Billy King was supposed to bring the Nets their first NBA title. He traded all those draft picks for the big name “stars,” a term I use loosely. He spent the most money out of all the other NBA teams. He’s hired four different coaches in three years but where did that get him?
The Nets are simply bad. There is really no other way to put it. The team has lost eight out of 11, are eight games under .500, but somehow they’re still only a game out of the eighth seed in the East. It’s not like that matters though, because there aren’t many teams, if any, that they would beat in a seven game series.
With all of that, ESPN.com’s Marc Stein is reporting Nets management, led by King, is now evaluating the team including coach Lionel Hollins. Stein says:
The Brooklyn Nets, increasingly worried about a recent lack of competitiveness, have launched an in-season evaluation of various facets of the team, including new coach Lionel Hollins, according to league sources.
The Nets lost consecutive road games last week to the Los Angeles Clippers and Utah Jazz by 39 and 35 points, respectively, sparking concern within the organization about whether Hollins’ message is getting through. It’s just the fifth time in NBA history that a team has lost back-to-back games by 35 points or more.
Nets Management, sources said, is monitoring the situation closely, with Brooklyn having just fallen out of the East’s top eight after a 2-10 slide that coincides with the franchise being up for sale.
There have been trade rumors involving Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, and Brook Lopez which could be considered the Nets “Big three.” In reality it will be hard to trade Williams and Johnson, with their lack of production and the money that is owed to them on their contracts. For Lopez, injuries have slowed down his play recently, which could affect teams interest him.
Billy King can “evaluate” all he wants, but the team he put together, with the average age in the starting lineup being 30.4 years old, all of the teams draft picks in future drafts belonging to the Celtics and Hawks, he should “evaluate” all of his “evaluations” he has done as his tenure as Nets GM.
