ESSAY: The Brooklyn Nets have a familiar hurdle ... a distant echo might help them get over it.
Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images
In the past three years — or even eras — depending on your definition of the word, the Brooklyn Nets have had no greater adversary than distance. Not in feet across the hardwood or air travel between road games, but in time. Cooper from Interstellar could surely relate.
Tuesday night, Brooklyn traded their latest “franchise player,” as Mikal Bridges seemingly tossed aside a hat he was forced into (but surely acted like he was proud to wear during his tenure.) While as a Net, opposing front offices and reporters often questioned Bridges’ desire to remain in Brooklyn given the franchise’s volatility and oh, that ‘Nova connection.
Inquiries about his commitment to the team hit the swingman like a ceaseless wind on a stormy day, the largest bellowing in off the East River. If you had a nickel for every “the Knicks have called to check in on Bridges” NBA Central tweet over the past year, you’d have enough money to pay off Ben Simmons’ contract.
But amidst it all, Bridges repeatedly voiced his intentions to remain a central pillar in the Nets franchise, even as recently as four months ago.
Mikal Bridges: “I wasn’t raised when things get tough to want to leave and get out. I know people might want to think about different situations and teams. Obviously, I’ve got my boys over there in New York, so everybody goes with that.”“I’m here now and want to stay here.” pic.twitter.com/u5HbcNyBXC— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) February 21, 2024
Then he didn’t, at least according to what SNY’s Ian Begley tweeted. and what the Post’s Brian Lewis wrote. Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports said differently and Bridges seemed to hint otherwise as well. But on the fine Wednesday morning when writing this, its of ancillary importance. The point is Bridges is on the D-Train to Manhattan right now. Who paid to put him through the turnstyle doesn’t matter, at least from a basketball standpoint. Sure, a notable player potentially asking out reflects poorly on a franchise, but Brooklyn’s well past that point.
And yall mfs really think i got pull like that lol please be fr — Mikal Bridges (@mikal_bridges) June 26, 2024
As annoying as it might be to see the Knicks community get exactly what they’ve been after, to see Bridges to crawl over Brooklyn and high-five the New York fans who’ve had their hands held in the sky for months waiting for him to smack it, this move should be equally if not more celebrated here.
Just about every educated, analytical, cap management account on here is applauding the Nets for this trade.Just about every mindless, engagement farming, aggregator account is pro-Knicks posting Nova edits and memes.Says something about this deal.— Collin Helwig (@collinhelwig) June 26, 2024
The Nets should have, and likely did, bolt toward the floor Tuesday night to let Bridges walk over them (no pun intended but certainly appreciated). By doing so, they brought back an unprotected first round pick haul equivalent to the guy they dealt him out for in the first place. You know, the “franchise player” before Bridges who actually led the team to winning basketball.
And that is where we should all step back and take a long look back at another team’s journey.
Kevin Durant is still among the cacti in Phoenix, and although Adrian Wojnarowski briefly reported that Brooklyn’s friends in Space City are targeting him in trade, he didn’t take long to walk that back.
As intrigued as the Rockets have been about Durant, they're determined to use the Suns picks to be aggressive on deals elsewhere now, sources tell ESPN. Phoenix has made it clear that they want to run it back with this group, and Houston is seeking a major upgrade now.— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 26, 2024
On the subject of the Slim Reaper, losing him was an all-time fumble — I’m talking original Miracle at the Meadowlands level. It was there that “distance” first hurt the Nets, as there wasn’t enough of it between that championship-level team and the conundrum we got this past year to make any of it enjoyable. While the 2023-24 season wasn’t as bad on paper as some of Brooklyn’s mid-to-late 2010s campaigns, it stung like one, as fans didn’t have enough time to move on from those contending aspirations before taking a mouthful of Ls.
But now, we’re starting to see package Brooklyn really got back for Durant. If the reports saying Brooklyn’s about to embark on a fire sale over the next few hours, that could even grow as well.
Nets' final haul for Kevin Durant:Cam Johnson8 unprotected 1st-round picks1 protected 1st-round pick2028 1st-round pick swap2028 unprotected pick swap3 2nd-round picks— Underdog NBA (@Underdog__NBA) June 26, 2024
It’s a collection which rivals that of another one of Durant’s exes and that’s no coincidence. Sure, the Oklahoma City Thunder lost Durant for nothing, but his departure started something similar to what’s happening in Brooklyn right now.
That 2012 Oklahoma City Thunder team, filled to the brim with talent headlined by Durant, another ex-Net in James Harden, and Russell Westbrook were unreal, but in hindsight are viewed as one of the NBA’s biggest failures or “what ifs.” Every time Bleacher Report needs to reel in some social media engagement, posting that photograph of the trio, arms around each other as the NBA Finals clock ticks down with a “what could have been caption,” is like hooking a Bonito.
The “Big Three” Brooklyn Nets might as well be on the same sideline with them.
So for those who hoped to see Brooklyn contend around Bridges, I’d ask you to keep that comparison in mind and think about where the Thunder find themselves today. Sure, they ended up on their couches a bit earlier than expected this summer, but still developed into the youngest one-seed in NBA history still with a myriad of future first round draft picks in their back pocket.
Brooklyn, in wake of this trade, has a chance to grow their own stash. They now carry 15 unprotected first rounders over the next seven drafts. It’s a haul not as large Sam Presti’s was at its peak, but sure is a close second and comes at the expense of a team who once wore that silver medal.
Thunder fans were surely upset when they traded Paul George and especially Russell Westbrook, a star with far more heart and meaningfulness to Oklahoma City than Bridges had in Brooklyn, but doing so they laid the seeds for what they have today in Shai Gilgeous Alexander, Jalen Williams, and so on.
By all immediate accounts the Thunder had failed. The big names like Kevin Durant, James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Paul George, Carmelo Anthony, and more all never got them to the Larry O’Brien. But that’s the funny thing about the immediate, it only matters until it doesn’t. With each passing day after each fateful trade, it mattered less while the future mattered more. Oklahoma City is now completely on the winning end of that and it’s why they’re the best situation in the NBA right now.
Comparisons are a slippery slope. Not too long ago I wrote about how these Brooklyn Nets have the chance to become the next Cleveland Cavaliers. But while we’re all rooting for Kenny A in The Land right now, I’m sure anyone would agree the Thunder are a better model to follow. After all, Cleveland’s possibly on the verge of a roster overhaul themselves in wake of the own coaching change.
So now, its distance in front of the Brooklyn Nets that they need to tackle. Their future picks won’t arrive until at least next year. While things remain fluid, at this point, they’re like a kid waiting to open up his or her Christmas presents in March.
That won’t be easy but what comes after it could make up for it. Philly has already coined the term, “trust the process.” Does “trust the Thunder” have any legs to it?
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