J-Speaks: A Necessary Shake Up In Brooklyn

Back on May 11, 2010, Russia’s third-richest man according to Forbes became principal owner of the then New Jersey Nets, now the Brooklyn Nets, he promised fans that the team would win an NBA championship within five years. Fast forward six years later, the Nets have zero Larry O’Brien trophies and after three straight seasons of making the playoffs now sit at the bottom of the Eastern Conference at 10-27 as they entered Monday nights action against the No. 2 team in the Western Conference the San Antonio Spurs. It was clear that something had to happen and on Sunday after four consecutive losses by an average of 11.5 points two swift changes occurred.

On Sunday, the team announced that they fired head coach Lionel Hollins, who was 48-71 in his one-plus seasons with the Nets.

Longtime NBA assistant head coach since 1997 and former Net Tony Brown will take over on an interim basis for the rest of the season for the Nets. He will be the fifth head coach the Nets have had in the last four seasons.  

They also “reassigned” general manager Billy King within the organization. His new role was not disclosed.

“I take full responsibility for the state of the team and I think Billy King did his best,” Prokhorov, who first major move as owner was hiring King as his GM said to reporters yesterday at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY.

“By making this decision now, it enables our organization to use the rest of the season to diligently evaluate candidates with proven track records. It’s clear from our current state of affairs that we need new leadership. With the right basketball management and coach in place, we are going to create a winning culture and identity and give Brooklyn a team that it can be proud of and enjoy watching.”

While there is now timetable to name a new general manager, the coach in place now is the aforementioned Brown, who was drafted in the fourth round back in 1982 by the Nets out of Arkansas. The former shooting guard/small forward played in the league for 12 years for the Indiana Pacers, Chicago Bulls, Nets, Houston Rockets, Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers, Utah Jazz, and the then Seattle Supersonics as well as in the then Continental Basketball Association for the Ohio Mixers, Kansas City Sizzlers and Albany Patroons as well as overseas for Teormatur Arese in Italy.

Losing effects everybody as you’ve seen, it’s effected the organization. We had to change it up,” Brown, who had been with the Nets since the 2014-15 season said to reporters on Monday.

“My approach is trying to free them [players] to play basketball. Whatever they go in their head about how we should play, I just want them to be themselves.”

The players, especially the so-called stars understand that going forward they have to pick up their play in order for things to get better this season.

“When you play as bad as we’ve been playing, our record is what it is. Somebody had to go and it was coach,” swingman Joe Johnson said on Monday.

“It happened. It’s done. At the end of the day, it’s about winning and unfortunately we weren’t doing that,” starting center Brook Lopez said on Monday.

“You just continue to play. Continue to work hard. Continue to bring that intensity and energy to practice and games each and every day and hopefully it changes,” starting power forward Thaddeus Young said on Monday.

The big question is how did the Nets get to the point where only the Philadelphia 76ers at 4-36 have a poorer record in the East to this point in the season?

Back on Feb. 23, 2011, the Nets acquired from the Jazz point guard Deron Williams and sent forward Derrick Favors, guard Devin Harris, cash and two first round picks to the Jazz.

After a stellar first full season with the Nets in 2012-13 where he averaged 18.9 points, 7.7 assists per contest shooting 37.8 percent from three-point range in 78 games, injuries and inconsistency for Williams made him a lightning rod for criticism from the New York media. It got to the point that this summer that he was bought out of his contract and was signed by the Mavericks this off-season.

On Mar. 15, 2012, the Nets acquired forward Gerald Wallace and sent two players and a first round pick to the Portland Trail Blazers. Wallace is no longer in the league.

On July 12, 2012, the Nets acquired Johnson from the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for five players, two draft picks (one a first rounder). Just one day later, the Nets acquired two future Hall of Famers in Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett in exchange for four players and the rights to four first round picks to the Boston Celtics. In that same off-season, the Nets hired Jason Kidd to be their new head coach just one year after he finished his career on the court.

After a rock start, the Nets managed to pull things together to finish the 2013-14 season 44-38 and made the playoffs as the No. 6 Seed. They found a way to defeat the Atlantic Division champion Toronto Raptors in seven games. Unfortunately they lost in the East Semifinals to the eventual Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat in five games.

That off-season, Pierce left in free agency to sign with the Washington Wizards, who he helped them make it to the second round of the playoffs, but they lost to the East runner-up Hawks and is now with the Clippers.

Kidd that off-season wanted more control within the organization was denied that and essentially led him to being dealt to the Milwaukee Bucks, who he helped guide to the playoffs a season ago and gave the Bulls a run for their money before falling in six games.  

Kidd was replaced by Hollins who as mentioned guided the Nets to the playoffs last season, despite a 38-44 record. The No. 8 Seeded Nets pushed the No. 1 Seeded Hawks to the limit, before falling in six games.

At the February trade deadline of 2015, Garnett waived his no-trade clause in his contract and was dealt back where he started his career with the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Nets received Young.

To put where the Nets, who have the 4^th highest payroll for the 2015-16 NBA campaign stand right now with all their go-for-it, hit a home run moves into perspective now, the rights to eight first round draft picks are gone. They have no first round selections this upcoming June or in 2018. The Celtics can swap the Nets first round pick in 2017.  They have no second round picks in 2016, 2018, 2019 nor 2020.

Counting their loss against the Spurs (33-6) 106-79, their fifth straight overall and 10^th consecutive setback at Barclays Center this past Monday night, the Nets since moving to Brooklyn in 2012, the Nets record is 141-143.

To make matters worse, the Nets lost a key veteran presence in starting lead guard Jarrett Jack, who sustained a serious leg injury, via non-contact late in the third quarter of the team’s 100-97 win at the Boston Celtics (19-18) this past Saturday. It was revealed at the end of that weekend that Jack sustained a tear to the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee that will require surgery and he will not return for the rest of the season. That is 12.8 points and a career-high average of 7.4 assists that has been the last four games all losses and will be absent the final 44 games of this season.

While the team will have some salary cap space this summer, thanks to the rise in the luxury tax, the Nets will be able to improve their team via signing free agents.

With that being said, not being able to improve the team via the draft will make things difficult.

On top of that, the cupboard is bare of assets to bring in more talented players. The only real notables that might attract some interest are Lopez and rookie swingman Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, who is on the shelf right now because of injury.

On top of that, they have to decide the future about Johnson, who is in the final season of a six-year $123.7 million deal that he signed while he was with the Hawks on July 8, 2010. Will they trade him at the trade deadline next month or let him walk in free agency?

It is very clear that if the Nets have any hope in the future, Prokhorov and the organization must bring in a head coach who can make the team better from the practice court to the games itself and they need a GM who can come in and fit a square peg in a round hole in terms of turning the Nets into a playoff team again and hopefully a title contender.

While the odds may be stacked against him at the moment, Prokhorov is very optimistic that the Nets, who have lost 10 straight games at Barclays Center will become a team that competes for a championship. He understands that the team must bring in talented and nose to the grindstone players to make that dream a reality.

“I’m really optimistic and new I am 100 percent owner of the team and the arena and I am very committed to be championship and I am all in,” Prokhorov said on Monday.

In talking with Nets’ sideline reporter for the Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network (YES) Sarah Kustok, Prokhorov said, “Maybe we need one to two players to make a championship contender.”

“I will do my best and the whole organization will do our best to reach that goal this summer.”

Information, quotations and statistics are courtesy of 1/4/16 7:30 p.m. contest between the Boston Celtics versus Brooklyn Nets on YES Network commentated by Ian Eagle, Jim Spanarkel, sideline report from Sarah Kustok; 1/10/16 article on hangtime.blogs.nba.com by Lang Whitaker, “Nets Remove King, Hollins, Have Long Way to Go;” 1/11/16 6 p.m. edition of WNBC 4 “News 4 New York at 6” with Chuck Scarborough, Sibila Vargas, Janice Huff and Bruce Beck; 1/11/16 Brooklyn Nets Pregame presented by Verizon Fios with Chris Sheran, Mike Fratello and Sarah Kustok; http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklyn_Nets; http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Brown_(basketball) www.espn.go.com/nba/team/schedule/_/name/bkn; www.espn.go.com/nba/standings;  www.espn.go.com/nba/player/stats/_/id/2798/deron-williams.