range pick.

Its the 2016 season and free agency when we have huge expiring contracts in Johnson and Pierce to move or let expire and we would be able to move D Will for assets if we wanted to completely clear our cap space outside of Lopez.

Really it all comes down to the free agent class in 2016 and being able to sign a superstar like Kevin Durant to push us back up toward contender status again because if we don't make a splash then we would potentially be giving Boston a pick swap in 2017 and a unprotected high pick in 2018.

So everything comes back to the summer of 2016. Maybe the front office or ownership has been putting the work in behind the scenes already lining these stars up as the next wave of arrivals because if not this deal could look foolish in 5 years time.

I honestly believe between huge expiring contracts, loads of cap room and being in a huge market place, that we will walk away in 2016 with a contender team. If we're competing in the finals or ECF over the next two years it just engrains Brooklyn into the consciousness of the top players as a big time franchise prior to the big free agent class which can only be a good thing.

It's definitely an interesting trade.

KC_Smallz wrote:I've given some thought on the recent blockbuster trade, and figured I would provide a thunder fans take on it. I don't see it making the nets better than the Heat, Bulls, Pacers, or Knicks if they trade for Rondo. I don't see them winning a title in the 2-3 years that KG and Pierce will be in Brooklyn. And they won't be able to draft replacements for any position because they won't be drafting in the first round for awhile now without a trade. What do you guys think?

What future? The Nets aren't interested in building via the draft, the team is run by the 2nd richest owner in the league in the biggest market in sports.

Honestly, anyone who says "the Nets have ruined their future" clearly doesn't have a grasp about the workings of this team, nor do they even remotely understand the situation that they were in.

What were they supposed to do? Sit on their hands and wait while other teams around them got better? That would be moronic. You either swing for the fences or you sit the **** down.

I agree with Big3 and Ireland here as well.

Although I've voiced my concerns over the trade and still think the 2018 pick was overkill and the 2017 pick swap was as well to an extent, I'd imagine it's highly unlikely we're a high lotto team at any time in the near future.

I spazzed some when the trade went down even though I admitted liking and being excited by it for the short term, but upon further thought I'm now pretty much convinced, not just skeptical that this team for better or worse is going to spend, spend and spend some more to the point even if they miss on say the Durant's and Love's of the world they'll overspend on solid free agents to keep it moving.

Truthfully, at this point they have to, tanking will not be an option.

The only way we get really screwed here is a massive rash of injuries in the 2015-16 to 2017-18 season and/or we go late lotto and jump top 3.

Just typing that makes me still unhappy and nervous about the overkilll in pick value sent out in the trade, but I guess it's a risk that has to be taken.

Pierce and KG are not going to be leaned on nearly as hard here either in minutes or usage/responsibility on court, so I'm not too concerned about their advanced age.

JJ being on this roster and immovable for the time being does scare me though. He's easily the 5th worst player out of our 5 big guys and yet he's the most ball dominant and the one that looks to be in biggest decline. I could careless about his salary in relation to his production, we don't pay the tax bill, I just hope he falls in line though and accepts that he isn't the man anymore so he doesn't disrupt the flow on floor or cause waves in the locker room.

But KG could provide such an impact.

KG is a stretch 4 these days, or a stretch 5, he just doesn't take 3's. And his high post passing ability really benefits Brook and his off ball in space finishing abilities. Also on defense Brook is a great rim protector and KG balances out his lack of pick and roll switch abilities.

If Lopez stays healthy and they stop iso posting him so much, this will be an incredibly dangerous and dynamic front court. I think people are going to be shocked how good this team is if that's the case.

I agree with Ireland as well, Pierce should and probably will be extended for 2 more seasons, probably around $10 to $12 million a season and I'd think KG will think long and hard next year about tacking on one extra year if he likes it here and feels his body will hold up.

But I see this team on paper being far better then Indiana, something better then Chicago and not quite there with the Heat, yet in the mix with anyone in the West.

We are old and slow though. We definitely need some youth and athleticism, especially one reliable athletic perimeter defender who's good enough to play at least a consistent 20 minutes per game at the 2 and 3 interchangeably.

I'm cautiously optimistic and excited haha.

2016 we shed some salary and have a bunch of options in free agency. That plus an owner willing to spend and i think we'll be alright.. KD to BK in 2016.
http://www.hoopsworld.com/2016-nba-free-agents

N Ireland Nets wrote:I basically agree with therealbig3 here.

The danger zone is after the next two years of being a contender with KG and Pierce we have 1 year in 2015-16 with big contracts and no room to move until 2016 and that big free agent class.

Pierce requested to go to Brooklyn, I'd extend him for two years at the deadline so his contract falls in line with JJ's and even D Will's.

Lopez will be giving a new deal after opting out in 2015 but depending on how he is playing we could move him.

I believe KG will retire after the next 2 seasons so in 2015 he will be gone leaving, D Will, JJ, Pierce and Lopez to compete for another season in which I still firmly believe they will be more than good enough to be a playoff team but probably more likely 4-8th seed range. That pick will go to Boston in 2016 and be a mid range pick.

Its the 2016 season and free agency when we have huge expiring contracts in Johnson and Pierce to move or let expire and we would be able to move D Will for assets if we wanted to completely clear our cap space outside of Lopez.

Really it all comes down to the free agent class in 2016 and being able to sign a superstar like Kevin Durant to push us back up toward contender status again because if we don't make a splash then we would potentially be giving Boston a pick swap in 2017 and a unprotected high pick in 2018.

So everything comes back to the summer of 2016. Maybe the front office or ownership has been putting the work in behind the scenes already lining these stars up as the next wave of arrivals because if not this deal could look foolish in 5 years time.

I honestly believe between huge expiring contracts, loads of cap room and being in a huge market place, that we will walk away in 2016 with a contender team. If we're competing in the finals or ECF over the next two years it just engrains Brooklyn into the consciousness of the top players as a big time franchise prior to the big free agent class which can only be a good thing.

It's definitely an interesting trade.

This team is perfectly set up for a two year run. The 15-16 season will be the one to be wary of, but it may be a bit of necessary pain to get us to the offseason of that year where we'll have cap space, hopefully a solid reputation from being a winning team, and a bevy of free agents to entice.

As critical as I have been, I cannot find anything wrong with this course of action considering the circumstances.

I commend you guys for going for the title right now. You suffered through a lot of years losing for the sake of preserving cap space and collecting lottery picks. That route worked for the Thunder, but you could just as easily end up going nowhere with it like the Timberwolves. The JKidd hiring is the only head scratcher for me, because when you're all in, I'd think you want a coach who has more experience but we'll see what happens. You have a team worth following, though, even down here in Texas.

A 49 win team simultaneously plugged it's 2 (maybe 3 if Terry brings his game) biggest holes and got rid of it's worst contract.

I think the Nets paid a hella-cheap price to give a veteran team their best chance at making some noise in the East over the next 2 years.

I think what was really overpay was the 2017 pick swap option. I don't know what his deal is with pick swaps, but we're already giving up unprotected picks in 2016 and 2018. I think if he just stood firm and said, No you get the 2016 and 2018 picks, but not the right to swap picks in 2017, Ainge would have still said ok.

I'm not saying it's a huge deal to me, but it just puts pressure on us to be better than Boston that year, or else we give up an additional pick in this deal, when there's already pressure to be a good team in 2016 and 2018.