30 Teams in (a lot more than) 30 Days: Brooklyn Nets

When I decided I was going to write a preview of every NBA team, I was gonna call it "30 Teams in 30 Days." I then realized that I wouldn't be able to keep up with it daily, so you'll get one every couple of days at the most, starting from the bottom of the NBA standings and working my way up. Enjoy.

Record last year: 20-62

Major Departures: 27th overall pick & Brook Lopez (to Lakers), Justin Hamilton (to Raptors), Andrew Nicholson (to Trail Blazers), Archie Goodwin (Waived)

Major Acquisitions: D'Angelo Russell & Timofey Mozgov (from Lakers), DeMarre Carroll (from Raptors), Allen Crabbe (from Trail Blazers), Jarrett Allen (22nd overall pick)

Leading scorer: Brook Lopez (20.5 PPG)

Leading rebounder: Trevor Booker (8.0 RPG)

Leading assister: Jeremy Lin (5.1 APG)

You wanna know what's more important than throwing away money on overpaid players? Credit.

As the Nets continue to recover from the 2013 trade with the Celtics that effectively ruined the team, they've traded for pieces that aren't very consistent with a rebuilding atmosphere.

DeMarre Carroll posted career numbers in 2014-15 as a 3&D player, but flopped after signing in Toronto for 4 years and $60 million. Carroll's laughable splits of .400/.341./.761 last year played a huge part in the Raptors decision to send him to Brooklyn.

On top of unloading him in exchange for a minor player like Justin Hamilton, the Raptors gave the Nets their 2018 1st and 2nd round draft picks to make the deal worthwhile on Brooklyn's end. Its obvious that the Nets agreed to take on Carroll's contract to replenish some of the picks that Billy King gave away in 2013, for the corpses of Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett.

Last season Allen Crabbe averaged 10.7 points/gm off the bench, on .468/.444/.847 shooting splits. Pretty good right? Until you remember that Crabbe signed a 4 year, $75 million dollar contract last season to keep Brooklyn from acquiring then-RFA Crabbe.

Next season Allen Crabbe will be making more money than these All-Stars: Jimmy Butler, Kawhi Leonard, Kyrie Irving, John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green, not to mention the numerous players on rookie deals that are just flat-out better than Crabbe. 

And shooting .375/.231/.333 at the hands of the Warriors this past playoffs definitely didn't help his case either.

While some Blazer fans believed the trade was to make space for becoming a third team in a Melo-to-Houston deal, the unloading of that massive contract is definitely reason itself to pull the trigger. 

The major move for Brooklyn this offseason was the trade to get D'Angelo Russell and Timofey Mozgov from the Lakers, in exchange for former All-Star center Brook Lopez and newly-drafted Kyle Kuzma. 

D'Angelo Russell is a great talent for the Nets to get. Throughout last season he's shown flashes of becoming the star that the Lakers were hoping to get when they drafted him second overall 2 years ago. That's why it shocked me and many other NBA fans when news broke of the trade.

Most informed NBA fans could tell right away that LA gave D-Russ to the Nets to pencil in future draft pick Lonzo "🅱️ig 🅱️aller" Ball as their point guard going forward. But adding Mozgov into the deal allows LA to unload one of the worst contracts in the NBA today, making space for a Paul George (and dare I say it.........LeBron??) to possibly come to the City of Angels next offseason.

While Mozgov's remaining 3 years and $48 million dollars is by far the worst contract acquired, gaining a young talented asset like Russell only improves Brooklyn going forward.

Losing Brook Lopez is tough for the Nets players and fans, having been drafted by the then-New Jersey Nets and spending the first 9 years of his career there. But trading him was necessary in order for the Nets to get younger, and to get rid of the near 30-year-old's expiring contract.

Lets face it, the Nets suck. They're most likely going to be in a draft lottery spot, with the draft pick that Billy King gave to the Celtics on a silver platter.

The ripping off of the figurative Billy King band-aid will be left with residue for a long time. As I was looking through the Nets payroll, I laughed at the fact that Deron Williams will be 6th highest paid player for the Nets 2017-18 season, at $5.5 million. 

The Nets waived Deron Williams on July 11, 2015. 

Williams contract buyout will continue to be paid by the Nets until the end of the 2019-2020 season. By then, Brooklyn's young talent will have had plenty of time to develop into consistent contributors.

As of today, the Nets are the 10th youngest team in the NBA, with the average age being 25.6 years old. Young players like D'Angelo Russell, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, and Caris LeVert have the potential to be major contributors to BK's future success.

Jarrett Allen was drafted with the 22nd overall pick in June. He's a lengthy forward with talent as a lob catcher and shows major potential on both sides of the floor, but will take some time in the right atmosphere to develop properly. He also looks like Ne-Yo and Vince Staples had a lightskin baby.

Nets fans, you guys already know how this is gonna go, don't expect much from this team besides the young talent. You're gonna get killed by most teams you play against, especially by the Raptors and the improved Celtics.

They may not go 0-82, but the future does look a little gravy for the Nets franchise.