Where are the Nets headed to? A lot of jokes have been poured over the 76ers for trying to break the system by exploiting the loser’s way, but Brooklyn is not far from them in terms of production, only that they haven’t been looking for it proactively. For all that counts, the present collapse comes from the early days of the franchise since their move to the Barclays. Pierce, KG, Deron, Joe Johnson, et al. derailed the franchise big-time. Those moves were no brainers for them and the win-now mindset but they were determined to doom the team from day one, and there was no real reason to think a team of washed-up veterans at the brink of their careers were going to pull the feat.

Since 2013 the Nets have drafted just four players, the best of them being Mason Plumlee, and only two in the first round (picks 22 and 29). Plumlee, as was to expect, was traded to Portland in exchange for Steve Blake and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (what?). That paints a pretty clear picture of Brooklyn’s situation. They have no present nor they have any kind of future because their draft picks were traded to here and there for false hopes. Their first reliable future pick would be used in 2019 (when they’ll still suck, so count on a Top 5 at least) as Boston has the right to swap positions in 2017 and straight access to 2018’s Nets first-rounder.

We have seen teams like the Nuggets struggle in the NBA’s purgatory for years: not enough to make the Playoffs, more than enough to not get a substantial position in the lottery. We have seen teams like the 76ers throw away full seasons in order to stockpile youngsters. But then we have the Nets, which still think (or so it seems) that they can put it all together any given year without doing any sensical move, not those they’ve been making lately. Their Mayan plan seems impossible to decipher as of now, if ever.

The only bright point around the franchise from this season on is the supercut in salaries they have been able to accomplish during the past few months, going from $88 million in 2014 to just under $75 in 2016. What does this even mean? Is Brooklyn really a place where free agents would eventually like to play? I’m inclined to say yes. If you’re willing to go to the Knicks (with all the glam it carries) you’d be equally intelligent going to the Nets. There is not much difference. Even less in today’s NBA and what it is morphing into. The problem for Brooklyn is that it doesn’t feel like they’ve learned anything from their troubled past. It feels like they’ll screw it all over again when given the chance.

Quick related thought: How clever in retrospect was Boston trading an already bunch of finished guys in Pierce, KG and Terry to Brooklyn back in 2013? No one expected this Nets ridiculous free-fall but they were able to get an incredible haul for nothing. The three of them regressed incredibly (really) once in Brooklyn while Boston started a new era under coach Stevens. They finished with a .305 the following season but have been able to only improve from that point on (.488 in 2015, .585 in 2016) and the trend seems to keep going upwards.