Nets

The Nomads: Brooklyn’s New Bench

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They've tried to make it all about big names. Deron Williams's face was plastered on billboards, subways. Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett stared you down when you entered Barclays Center. They ended up with just one second-round appearance in three years, which cost the team hundreds of millions of dollars in salary, luxury tax, and eventually, buyout costs. The cost of securing those players -- and pushing the team's salary cap to never-before-seen brinks -- has also been scraping the barrel to fill out their roster with minimum or near-minimum players. The Nets have never had more than the taxpayer mid-level exception to sign new players since their move to Brooklyn, and that means picking up unproven journeyman, aging veterans, flameouts trying to find their foothold in the league: nomads who might not earn another contract if they don't make their mark. And that's the weird part: those guys have been the most fun to root for. Reggie Evans had the offensive skills of a blindfolded duck, but the crowd might not have ever cheered louder than when he beat Hack-A-Reggie by nailing two free throws. Shaun Livingston was probably on his last minimum contract until he put up the best season of his career, helping the 10-21 Nets turn in their most exciting three months in Brooklyn. Andray Blatche turned the court into his own personal jester's stage for two seasons, and parlayed it into -- what else? -- Filipino citizenship and a lucrative deal in China. These guys were captivating NBA journeymen, nomads that stepped into town and made us want to watch. Re-upping Brook Lopez & Thaddeus Young -- a foregone conclusion if there ever was one in free agency -- meant the Nets needed to go digging in the rough once more. Out came four players who project to get significant minutes on the bench, who have bounced around the NBA (some despite high expectations), and who need to find their NBA footing. When I say bounced, I mean bounced. Two of the four have averaged at least one new team per season, and one is just one team behind. Two were former top-five picks. Have the Nets found any diamonds in the rough? Scroll through to learn some more.
They’ve tried to make it all about big names. Deron Williams’s face was plastered on billboards, subways, and bus stops. Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett stared you down when you entered Barclays Center. But they ended up with just one second-round appearance in three years, which cost the team hundreds of millions of dollars in salary, luxury tax, and eventually, buyout costs.

All photos AP. Top composite photo c/o Raya Lim.

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