After signing Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving as free agents in the summer of 2019, and acquiring James Harden midway through the 2019-2020 season, the Brooklyn Nets’ future looked bright at one point.
However, the three superstars played just 16 games together and the “Big 3” was blown up shortly after it began.
Even after they all left, the Nets — led by Mikal Bridges — made the playoffs in the 2022-23 season, but got swept in the first round by the 76ers.
However, the wheels fell off the bus last season for Brooklyn, as it finished 32-50 and missed the postseason.
Fast-forwarding to this offseason, the Nets traded Mikal Bridges for five first-round picks, and after the Bridges trade, the Nets now have the lowest projected win total in the entire NBA at 19.5.
This marks their lowest win total in the last 30 years.
Still, Nets general manager Sean Marks does not think it will be a lengthy rebuild.
“This build, do I think it’s going to take time? I mean, I think we’ll be strategic in it,” Marks said this week.
“I think you have to look at yourself in the mirror as an organization and sort of say what’s the best path for us moving forward here, and how do we do this and how do we have that sustainable success that we want,” he added. “So when you’re able to (add) that amount of draft assets over the course of the last year, I think that’s going to help us in our trajectory long term.”
The Nets will have the Knicks’ first-round picks in 2025, 2027, 2029 and 2031, the right to swap first-round picks in 2028, a first-round pick from Milwaukee next year, and a second-round pick in 2025.
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