ESSAY: How much does a year cost?

Like any of you who invest in rooting for the Brooklyn Nets strongly enough to regularly comment or even read this site, I enjoy being right. That’s at least half the fun of being a sports fan.

I would love to tell you to go back and read the comments on this article from a year ago, in which I advocated for the Nets to smash the rebuild button, even without owning their picks — this was before the incessant rumors/public courting from the Houston Rockets began, offering Brooklyn their own picks back for Mikal Bridges.

But I’m not here for a victory lap, despite the 32-50 record Brooklyn posted this season that has many fans bemoaning the apparent direction of the franchise: steering clear of that dreaded rebuilding phase. We can of course debate the merits and various strategies of a proper rebuild (or “tank,” if you want to use the unholy name). I argued that accumulating picks by the truckload, quantity over quality to a certain point, is what’s really important, regardless if those picks are team-controlled or not.

This isn’t about that, and it’s not even about the new scuttlebutt concerning a potential exchange of draft assets: Brooklyn sending the future Phoenix Suns picks they own to Houston, again, for their own picks back. I’m not reporting anything here, but I didn’t entertain that offer and in fact dispute even calling the rumor an offer. Everything they’ve done since that fateful 2023 trade deadline suggests they’d rather short Phoenix’s stock (and Philly’s and Dallas’) than their own.

Which raises the question: How much does a year cost?

Specifically, and at the risk of sounding like every other Gen Z writer, a year in which the vibes were so dismal that the head coach with three-and-a-half years left on his deal was canned; the starting point guard wanted out so desperately that a trade for another guard who had, on his prior team, been reported as not being “thrilled” to play a supporting role on a middling team actually improved the vibes; a star player who had to reassure the fanbase that he didn’t want to jump ship to the cross-town rival because he wasn’t feisty enough on his college buddies’ podcast, and more. (Including calling Mikal Bridges the team’s “star” player an act of aggression against a portion of the fanbase.)

Because it really was the vibes rather than the basketball which was frequently lifeless. Better hoops and better injury luck with Brooklyn’s 2024 roster could have netted them a Play-In Tournament appearance, probably something closer to 40 wins. But getting skunked by the Boston Celtics in the first round wouldn’t have changed the long-term direction of the franchise one bit.

2024 was never going to be a contending year for the Nets. 2025 won’t be either. But can it be the same?

Many of those who pined for a rebuild immediately after Brooklyn dealt away Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving failed to emphasize the most enticing part of that route, in that it’s far, far more fun. Just look at the juice Jalen Wilson and Noah Clowney brought to the end of the season.

But now, the Brooklyn Nets have just two major steps to go in their current plan, and they are quite simple steps, just difficult. 1) Acquire an All-NBA player. 2) Acquire another All-NBA player.

Not impossible though, considering the amount of picks that the Nets have in their war chest, the fact they call New York City home, and that Ben Simmons’ max-slot is expiring next season. And while that final fact suggests 2025 could become another waiting year for Brooklyn, how can the answer to the above question be “yes”? It feels like the Nets have truly been through it all, but also that another season like 2024 would cause a permanent crack somewhere in the armor.

Thus, step one becomes critical, at the very least to create a playoff-caliber team that gives fans something real to invest in while still on the path to something greater.

Which is why Fanduel TV’s Shams Charania reporting that there is “optimism” in Cleveland that Donovan Mitchell will sign an extension with the franchise is at least a bit worrying...

Mitchell could represent an ideal Step One for the Nets. He is an elite offensive player who is incredibly fun to watch and would fit quite well with the current Brooklyn roster. The New York native declining to sign his extension would put Cleveland on the clock while diminishing their leverage in trade negotiations, perhaps slightly lowering his cost and making step two more feasible for Brooklyn.

Signing that extension, of course, does the opposite, and leaves the Nets searching for a way to create something interesting by next season. They just have to be interesting, not world-beaters as they were in 2019 when they lured Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving to Brooklyn. So, is that Trae Young? Feels unlikely, though if Atlanta’s asking price is really as low as recent reporting suggests, Brooklyn should consider it.

Which brings us to uncomfortable territory. Did 2024 cost Brooklyn enough to make a move that doesn’t address either Step One or Step Two in a rush to make this team interesting?

With just one year left on Ben Simmons’ contract, there’s no long-term reason to dump a first-rounder or two just to exchange it for a better expiring like Brandon Ingram’s, though Ingram would improve the Nets. Just not enough.

And yet, you can’t begrudge any fan for wanting Brooklyn to make such a move, for the team to change something up other than the coaching staff. Jordi Fernández and his staff could work wonders, but as of now, they’re still inheriting a roster that won 32 games last season.

The Brooklyn Nets are searching for reasons not to simply run it back in 2025 and play another year of the waiting game. But with Donovan Mitchell potentially signing that extension in Cleveland and giving the Cavaliers another chance, they might have to. That’d be a lot easier to stomach if 2024 wasn’t a season full of evidence indicating how painful that waiting can be.

What will the Brooklyn Nets do this summer, a suddenly pivotal one for the franchise, a year before their original target date? To answer that, we must first consider another question:

How much does a year really cost?

A day, in a week, in a year

Where everything exactly as you feared

Lightning could strike me right here