The Brooklyn Nets joined the NBA during the merger in 1976. They had won two of the final three ABA championships, but have struggled to replicate that success in the NBA. Jason Kidd led them to back-to-back NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003. Those are the only two times the franchise has made even the conference finals since the merger.
Brooklyn faces another rebuild. They had arguably the most feared Big 3 in the league before things fell apart. Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden were all traded away. It left the Nets searching for a path forward and tearing things down seems like the only way to get back into serious contention.
The Nets have made several front-office mistakes over the years. From failed draft picks to free-agent blunders to regrettable trades, there have been plenty of transactions that did not work. Brooklyn certainly wishes they never took a shot on these talented players.
12. Jeremy Lin
The 6’3 guard broke out with the Knicks and created Linsanity. He was an absolute bucket with an amazing story. Lin went undrafted out of Harvard and created nightly headlines. Everyone wanted to see him balling at Madison Square Garden.
Lin left the Knicks in free agency after his coming out party. He was a solid rotation player for four years on three different teams before signing a three-year $36 million contract with the Nets in the 2016 offseason. Brooklyn hoped to recapture his New York magic, but things did not go as planned.
Lin played 37 games in two years with the Nets. He was putting up numbers, but could not stay healthy. Brooklyn had to give up two second-round draft picks to dump the final season of his contract on the Atlanta Hawks.
Jeremy Lin just could not stay healthy and played just one more year in the NBA before heading overseas. The Nets signed him at 28 years old, but it did not work. Brooklyn quickly regretted the contract and had to dump him before it ended.