Changing the Brooklyn way: A Brooklyn Nets Dynasty

[Funkycorm]

It is February 2019 and another all-star break and trade deadline are upon.

The 2018-19 season has been much more of the same for our Brooklyn Nets. We are 5th in the Atlantic, 15th in the East, tied with Miami for last, and 30th in the current 2k Power Rankings. We are sitting at a record of 17-40.

We lost our first game of the year at Detroit, losing 105-90. We also endured a 10-game losing streak early in the season, which put us quickly out of any thought of contention we had. Our Nets could not manage to win more than 2 games in a row at any point during the first half of the season.

All this negative from the first half of the season is not a good thing, but luckily, we have some positives and victories to pull from.

We were represented by Shaun Bridgeman in the elites vs. stars game, playing for the elites. Nerlens Noel is also the top player for the Most Improved Player award. Hopefully, he will keep that play up and land the Nets our first award winner since I took over ownership of the team.

We did not have any players make the all-star team or the skills competitions this season.

Let’s take a look at how some of our players fared this first half of the season.

Points per game: Lopez 16.8, Bogdanovic 15.0, Kilpatrick 11.5, Hardaway Jr 11.5, Noel 11.0

Rebounds per game: Noel 9.6, Robinson 8.2, Hollis-Jefferson 5.9, Lopez 5.8, Bridgeman 5.8

Assists per game: Mack 5.9, Cole 3.8

Steals per game: Hollis-Jefferson 1.2, Cole 1.0

Blocks per game: Noel 1.6, Lopez 1.5, Hollis-Jefferson 1.2, Bogut 1.0, Bridgeman 1.0

Minutes per game: Noel 29.0, Lopez 28.1, Levert 26.5, Bogdanovic 25.8, Hollis-Jefferson 25.6, Mack 24.4

We have some players having good seasons. Thomas Robinson went down with an injury just before the all-star break and will miss some time. Good news is that Sean Kilpatrick has actually been on the court this year and not missing large chunks of time due to injury. He did miss 12 games in December and January, but other than that, has showed some durability. Rookie SF Phil Norman has not had any playing time yet this season, as he is still focusing on off the court training. Shaun Bridgeman has shown some promise at the power forward spot from a defensive standpoint. He is hitting the boards hard and playing some good interior defense. He is only average 3.5 points per game so he will need to keep focusing on offense.

Other than that, I am glad to see some of our younger plays get more playing time under coach Hornacek. He is keeping player chemistry high and morale up.

In contract negotiations, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson wants to come back to the team at a price tag of $10million a year for 3 years. We are not ready to commit to him long term during this season and we will reevaluate his status this summer during the free agency period.

Trade Deadline:

After 2 years of not making moves at the trade deadline, we decided to make a few moves this year. Our goal this trade deadline was to help further secure our future through draft picks. We were the most active team at the deadline, making 3 trades.

1. We traded PG Shelvin Mack and a 2021 2nd round pick (via Memphis, swap worst) to Minnesota for a 2020 1st round pick. Shelvin Mack played well for us for the last season and a half and we were sad to see him go. He was averaging 7.2 PPG and 5.8 APG through this trade. He brought a veteran voice and calm to our locker room. In return for him we secure another draft pick. We now hold three 1st round picks for the 2020 draft. One of which is from Houston and lottery protected. Houston did not make the playoffs last year and are currently 11th in the west. If they are in a rebuild, we lose this pick and some leverage to move around the draft if we have that desire.

2. Our second trade was SF Bojan Bogdanovic to Memphis for PF Jamychal Green (76B-) and a 2019 2nd round pick. Bogdanovic played very well for us the last few years being one of our leading scorers. He was second on our team in scoring averaging 15.0PPG and 3.0 RPG this season before trading him. The 29-year-old Jamychal Green can help our front court the remainder of the season because of the trade below. This trade was more about the pick and moving on from Bogdanovic than anything else.

3. PF Trevor Booker was the last trade we made. We sent him to Phoenix for a 2020 2nd round pick (via Atlanta). This move was simply made because Booker was buried on the depth chart and we can use the extra pick as part of a package to move around the draft in the future. He was averaging 4.3 PPG and 4.7 RPG off the bench for us. Thomas Robinson has been playing well and we want to give Shaun Bridgeman playing time.


To make up for the loss of players from our team, we made 2 signings. We signed PG Kay Felder (71C+) to a 1 year/$1.18M deal and SF Derrick Williams (71C+) to a 1 year/$1.51M deal. We do not expect either player to see much, if any, playing time as they were only added for depth in case of injury.

Overall, I am satisfied with the way our trade deadline went this year. Our goal was to secure some more draft picks, and even though Minnesota is sitting in the playoff race this season, it is an unprotected pick so it is ours no matter what. Just more fuel for us to use as a catalyst to build for our future.

We still haven’t moved Brook Lopez, and I am still on the fence about what it is we want to do with him as an organization. We may try to sign him to a 1 year contract again this summer and see what we can do next year with him. That same statement is made every year about him and nothing has transpired. We will wait and see what happens this summer.

With these moves being made, I can feel our future is coming closer than before. As an organization, we are moving forward in the right direction.

That being said, stay tuned for the end of season recap.

Thanks for reading!

[Funkycorm]

Another thrilling NBA regular season is in the books. It is time to see how our beloved Brooklyn Nets did in the 2018-19 NBA season. We finished with a record of 29-53, going 7-9 in our division this year. These numbers put us 5th in the Atlantic, 11th in the East, and 25th in the NBA 2k Power Rankings.

After the all-star break, we went 12-13, playing almost .500 ball. Our longest win streak of the year stretched through the all-star break. One down note is we finished the year on a 4-game skid. But looking at the bright side, we were 12-9 at one point after the all-star break. This improvement overall is a good sign for our future, which is looking brighter and brighter.

Let’s take a look around the league and see how everyone faired:

NBA Standings - Updated: Apr 18, 2019
ATLANTIC	W	L	GB
Toronto	53	29	-
Philadelphia	49	33	4
Boston	48	34	5
New York	40	42	13
Brooklyn	29	53	24
CENTRAL	W	L	GB
Cleveland	64	18	-
Detroit	47	35	17
Chicago	47	35	17
Indiana	41	41	23
Milwaukee	29	53	35
SOUTHEAST	W	L	GB
Washington	53	29	-
Atlanta	45	37	8
Charlotte	28	54	25
Orlando	28	54	25
Miami	24	58	29
EAST PLAYOFF RACE	W	L	GB
Cleveland	64	18	-
Toronto	53	29	11
Washington	53	29	11
Philadelphia	49	33	15
Boston	48	34	16
Detroit	47	35	17
Chicago	47	35	17
Atlanta	45	37	19
NORTHWEST	W	L	GB
Portland	51	31	-
Oklahoma City	45	37	6
Denver	43	39	8
Minnesota	41	41	10
Utah	37	45	14
PACIFIC	W	L	GB
Golden State	67	15	-
L.A. Clippers	49	33	18
Phoenix	43	39	24
Sacramento	33	49	34
L.A. Lakers	21	61	46
SOUTHWEST	W	L	GB
New Orleans	45	37	-
Memphis	38	44	7
Houston	34	48	11
Dallas	32	50	13
San Antonio	26	56	19
WEST PLAYOFF RACE	W	L	GB
Golden State	67	15	-
Portland	51	31	16
L.A. Clippers	49	33	18
New Orleans	45	37	22
Oklahoma City	45	37	22
Phoenix	43	39	24
Denver	43	39	24
Minnesota	41	41	26

Here are our player stats for the year:

Brooklyn Nets Stats - 2018-19
Player	GP	MIN	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TPG	FPG
Norris Cole	65	1530	8.3	3.0	6.0	0.9	0.1
Isaiah Whitehead	17	350	9.4	2.9	4.5	0.4	0.4
Kay Felder	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Caris Levert	82	2267	10.0	5.6	4.4	0.6	1.1
Sean Kilpatrick	70	1428	12.5	1.1	1.7	0.3	0.1
Tim Hardaway Jr.	47	974	10.7	2.0	2.2	0.2	0.1
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson	82	2144	9.0	6.6	1.4	1.2	1.1
Derek Williams	1	11	0.0	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Phil Norman	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
JaMychal Green	81	1954	7.0	6.7	0.8	0.6	1.0
Shaun Bridgeman	82	1590	3.0	3.0	0.4	0.5	1.2
Thomas Robinson	50	1183	6.6	6.6	0.9	0.7	0.9
Brook Lopez	77	2112	16.5	16.5	1.0	0.1	1.6
Nerlens Noel	80	2280	11.1	11.1	2.3	0.7	1.5
Andrew Bogut	21	278	4.7	4.7	2.2	0.0	0.8

Stats for JaMychal Green are for his entire season, not just time played with Brooklyn. Norris Cole started 41 games, most of which came after we moved PG Shelvin Mack. Shaun Bridgeman got the starting nod in 23 games for us. Good news is that Sean Kilpatrick was more durable this year, only missing 12 games to injury

Nerlens Noel has a solid year for us defensively, pulling in 8.9 rebounds per game and 1.5 blocks per game. Brook Lopez was our leading scorer after we traded Bogdanovic at the deadline.

As a team, we averaged 96.2 points per game, ranking us 20th, and 100.7 points against per game, ranking us 23rd.

Some victories for us this season were that the Nets were 5th in the league in rebounds per game, and 3rd in the league in blocks per game. Thanks to Brook Lopez, Nerlens Noel, and the rest of our front court. Not to mention, we had to top scoring bench in the NBA as well.

Our weaknesses as a team are free throw percentage, we were are dead last in the league, and from the 3-point line, where we sit bottom 5 in the NBA.

The league award winners:

2018-19 NBA Award Winners
Award	Player	Pos	Team
Most Valuable Player	Steph Curry	PG	Golden State
Rookie of the Year	Donte Barrett	PG	Atlanta
Sixth Man of the Year	Greg Monroe	C	Memphis
Defensive Player of the Year	Karl-AnthonyTowns	C	Minnesota
Most Improved Player	Myles Turner	C	Indiana
Coach of the Year	Mike D'Antoni		Cleveland

In the NBA Finals, the Golden State Warriors defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 4 to 1, to repeat as NBA Champions. Kevin Durant averaged a monster 39.0 points per game and 8.6 rebounds per game to be named Finals MVP. No other teams have stepped up yet in either conference to challenge these 2 powerhouses. Who will it be? Will next year be different?

At season’s end, Dirk Nowitzki retired and was inducted into the Hall of Fame. His number was retired by Dallas, where he played his entire hall of fame career.

The NBA voted against changing any rules this upcoming season.

We kept our entire staff intact.

With the 2019 NBA Draft almost upon us, we sat at the 6th best odds, at 5.3% to earn the number 1 pick. San Antonio had the best odds to win the pick. San Antonio fell to the 6th spot in the lottery, which gave us a top 3 chance. The top 3 came down to us, Orlando, and Charlotte. Remember, we own our own draft pick this year.

The deputy commissioner called out the number 3 spot. The Charlotte Hornets. There were 2 left.

The deputy commissioner called out the next spot… … …the Orlando Magic. The number 1 pick is ours. It would be the third year in a row we technically won the lottery, but the last 2 years those picks went to Boston.

The number 1 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft goes to the Brooklyn Nets. We had a 5.3% chance for the number 1 spot. And it is ours. We now have the chance to start impacting our future.

But the question is… do we want anyone with the number 1 pick…?

Stay tuned for the next update. I will be analyzing our options for the number 1 pick. I will review the top-rated players on the Draft Express Board.

Thanks for reading!

[Funkycorm]

The 2019 NBA Lottery with the delight of us owning the number 1 pick:

1. Brooklyn
2. Orlando
3. Charlotte
4. L.A. Lakers
5. Miami
6. San Antonio
7. Orlando (via Milwaukee)
8. Indiana (via Dallas)
9. Philadelphia (via Sacramento)
10. Houston
11. Utah
12. Boston (via Memphis)
13. Philadelphia (via NY)
14. Indiana
15. Atlanta (via Minnesota)
16. Phoenix
17. Denver
18. Atlanta
19. Oklahoma City
20. New Orleans
21. Chicago
22. Detroit
23. Boston
24. Boston (via L.A. Clippers)
25. Philadelphia
26. Miami (via Portland)
27. Toronto
28. Washington
29. Cleveland
30. Golden State.

We hold the 1st pick in the draft, as well as the 37th pick.

I want to highlight a few of the top 10 projected draft picks and who we can target to start improving our roster. Draft ranks are courtesy of Draft Express. Keep in mind ratings are from scouted and may not be completely accurate even though all players here are scouted 100 percent.

1. PF Lothar Hasselhoff: Draft Express rank 1, 22-year-old, 6’8”, 233 pound, 78 overall, B+ potential from Germany. He is scouted as a low post threat. He averaged 26.1 points per game and 11.8 rebounds over 33 games while playing abroad in Germany. Our head scout reports he in a strong rebounder but can be taken advantage of on defense and can be out of place at times. He rates B- on inside scoring, B on rebounding, and C+ on post defense. Our scout tells us if we are patient, he can develop into a very good player. Possibly the son of David Hasselhoff…

2. SG Dimitris Niniadis: Draft Express rank 2, 20-year-old, 6’6”, 224 pound, 71 overall, B+ potential from Greece. Another overseas player who averaged 24.7 points per game, 4.1 rebounds per game, and 4.7 assists per game in 30 games in Greece. He is scouted as a perimeter threat. Our head scouts we can expect him to grow as her matures. He is solid at creating his own shot, but bad at finishing at the rim and on defense. He rates C+ for mid-range shooting, C for 3-point shooting, and D- on perimeter defense.

3. C Daniel Henry: Draft Express rank 3, 22-year-old, 7’0”, 260 pound, 78 overall, B potential from Wyoming. He averaged 21.4 points per game, 11.6 rebounds per game, and 1.3 blocks per game in 30 games. He is scouted as a low post threat. Our head scout reports he has a good post move repertoire and it a solid rebounder. He is probably the most NBA ready prospect in the draft. He rates inside scoring B+. post defense B, and rebounding B+

4. SG Johnnie Watson: Draft Express rank 4, 21-year-old, 6’4”, 200 pound, 70 overall, B potential from Akron. Playing for the Zips, he averaged 21.6 points per game, 3.4 rebounds per game, and 4.5 assists per game over a total of 35 games. He is scouted as a sharpshooter and our scouts feel he can be useful right away. He is a solid shooter, but lacks defensive awareness. He rates B in mid-range shooting, B+ in 3-point shooting, and D- in perimeter defense.

5. SG James Michael Fleming: Draft Express rank 5, 20-year-old, 6’5”, 190 pound, 72 overall, B- potential, from Iowa. He scouts as a two-way guard, averaging 18.9 points per game and 3.4 rebounds in 34 games at Iowa. He is a solid 3-point shooter, rating A- in the category, and a C for mid-range shooting. He can play solid defense, but on the offensive side can’t shoot much besides 3 pointers.

6. PG Bradford Ford: Draft Express rank 6, 22-year-old, 6’0”, 178 pound, 70 overall, B- potential, from Connecticut. Over 35 games, he averaged 13.3 points per game, 11.2 assists per game, and 1.5 steals per game. Our scouts report that with time to grow, he can turn into a really good player. He is rated at A- for playmaking, B- for 3-point shooting, and D for mid-range shooting. He is an outstanding playmaker, but loses focus at times on the defensive side of the ball.

7. PG Alberto Gomez: Draft Express rank 9, 20-year-old, 6’4”, 210 pound, 68 overall, A- potential from Puerto Rico. With time, he could develop into a solid playmaker. He rates B in playmaking, F in 3-point shooting, and D in mid-range shooting. He averaged 16.3 points per game, 12.4 assists per game, and 1.7 steals per game playing previously.

The other players in the top 10 were not worth mentioning here as we feel they are not great prospects. There were not any quality small forwards in the top 10 prospects of this draft. The remaining 3 players projected top 10 were another point guard, shooting guard, and center.

Our current opinion about who to draft:

Daniel Henry would be great to have at center, but we just signed Nerlens Noel to a big deal a year ago, and there is no need to upgrade him because he is a solid center.

We like what Johnnie Watson brings to the floor shooting wise, but needs to grow on defense to help us out. We also have Caris Levert as our starting shooting guard. I like Watson over James Michael Fleming.

Lothar Hasselhoff scouts similar to Dirk Nowitzki. He can bring a lot of scoring to the low post, but we don’t like his lack of height and poor blocking ability.

Bradford Ford can turn out to be a solid playmaking point guard in the future. The downside is that he appears to need time to grow into that role. We feel he is definitely better than Alberto Gomez, who feels like a bust to us.

Stay tuned for draft coverage.

Thanks for reading!

[Funkycorm]

It is a perfect night. July 17, 2019. Tonight is the night of the 2019 NBA Draft. Will this be the start of our turn around for the Nets? Will our prospects for the future start to turn around tonight? Let’s find out. We hold the 1st pick and the 37th pick.

We have been doing some shopping of our number 1 pick and shopping for other picks in the top 10. PF Lothar Hasselhoff is projected to go first to us and C Daniel Henry is projected to go second to Orlando.

The commissioner walks out onto the stage. The Nets had a 5.3% chance for the number 1 pick and here we are.

“With the first pick in the 2019 NBA Draft… The Brooklyn Nets select… Johnnie Watson, shooting guard, from the University of Akron.”

We liked Watson’s shooting ability above all else. Lothar Hasselhoff is going to be a good power forward in the NBA, but we felt he would lack the true inside presence we are wanting from the position.

Miami trades its first-round pick and Rudy Gay to Orlando to move to the second spot to select SG Dimitras Niniadis from Greece.

Then Charlotte stays pat at number 3 and selected the projected number 1 pick off the board, PF Lothar Hasselhoff.

As soon as we heard Hasselhoff go off the board, we instantly decided to get on the phone with the Lakers to discuss moving back into the first round. We still had 1 more player from this top 10 that we had interest in.

We trade our 2020 1st round pick (via Houston, lottery protected), SG Phil Norman, PG Isaiah Whitehead, and C Andrew Bogut to the Lakers for the 4th pick.

It was a steep price for the 4th spot. But with Houston starting a rebuild, we have faith that this pick we traded that was lottery protected by Houston would end up going back to Houston anyway so we were not losing anything. We also still have 2 more first round picks next year. Norman was never going to pan out as a starter for us. Bogut was getting older and easily replaceable depth. Whitehead served alright as a backup but was never a big part of our future.

We then drafted PG Bradford Ford from Connecticut.

Orlando picks projected 2 overall pick C Daniel Henry with the 5th selection. Something I am sure they are excited about.

There were other trades in the top 10. Overall 7 of the top 10 picks were picked by teams that did not own them going into tonight.

Most interesting was San Antonio trading the 6th pick to Houston for Houston’s 10th pick and Evan Turner. Then San Antonio goes and trades that 10th pick to the Lakers, who gave up their 2020 1st (top 10 protection) and 2nd rounder.

In the second round, we traded pick 37 to Toronto for pick 58 this year and a 2021 2nd round pick.

With the 58th pick, we selected C Dean Nealy.

Here is a recap of the top 10 picks in the draft:

2019 NBA Draft - Top 10 Picks
Pick	Team	Player	Pos	Ht	Wt
1	Brooklyn	Johnnie Watson (71)	SG	6'4"	200
2	Miami (trade Orlando)	Dimitras Niniadis (73)	SG	6'6"	224
3	Charlotte	Lothar Hasselhoff (74)	PF	6'8"	233
4	Brooklyn (trade L.A. Lakers)	Bradford Ford (69)	PG	6'0"	178
5	Orlando (trade Miami)	Daniel Henry (77)	C	7'0"	260
6	Houston (trade San Antonio)	Ernest Garrett (73)	C	7'2"	319
7	Atlanta (trade Orlando)	Allan Martin (69)	SG	6'7"	203
8	Miami (trade Indiana)	Alberto Gomez (67)	PG	6'4"	210
9	Philadelphia (via Sacramento)	Josh Buchanan (67)	PG	6'1"	171
10	L.A. Lakers (trade San Antonio)	James Michael Fleming (71)	SG	6'5"	190

Here is a summary of our picks:

2019 NBA Draft Picks - Brooklyn Nets
Pick	Player	College	Pos	Ht	Wt
1	Johnnie Watson (71B-)	Akron	SG	6'4"	200
4	Bradford Ford (69B-)	Connecticut	PG	6'0"	178
58	Dean Nealy (67C)	Miami (FL)	C	7'0"	256

Draft Assessment:
This was a good draft for us. The players we got out of it have low overalls now, but are young and have the potential to be a part of our team for a very long time.

Stay tuned for the rest of the offseason.

Thanks for reading!

[Funkycorm]

Welcome to the rest of the 2019 NBA offseason. We had a great draft, probably our best one yet, and we still look to be building on to our young core in the future. With that said, let’s review the rest of our offseason.

Rookie signings:

SG Johnnie Watson 2 years/$10.22M
PG Bradford Ford: 2 years/$7.41M
C Dean Nealy: 1 year/620K

Position change:

After the drafting of Johnnie Watson, we moved Caris Levert to small forward. There were no ratings adjustments as that was his secondary position to begin with.

Team options:

Brook Lopez: declined
Caris Levert: accepted
Shaun Bridgeman: accepted

Qualifying offers:

Kay Felder: none
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson: 1 year/$3.59M

My Free Agents:

Brook Lopez: Signed to 1 year/$7.00M deal with a 1 year team option.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson: He accepted the qualifying offer of 1 year/3.59M
JaMychal Green: He wanted to test free agency so we let him walk.
Sean Kilpatrick: He agreed to a 1 year/$1.76M deal.
Tim Hardaway Jr.: He wanted to test free agency so we let him walk. We would have liked to keep him but with us drafting Johnnie Watson, we wanted to make sure he was starting.
Derek Williams: He wanted to test free agency and we had no interest in keeping him.
Kay Felder: He wanted to test free agency, and since he did not play, we had to interest in retaining him.

Free Agency:

PF Zack Randolph (76A-): He can provide some veteran leadership and depth in our front court for us. He probably won’t see much playing time as he will probably be behind Shaun Bridgeman and Thomas Robinson.
PG Austin Rivers (75B-): He will probably be slated to start ahead of rookie PG Bradford Ford this season. A short-term solution to point guard while Ford grows.
SF Terrence Ross (76B-): He provides depth and shooting at small forward.
SF Robert Covington (76B-): He will provide some bench depth for us and is a solid perimeter defender.

Signings around the league:

There were a lot of big name free agents this year, but most chose to resign with their current team.

PF Chris McCollough signed a 3 year/$19.60M deal with the Cavs. He is a former Net who we traded to Memphis for a 2022 1st round pick so we still have yet to see what we get in return, but we are proud of him, nonetheless.
PG Kemba Walker signed a 4 year/$112.29M deal with Atlanta.
PG Ricky Rubio goes to Memphis on a 3 year/$32.30M deal to replace the void left by Mike Conley going to Dallas a year ago.

Draft class for 2020 Draft was auto generated with no changes made.

Player progression:

Shaun Bridgeman went up 3 points overall.
Sean Kilpatrick went down 4 points overall.

Training Camp (untapped potential):

Bradford Ford: B- to B
Johnnie Watson: B- to B
Nerlens Noel: B to B+

Players not returning:

JaMychal Green: not resigned
Tim Hardaway Jr.: not resigned
Derek Williams: not resigned
Kay Felder: not resigned

Plus, there are 6 players that were traded from between the beginning of last season until now. Those players are Shelvin Mack, Isaiah Whitehead, Bojan Bogdanovic, Phil Norman, Trevor Booker, and Andrew Bogut.

Stay tuned for the start of the 2019-20 NBA season and our changing look Nets. This will include roster, depth chart, power rankings, and prospect profiles for our newest draft picks.

Thanks for reading!

[Funkycorm]

Another year is here. It is time for the start of the 2019-20 NBA Season. It is our 4th season as owner of this team. We drafted 3 players in the draft back in July and we are excited as we are taking our first steps toward that bright future we have all been dreaming of.

Let’s take a look at the NBA 2k Preseason Power Rankings:

1. Golden State
2. Boston
3. L.A. Lakers
4. Chicago
5. Philadelphia
6. Phoenix
7. San Antonio
8. Cleveland
9. L.A. Clippers
10. Minnesota
11. Oklahoma City
12. Miami
13. Portland
14. Denver
15. Washington
16. New York
17. Atlanta
18. Indiana
19. Milwaukee
20. Utah
21. Houston
22. Denver
23. Sacramento
24. Orlando
25. Memphis
26. Toronto
27. New Orleans
28. Dallas
29. Brooklyn
30. Charlotte

Again, much more of the same for us. We are at the bottom as usual. The next few years will be big for us as some of our draft picks will start to grow and mature. We are staying the course.

Let's look at our roster:

2019-20 Brooklyn Nets
#	NAME	POS	AGE	HT	WT	SALARY
9	Austin Rivers (76B-)	PG	27	6'4"	200	1yr/$1.09M
30	Norris Cole (72C+)	PG	31	6'2"	175	1yr/$1.09M
1	Bradford Ford (69B)	PG	22	6'0"	178	2yr/$3.62M
21	Johnnie Watson (72B)	SG	22	6'4"	200	2yr/$5.00M
10	Sean Kilpatrick (72C+)	SG	29	6'4"	219	1yr/$1.09M
24	Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (78B)	SF	24	6'7"	220	1yr/$3.59M
22	Caris Levert (79B)	SF	25	6'6"	185	1yr/$2.63M
20	Terrence Ross (76B-)	SF	28	6'7"	195	1yr/$1.09M
33	Robert Covington (76B-)	SF	28	6'9"	215	1yr/$1.09M
29	Shaun Bridgeman (76B+)	PF	23	6'10"	237	1yr/$1.55M
15	Thomas Robinson (75B-)	PF	28	6'10"	237	1yr/$2.50M
50	Zach Randolph (75A-)	PF	38	6'9"	260	1yr/$1.89M
17	Nerlens Noel (80B+)	C	25	6'11"	228	2yr/$20.77M
11	Brook Lopez (79B+)	C	31	7'0"	275	1yr/$7.00M
46	Dean Nealy (68C)	C	22	7'0"	256	1yr/$620K

Depth Chart:

Brooklyn Nets Depth Chart - 2019-20
	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
PG	Austin Rivers	Norris Cole	Bradford Ford
SG	Johnnie Watson	Sean Kilpatrick
SF	Rondae Hollis-Jefferson	Caris Levert	Terrence Ross	Robert Covington
PF	Shaun Bridgeman	Zach Randolph	Thomas Robinson
C	Nerlens Noel	Brook Lopez	Dean Nealy

Roster Assessment:

Our roster is definitely getting younger. There are only 3 players over the age of 30 on the roster. Austin Rivers will get the starting job at PG this year. His role will be to solely place hold until Bradford Ford is ready to take over the reins at the point. Rookie Johnnie Watson will get the day 1 start at shooting guard, but will probably be splitting time there with Caris Levert, even though he is now the back-up small forward. Our front court is becoming solid with Nerlens Noel at center and a growing Shaun Bridgeman at power forward. I do not think we are playoff contenders yet, but I think with can push 35 wins this year. This is a modest goal, but our roster needs time to develop.

Draft Picks:
2020: 1st round, 1st round (via Memphis), 2nd round (via Phoenix)
2021: 1st round, 1st round (via Milwaukee, top 5 protected), 2nd round (via Toronto)
2022: 1st round, 1st round (via Memphis), 2nd round
2023: 1st round, 2nd round

We are in good shape for draft picks. We have a total of 11 over the next 4 years. That includes 7 first rounder picks, of which we have 2 a year for the next 3 drafts.

Prospect Profiles:

SG Johnnie Watson:
Johnnie Watson is a 6’4”, 200 pound, 71 overall, B potential shooting guard out of the University of Akron. He was scouted as a sharpshooter who averaged 21.4 points per game over 35 games. Watson helped Akron win the MAC championship this past season and got them into the NCAA tournament, where they lost their opening round match to Connecticut. He is rated 3 stars in 3-point shooting, and 2 starts in mid-range shooting and shooting off the dribble. He is very proficient on the offensive side of the court and we expect him to grow a lot in this area. Our head scout reports he does lack some consistency on defense. Overall, he will be a solid starter for us for a long time and will only flourish once he gets a strong playmaker in the back court with him.

PG Bradford Ford:
Bradford Ford is a 6’0”, 178 pound, 69 overall, B potential shooting guard out of Connecticut. He is the strong playmaker we hope will develop alongside Johnnie Watson in our backcourt. He led Connecticut to the Elite 8 this season, including an opening round win against now teammate, Johnnie Watson’s, Akron Zips. Ford averaged 13.3 points per game, 11.2 assists per game, and 1.5 steals per game, over 35 games for the Huskies. He is a 3-star playmaker, 2 star 3-point shooter, and 1 star in agility. He can play solid man defense without help and should hopefully develop into a really good player. He needs to increase his awareness on defense and work on his jump shot overall. He is a semi-raw player at the 4th spot in the draft, but we see great potential in him. He will take a few years to develop into a solid player and probably will not see much playing time as a rookie.

C Dean Nealy:
Dean Nealy is a 7’0”, 256 pound, 68 overall, C potential center from Miami (FL). He is a steal at the 58th pick in the draft. He scouts as a 3-star rebounding, with 1 start in agility and mid-range shooting. He made the team solely on him being a strong rebounder. He may see some playing time as the 3rd string late in games or if there is an injury. Either way, he will provide some front court depth as a solid rebounder, if nothing else.

Stay tuned for our midseason update, which I am working on improving by giving more information, and our trade deadline.

Thanks for reading!

[Funkycorm]

It is February 2020 and it is the All-Star Break. Our Nets currently sit in 4th place in the Atlantic, 11th in the Eastern Conference, and 27th in NBA 2k Power Rankings. We sit at a record of 24-33, which is an improvement over the last 3 years, where none of those seasons we were over the 20-win mark at the break.

Our longest losing streak of the season was 7 games running over the course of late January until early February. We also lost a sting of 6 games in December. Our longest with streak was 3 games, and it was to start the season out. We came out of the gate 3-0, with wins over Philadelphia, Miami, and Memphis.

Our monthly records:

October/November: 9-7
December: 5-10
January: 7-8
February (until all-star break): 3-8

We started the season off very well, being in contention in the Atlantic very early. However, once December hit, we had that 6-game losing streak, followed by the losing streak spanning mid-late January into February.

Team Stat Leaders:

Points per game: Lopez 14.9, Rivers 13.0, Noel 11.0, Covington 10.5, Randolph 10.1, Levert 10.0, Hollis-Jefferson 10.0
Rebounds per game: Noel 8.3, Hollis-Jefferson 7.2, Robinson 6.8, Levert 6.4, Lopez 6.3, Bridgeman 5.7
Assists per game: Levert 6.0, Rivers 4.1
Steals per game: Hollis-Jefferson 1.6, Covington 1.6
Blocks per game: Bridgeman 1.5, Noel 1.5, Levert 1.3, Lopez 1.2, Hollis-Jefferson 1.1
Minutes per game: Levert 29.6, Noel 28.0, Rivers 27.7, Lopez 26.7, Hollis-Jefferson 26.3

Here is where the league stands in the 2k Power Rankings at the break:

1. Golden State
2. Philadelphia
3. Portland
4. Oklahoma City
5. Washington
6. Cleveland
7. Orlando
8. Toronto
9. Denver
10. Indiana
11. Sacramento
12. L.A. Clippers
13. Minnesota
14. Chicago
15. Utah
16. L.A. Lakers
17. Houston
18. Memphis
19. San Antonio
20. New York
21. Dallas
22. Detroit
23. Boston
24. Atlanta
25. Miami
26. Charlotte
27. Brooklyn
28. Milwaukee
29. New Orleans
30. Phoenix

Remember too, we traded our pick we had from Houston for the upcoming draft that was lottery protected, and where they sit now, they are just out of playoff contention. If they miss the playoffs, the pick we sent to the Lakers just goes back to Houston and we got a better deal from the Lakers than they anticipated.

At the break, Johnnie Watson was 3rd in the Rookie of the Year race, and Austin Rivers was 4th in the Most Improved Player race.

We did not have any all-stars, but Watson did represent us in the Stars vs. Elites game, playing for the Stars.

Depth Chart notes:

Caris Levert has been receiving some starts at shooting guard for us with Watson coming off the bench. Brook Lopez and Nerlens Noel have been splitting starts at center all season long. At power forward, Shaun Brigdeman cannot lock down starting job, so Bridgeman, Zach Randolph, and Thomas Robinson have all been receiving starts over the course of the season.
Bridgeman has been playing nicely on the defensive side of the ball, but continues his struggles on the offensive side. He is only average 3.5 points per game while playing 20 minutes per game. This is not the type of production we want at the starting power forward spot. He will need to continue to work on his post game as he matures. At this point, he has more of the makings of a backup power forward, than someone who can score 15 points per game and pull down 8 rebounds a night.

Caris Levert wants to renew his contract with us at $12 million a year for 2 years. This is something we are still deciding on. We do own bird rights for him, but we are not sure he is worth a long-term investment yet or not. He has played well for us the last few years and grown nicely, but a better small forward option may lie in the draft this summer.

Trade Deadline moves:

1. We traded PG Austin Rivers and a 2020 2nd round pick to Cleveland for PG J.J. Barea (72B) and a 2021 1st round (lottery protected) pick. Rivers played well for us this first half of the season, but wanted to test free agency, so we decided to get a pick for him. He averaged 13.0 PPG and 4.1 APG in 56 games. This trade was about getting another draft pick.
2. We sent SF Terrence Ross to the L.A. Clippers for a 2022 1st round (lottery protected) pick and C Cole Aldrich (76B-). Ross never had an opportunity for much playing time behind Caris Levert and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, so we moved him for a pick.
3. Lastly, we traded SF Robert Covington to Boston for SF Jake Layman (74B-) and a 2022 2nd round pick. Again, Covington was buried on the depth chart and we used our depth at the small forward position to get another draft pick.

Overall, our trade deadline was a good one. The picks we got are not the greatest picks, but can be used as trade bait to help maneuver around drafts more. The big reason behind these trades, is the 5th rated prospect on the board this year. A small forward from St. Joseph’s named Wally Carlisle is scouted as a 78B+ overall with the potential to be great. He has the ability to drive to the lane, and be a post player. Half way through his college year, he is averaging 29 points per game. He is slated at number 5, but we feel he may go earlier and we have him listed as the top-rated prospect on our Draft Board. We want these picks so we have the ability to move up in the draft and were we currently are projected to pick is in the 8th spot. He could be the player that transforms our team into a contender we feel. If we need to trade in the draft to move up, we will not give up any of our originally owned picks, but may give up others we have been acquiring.

With the all-star break concluding, stay tuned for our end of season recap.

Thanks for reading!

[Funkycorm]

The 2019-20 NBA season is over. The Brooklyn Nets finished with a record of 35-47. This is our best record since I took over ownership of the team. This puts us at 3rd in the Atlantic, 11th in the Eastern Conference, and 23rd in the 2k Power Rankings. We finished out the year after the break with a record of 11-14. We were content with this mark. We are showing improvement as a team.

Record Breakdown:
Overall: 35-47
Division: 9-7
Conference: 25-27
Home: 13-28
Away: 22-19

Here are how the standings look around the league:

NBA Standings - Updated: Apr 17, 2020
ATLANTIC	W	L	GB
Philadelphia	55	27	-
Toronto	50	32	5
Brooklyn	35	47	20
New York	33	49	22
Boston	28	54	27
CENTRAL	W	L	GB
Cleveland	52	30	-
Indiana	47	35	5
Detroit	40	42	12
Chicago	38	44	14
Milwaukee	30	52	22
SOUTHEAST	W	L	GB
Washington	53	29	-
Orlando	49	33	4
Charlotte	42	40	11
Atlanta	36	46	17
Miami	31	51	22
EAST PLAYOFF RACE	W	L	GB
Philadelphia	55	27	-
Washington	53	29	2
Cleveland	52	30	3
Toronto	50	32	5
Orlando	49	33	6
Indiana	47	35	8
Charlotte	42	40	13
Detroit	40	42	15
NORTHWEST	W	L	GB
Portland	56	26	-
Oklahoma City	49	33	7
Minnesota	43	39	13
Utah	43	39	13
Denver	42	40	14
PACIFIC	W	L	GB
Golden State	62	20	-
L.A. Clippers	46	36	16
Sacramento	46	36	16
L.A. Lakers	38	44	24
Phoenix	20	62	42
SOUTHWEST	W	L	GB
Memphis	37	45	-
Dallas	35	47	2
Houston	35	47	2
San Antonio	33	49	4
New Orleans	26	56	11
WEST PLAYOFF RACE	W	L	GB
Golden State	62	20	-
Portland	56	26	6
Oklahoma City	49	33	13
L.A. Clippers	46	36	16
Sacramento	46	36	16
Minnesota	43	39	19
Utah	43	39	19
Denver	42	20	20

This is the first time I have seen 5 teams from 1 division make the playoffs and at the same time 1 division not represented. The Southwest did not have 1 team break the .500 mark. The Rockets also missed the playoffs so the lottery protected pick we sent to the Lakers is useless to the Lakers and it is one less asset we traded for Bradford Ford.

Here are our player stats:

Brooklyn Nets Stats - 2019-20
Player	GP	MIN	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TPG	FPG
Norris Cole	8	98	6.5	1.9	2.6	0.7	0.1
J.J. Barea	37	871	9.5	0.6	5.8	0.8	0.0
Bradford Ford	0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Johnnie Watson	76	1806	8.3	3.5	2.3	0.1	0.5
Sean Kilpatrick	4	79	6.0	2.0	0.7	0.3	0.3
Caris Levert	81	2420	10.3	6.2	5.8	0.8	1.3
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson	77	2046	10.4	7.0	1.5	1.5	1.2
Jake Layman	18	346	5.6	3.6	1.2	0.8	0.4
Shaun Bridgeman	76	1599	3.3	5.6	0.7	0.5	1.4
Thomas Robinson	59	1167	6.0	7.2	0.8	0.4	0.7
Zach Randolph	65	1212	8.6	4.4	2.2	0.1	0.1
Nerlens Noel	76	2098	11.0	8.2	2.3	0.8	1.4
Brook Lopez	80	2096	15.7	5.8	1.0	0.1	1.3
Cole Aldrich	81	1788	7.0	7.8	2.4	0.4	1.3
Dean Nealy	0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

Our strength this year was out frontcourt. Everyone played well and contributed on either offense or defense. I would like to see more offensive production from Shaun Bridgeman, but it appears that won’t be happening. We may need to address our power forward position during the draft this year. Watson had a good rookie campaign, starting in 55 games for us. As he continues to develop his shot, he will continue to post solid offensive numbers. We are looking forward to seeing how he grows. Ford was buried on the depth chart this year, but as he has progressed a few points in his overall, and with the unlikely return of Barea and Cole, he should see some solid playing time next season.

Team stats (league rank):
PPG: 94.8 (23)
PAPG: 96.9 (10)
RPG: 53.5 (2)
APG 23.1 (28)
SPG: 7.0 (14)
BPG: 8.4 (1)
Turnovers: rank 29 out of 30
Bench Scoring: 40.4 (2)

We had a solid year defensively, but need to improve our offense across the board. We need to distribute the ball more, get to the basket more consistently, and make the most out of our scoring opportunities. We were again near the bottom of the league in free throw percentage as well. Our high bench scoring is nice, but shows that no one is the starting lineup has been truly stepping up for us. We will continue to address offense during the draft to help alleviate this.

League Award Winners:

2019-20 NBA Season Award Winners
Award	Player	Pos	Team
Most Valuable Player	Kevin Durant	SF	Golden State
Rookie of the Year	Lothar Hasselhoff	PF	Charlotte
Sixth Man of the Year	Will Barton	SG	Denver
Defensive Player of the Year	Kawhi Leonard	SF	San Antonio
Most Improved Player	Wayman Baykan	C	Miami
Coach of the Year	Kevin McHale		Golden State

Rookie SG Johnnie Watson was named to the 1st team all-rookie, and finished 3rd in Rookie of the Year voting behind Lothar Hasselhoff and Daniel Henry of Orlando. So, as an organization, we definitely give props to Johnnie for a solid rookie season for us.

In the NBA playoffs, there were some shakeups. In the West, Oklahoma City beat Golden State 4 to 2 in the Western Conference Finals. In the East, Washington swept Cleveland 4-0 in the Eastern Conference Semi Finals. The East Conference champion was the 8th seed Detroit Pistons. Oklahoma City then swept Detroit, 4-0, to become the 2020 NBA Champions led by Finals MVP Russell Westbrook. Oklahoma City finally got their championship and it was led by Westbrook.

At season’s end, Zach Randolph retired from the Nets.

Dwyane Wade retired and was elected into the Hall of Fame. His number was also retired by the Miami Heat. Pau Gasol also retired and was elected into the Hall of Fame.

There were no rule changes or league realignments during the summer.

Staff Changes:
We only made 1 staff change this offseason. Assistant Coach Aiden Morgan decided to move on at the end of his contract.

We hired Dwyane Wade, freshly elected into the Hall of Fame, as our new assistant coach. We offered him a 2 year/$914K per season contract. His coaching attributes are C in offense, B+ in defense, and A+ in potential.

The draft lottery was about to be done with us holding the 9th best odds, at 1.9% to get the number 1 pick. We did not have the magic this season as we remained in the 9th spot. We also hold the 18th spot from Minnesota this draft as well.

Stay tuned for draft coverage.

Thanks for reading!