Brooklyn Nets: How Does Their Current Rebuild Compare to Those of the Past?

For years now, the Brooklyn Nets have been bad. The old saying, there is light at the end of the tunnel, is true. The question is, how much longer is this tunnel?

The Brooklyn Nets have been a historically bad franchise. It is not to say the team never had good moments. Players like Dr. J, Buck Williams, Drazen Petrovic, and Jason Kidd have all contributed positive things to the franchise. It is the years in between these players where fans go through heartache. Rebuilds normally take more than just a couple of seasons. And depending on the rebuild, the general manager will look to rebuild through the draft, free agency, trades, or a combination of all three.

For the Nets, they have always done rebuilds through drafting and trading. Considering New Jersey was never a top destination for free agents, the Nets had to always draft talent or make a trade to bring in talent. For example, the 2001-02 Nets team that reached the NBA finals was made of drafted players or traded players. Kerry Kittles was drafted in 1996 by the Nets. Keith Van Horn was drafted the following year in 1997. Kenyon Martin was the number 1 pick in the 2000 draft. In 2001, Richard Jefferson and Jason Collins were drafted by the Houston Rockets. The night of the draft, the Nets traded Eddie Griffin for those two. To top it off, the Nets traded Stephon Marbury for Jason Kidd. Every name here was a key part to the Nets’ finals run in 2002.

This wasn’t the only time the Nets organization did something like this. It has been a rinse and repeat cycle for most of their time as a franchise. The problem lies in recent years.