Brooklyn Nets · Franchise era 5 of 7
Brooklyn and the all-in gamble: the Brooklyn Nets story
Franchise era
2008–09—2015–16
Brooklyn and the all-in gamble
Brooklyn Nets
The story in one sentence
The move to Brooklyn brought enormous ambition; the 2013 trade delivered one playoff run but surrendered the draft future.
A new arena, then the costly veteran trade
Deron Williams, Brook Lopez, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce gave the era its recognizable core.
Its ending created the conditions for the patient rebuild.
Timeline
How it unfolded
Before 2008–09
What came before
Kidd transformed a 26-win team into an immediate Finals participant and later formed an electric perimeter trio with Carter and Jefferson.
2013
Eastern Conference First Round: Brooklyn Nets vs Chicago Bulls
July 12, 2013
The trade that built Boston's next contender
The Nets wanted an instant title team. The Celtics accepted a painful teardown in exchange for years of control over Brooklyn's first-round future.
01Franchise resetJuly 12, 2013BKN⇄BOSNets–Celtics blockbusterBrooklyn went all-in on Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. Boston turned the distant draft control it received into the foundation of another championship era.13 assets · 4 outcomes＋
The original receipt
Brooklyn Nets received
- • Kevin Garnett
- • Paul Pierce
- • Jason Terry
- • D.J. White
Boston Celtics received
- • Gerald Wallace
- • Kris Humphries
- • Keith Bogans
- • MarShon Brooks
- • Kris Joseph
- • 2014 first-round pick
- • 2016 first-round pick
- • 2017 first-round swap rights
- • 2018 first-round pick
The deal is the modern warning attached to trading unprotected future picks: Jaylen Brown and the chain that produced Jayson Tatum came directly from Brooklyn's draft control.
Open full trade tree →2014
Eastern Conference First Round: Brooklyn Nets vs Toronto Raptors
2014
Eastern Conference Semifinals: Brooklyn Nets vs Miami Heat
After 2015–16
What came next
Without its own premium picks, Brooklyn found undervalued players and built a surprising playoff team.
The core