So things have kind of gone nuts in the last week: Jason Kidd is out, Lionel Hollins is in. Shaun Livingston is gone, Paul Pierce is somewhere floating between Los Angeles and Brooklyn. Kevin Garnett is not retiring, we think.
Before all the madness, the NBA draft happened! It was eight days ago, or approximately 37 in Nets years. The Nets bought the rights to three players in the draft: Cory Jefferson, Xavier Thames, and Markel Brown, who threw down this ridiculous one-handed alley-oop last season for Oklahoma State. (He was promptly ejected for taunting, which is ridiculous, because he barely said anything after putting up an incredible poster. Besides, it’s July 4th and we’re all about freedom today.)
Think about how many players could put down an alley-oop with relative consistency last season in Brooklyn: Mason Plumlee, and maybe Shaun Livingston. That’s it. But the Nets drafted Brown, he of the 43-inch vertical and 17.2 points per game in his senior season.
Brown was the 44th overall pick, so he probably won’t get much playing time on a veteran-laden team. But then again, that’s also what the Nets said about Mason Plumlee, who was expected to spend most of the season in the D-League.
