If only the Nets had anywhere near as many draft picks as the eight coaches they have employed since 2009-10. But the future borders on barren as the Nets steamroll toward their seventh losing record in nine seasons, entrenched in a city where the overwhelming amount of attention is showered on the Knicks.
Now what free agent wouldn’t want to be a part of all that?
Well, accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative and pray the allure of free-agent paychecks and New York will be enough to sway talent. Owner Mikhail Prokhorov indicated free agency is the way to respectability, and that is the hope of Brook Lopez and Thaddeus Young, the two highest-profile Nets who already have started recruitment pitches to selected free agents.
“What’s not good about New York? It’s a huge city, huge market for a lot of superstars. We’re getting a $50 million practice facility sitting right on the water,” Young said Tuesday. “There’s a lot of different components [about] a city like New York. It’s definitely a place to be.”
Selling Brooklyn to studs hastens any rebuild.
“When a superstar changes teams that team automatically gets better,” Young said.
The Nets, looking to end a 10-game home losing streak when they play those rival Knicks Wednesday, went through their first full practice with interim head coach Tony Brown.
As a staff member of ousted Lionel Hollins, Brown used familiar stuff but began implementing his own schemes. Those schemes should not be confused with those of Hollins or Jason Kidd or P.J. Carlesimo or Avery Johnson or Kiki Vandeweghe or Tom Barrise or Lawrence Frank — you know, guys Lopez has played for in eight years.
But Lopez said he knows a few critical additions can turn the mess around. He’ll recruit if necessary.
“If that duty falls to me, I absolutely take responsibility for it,” Lopez said. “I’ve always mentioned the positives here. We have a lot going for us. We need to, obviously, get the most important part right.”
That right part could start with some $40 million in cap space. Money is always an attractive starting lure. Yes, Kevin Durant and LeBron James (opt out) will be on the market, but so should Mike Conley Jr., Al Horford and DeMar DeRozan.
“It’s all based around opportunity,” Lopez said. “Coming from where we were in Izod [Center] and Newark, to the arena in Brooklyn and the facilities we have, with ownership who’s willing to spend and do whatever it takes to win and just playing in New York, playing in Brooklyn. There’s nothing like it.”
Young said the recruiting has begun but declined to name names.
“We have some cap space going into free agency for ’16 so I think that’s the biggest key, just luring those free agents. Me and Brook have been trying to talk to guys that we think we would want to play with and just get them to take a look at us,” said Young, who has embraced Brooklyn like few others. “We’re trying to build something special and trying to keep this thing going [and] getting back into the winner’s circle [with] some of the superstars in this league in that good age group — the 27-, 28-, 26-year-old guys — and trying to get some of those guys to come here.”
OK, so there is no permanent head coach at the moment. Or a permanent GM. But remember: location, location, location. Almost as important as paycheck, paycheck, paycheck.
“We definitely have been talking to a lot of different guys,” Young said. “Whether it’s ‘Hey, there’s a condo available right next to mine, you might want go [and] start picking out a spot.’ They just start laughing and tell me something like, ‘It’s definitely a possibility.’ So we know that guys are looking at us and guys are looking at Brooklyn.”