Is their hope in history for Brooklyn Nets fans?

Brian Lewis on Tuesday examines the slow pace of the Nets rebuild which as of this past weekend has been underway in some form or another for three and half years since Kevin Durant became the final piece of the Big Three to be traded back on February 9, 2023.

As Lewis writes, there’s no hope of anything dramatic happening his coming season, which will begin October 21 somewhere in North America, the details of which will be made known on Thursday at 3:00 p.m. ET.

Jordi Fernandez may think his charges can produce more wins than anyone inside or outside the organization, but other than the head coach, the consensus is the Nets will, um, struggle … for the want of a better word than another that also begins with “S.”

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Lewis enumerates all the issues the Nets have as they prepare for Thursday’s announcements, Media Day questions and training camp: Is Julius Randle as short-term hire bound for a contender? Will the Nets extend Michael Porter Jr., or trade him for even more assets? How will they handle the team’s “extreme youth” — with nine players 22 years old or younger on the roster? Not to mention how the East is now a mad house, with the defending NBA champions across the river, big new faces in Philadelphia, Toronto and Miami and an old one returning in Indiana, etc., etc.

But the Post writer also delves into his analytic bag and finds some hope for the most patient of what has been a generally patient fanbase. Specifically, he looks at what other organic, pick-heavy rebuilds have produced, history offering hope.

With eight rookies on the Nets’ roster last season — including a record five first-round picks — they played those first-year pros a league-high 6,716 minutes. The Hornets were the next-closest at 6,241. (Editor’s note: It was not, despite comments by Marks and Fernandez the most minutes in the NBA ever.)

Over the past decade, only four other teams had as many minutes played by rookies: the 2017-18 Kings, 2021-22 Thunder, 2023-24 Trail Blazers and 2024-25 Wizards. And like last season’s Nets, that entire quartet was horrid, struggling to a combined .274 winning percentage or 22.5 win…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/hope-history-brooklyn-nets-fans-181708032.html

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Publish date : 2026-08-11 18:17:00

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