Brooklyn Nets and New York Knicks have been massive failures for the city: but why?
New York City has two NBA teams, but neither of them is great. The Knicks play in Manhattan at Madison Square Garden, while the Nets are located in Brooklyn.
Despite playing in a big market, neither team has been able to achieve a lot of success. The Nets simply cannot have a deep playoff run, despite all the star power they have, and the Knicks haven't been relevant for a couple of decades.
Playing in New York City should be special and many small-market teams would love to have a chance to play there. However, the two teams from the Big Apple are simply not good enough and haven't achieved significant results in a long time.
NBA teams from New York City have poor ownership
The Nets moved from New Jersey to Brooklyn in 2012, two years after Mikhail Prokhorov became its majority owner. Jay-Z, a popular rapper from Brooklyn, was also affiliated with the team.
Joseph Tsai became the majority owner in 2017, but hasn't been able to achieve great results with the team. While Tsai was able to form a super team in Brooklyn, he gave too much power to his superstars, which is a big reason why the Nets haven't been very successful.
James Dolan, the owner of another team from New York City, hasn't done a great job either. Since making the NBA Finals in 1999, the Knicks have made the playoffs only seven times.
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Most Knicks fans blame these struggles on Dolan's ownership. However, the businessman made it clear that he was not going to step down or sell the team, which is very unfortunate.
They also have bad timing
The New York Knicks had some of their best seasons in recent history with Carmelo Anthony, Amar'e Stoudemire, and other great players. Unfortunately, the team was formed at the same time the Miami Heat formed their Big Three.
The Knicks were eliminated by the Heat in 2012 and the Indiana Pacers in 2013. After that, they missed the playoffs for seven straight seasons, which was very disappointing for their fans.
Despite decent regular-season records, the Brooklyn Nets also haven't had a deep playoff run. In their first season in New York, the Nets were eliminated by the Chicago Bulls, followed by a knockout by the Miami Heat.
With LeBron James, the Heat made the NBA Finals four straight times and it seemed like no other team in the East could beat them. Unfortunately for the Nets and the Knicks, they formed good teams during this period, but could not beat the other opponents in the conference.
Poor asset management is another big flaw
Both the Knicks and the Nets have had many failures when it comes to roster management. In fact, the Nets were even part of one of the worst NBA trades of all time.
Back in 2013, the Nets acquired Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Jason Terry for three first-round picks and a pick swap. The trio joined Joe Johnson and Brook Lopez, which made the Nets look amazing on paper.
However, the reality was different. All three players were old, yet the Nets traded picks that would turn into some of the biggest stars in the league, such as Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
The Knicks haven't done a great job managing their assets either. They had a chance to develop Kristaps Porzingis and turn him into a superstar, but they ended up trading him to another team.
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The team also traded for Eddy Curry back in 2005. In the trade, the Knicks gave up three players and four draft picks, including two first-round picks. They also gave up a lot of assets for Stephon Marbury, who was a great player, but couldn't win games for the Knicks.