Brooklyn Nets mark arrival on the NBA stage with a bang; Future still unclear for the highly paid roster – NBA Feature Part 1
The Brooklyn Nets needed a big summer to mark the opening of the new look basketball franchise in the correct way. It was an important year for the Nets, who were formerly known as the New Jersey Nets. They were finally going to
move into their $1 billion new arena in Brooklyn, and get a new name which they hoped would usher in a new era for the franchise. And they wanted to commence their new beginning with a bang, just to make sure that everyone is taking note.
Normally, basketball clubs take it one step at a time when they are in a rebuilding phase. Take the Oklahoma City Thunder for example. When the owners of the Seattle Super Sonics decided to move the team to Oklahoma City, they
did so slowly and steadily. Then, they embarked on a team rebuilding process by relying on smartly chosen draft picks.
And after a few years of staying out of conversation, they gradually re-appeared on the Western Conference map and made their way to the top. But the Nets were not up for that long and patient approach. There were two things different
between the Nets and the Thunder. The Thunder were not playing in New York and they did not have Mikhail Prokhorov as their owner.
When you are moving your basketball franchise into New York City, you need to arrive with a bang otherwise people won’t even have time to look up at you. And in order to get the people’s attention, the Nets went all in. They first
changed the name, logo and uniform of the basketball club as stage one of an extensive marketing campaign aimed at competing against the New York Knicks for fan royalty. But everyone knew that the ultimate marketing campaign would begin during free agency.
The Nets entered into free agency with the most sought after free agent of the 2012 class in their roster. Deron Williams was the talk of the town on July 1st and the guy every team that had $70-100 million in their
pocket wanted to land. Williams started his career with the Utah Jazz, and was traded to the Nets back in 2010. He averaged 20.1 points and 10.3 assists in the 2010-2011 season.
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