Brooklyn Nets: 5 Best Nets Players since 2000
The Brooklyn Nets was founded in 1967 and compete in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at the Barclays Center, New York. They were one of the most dominant teams in the NBA, in the early 2000s.
After all the Nets' legends left the team, they had a five years playoff drought from 2007 to 2012. They made it to the playoffs in 2013, 2014 and 2015, but failed to go past the first round. From 2016 to 2018, they once again struggled to reach the playoffs.
With players like D'Angelo Russell, Joe Harris and Spencer Dinwiddie performing exceptionally well, they are playoff bound in the ongoing 2018-19 NBA season.
In this article, we take a look at the five best Nets players since 2000. Read on to find out.
#5 Deron Williams
Deron Williams entered the NBA with high expectations on him and was really impressive during his initial days with the Utah Jazz. However, his career graph had an exponential curve once he joined the New Jersey Nets.
In his first season with the Nets, he averaged 15.0 points and 12.8 assists per game and was named an All-Star for the second time in his career. However, the Nets failed to reach the playoffs. Williams followed it up with yet another great season and made it to the All-Star Game, but the Nets once again failed to make it to the postseason.
However, in the 2012 off-season, he signed a five-year, $98.7 million deal to remain with the Nets. They also resigned Brook Lopez and traded for six-time All-Star Joe Johnson. Williams then led the Nets to three straight playoffs appearances, which includes the 2014 playoffs when the Nets lost in Conference semifinals.
He was waived by the team at the end of the 2014-15 NBA season. In his five seasons with the franchise, he averaged 16.6 points, 3.2 rebounds and 7.5 assists per game.