Brooklyn Nets: Times Are Changing For the Franchise

2000

On June 2nd, 2000, the Nets hired Rod Thorn–current President of Basketball Operations for the NBA–as team president. Before being hired in New Jersey, Thorn was best known as the general manager that selected Michael Jordan for the Chicago Bulls in the 1984 NBA Draft.

Thorn’s first two moves with the Nets, hiring Byron Scott as head coach and drafting Kenyon Martin, helped to spearhead the Nets over the next four years.

With Marbury and Van Horn becoming stars in New Jersey, things looked bright for the Nets. However, injuries and poor chemistry ruined their chances of achieving postseason success in the 2001 Playoffs.

Thorn was not settled with the team’s roster and made two major moves in the 2001 offseason. During the 2001 NBA Draft they traded the rights to the number eight selection (Eddie Griffin of Seton Hall) to the Houston Rockets for Richard Jefferson, Jason Collins and Brandon Armstrong.

The very next day, the Nets shipped Marbury to the Phoenix Suns for Jason Kidd. Kidd’s addition to the Nets paid immediate dividends to the franchise.

In his first two seasons in New Jersey, Kidd and the Nets made back-to-back trips to the NBA Finals. In 2002, the Los Angeles Lakers swept the Nets, as they completed their three-peat. The following year, they met the San Antonio Spurs in the Finals, and fell after six games.

Kidd resigned with the team as a free agent in 2003, claiming that there was “unfinished business” with the Nets.

The Nets replaced Scott with Lawrence Frank in the 2003-04 season and brought in notable veterans like Alonzo Mourning and Vince Carter over the next few seasons. Yet, in the end they were not be able to replicate their success of the early 2000s.

Next: 2008