The Boston Celtics are the 2024 NBA Champions, a statement that frustrates all Nets fans given how Boston acquired their best players, Jayson Tatum & Jaylen Brown. Going back to 2013, under former Nets GM Billy King, the Brooklyn Nets traded away multiple unprotected 1st-round picks to the Boston Celtics for the remains of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, & Jason Terry. This trade is now known as one of the worst in NBA history and resulted in the Celtics getting the #3 pick in 2016, which turned into future Finals MVP Jaylen Brown, and the #1 pick in 2017, which the Celtics then traded for the #3 pick in the same draft, which turned into future All-NBA player Jayson Tatum. Around those two, the Celtics had one of their most successful eras, leading the team to multiple Conference Finals, Finals, and finally an NBA Championship.
The Brooklyn Nets have been one of the worst teams in the NBA since 2013 because of this trade; it has led to an era of pain and suffering for Nets fans. While Nets fans don’t want to relive this nightmare of a trade, they must. The reason being that the current Nets front office wishes to do it once again and will continue to repeat the same mistake of trading unprotected 1st-round picks in an attempt to “win now” to salvage the team's reputation. The Nets have already thrown out their 1st-round picks until 2027 due to the Harden trade made back in 2021, and they intend to do the same thing for a 3rd time by trading away the Phoenix picks that they received from the Kevin Durant trade made back in 2023.
The Celtics winning the championship has shown and proven that building a title team is not easy; it cannot be done overnight, and there’s no skipping steps. It required you to draft multiple cost-controlled players via the lottery and get an opportunity to draft All-NBA caliber players. Trying to trade for those players is costly and not sustainable, as it makes team building so much more difficult and makes it near impossible to get supporting role players to assist those stars. This was made evident back in 2021-22 when the Nets had no quality 3&D wings or reliable centers to support Durant, who had to carry the team for long stretches. It took the Boston Celtics several years to win the championship because they drafted their best players; they were able to build and rebuild their roster over the course of several years. Brown & Tatum went through many different teammates; they were young, and they were patient because of their youth. When you trade for star players, you are typically trading for a player in their late 20s, someone that has no patience and is desperate for a championship. When things go wrong, the stars are typically the first to jump ship, as shown by the Harden & Durant trade requests.
Because the Celtics drafted their best players, they were allowed to use their assets for other things, such as trading for their role players Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, & Al Horford. A luxury that the Nets will not have if they have to trade multiple players and draft picks for 1 or 2 star players. Now, there’s an argument to be made that if the Nets were able to attract star free agents, like they plan to in 2025 when they are projected to have $80M+ in cap space, they would have the assets to build a contending team. While I agree that’s a valid strategy, if the Nets fail to land a single star caliber free agent, then it would be a complete disaster.
Overall, the Nets are far away from being on the Celtics level; Boston won double the games the Nets won last season and until the Nets understand the value of the draft, the team will continue to be one of the worst in the league.
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