The Brooklyn Nets reportedly traded coach Jason Kidd to the Milwaukee Bucks for two second-round picks. Kidd now has set himself up for a better long-term future in Milwaukee. Why? Because Brooklyn is a sinking ship with one year left.
Kidd purportedly wanted control over the Nets' basketball operations, which Brooklyn's front office was unwilling to give. The push for more power resulted in Brooklyn dealing Kidd to Milwaukee for a 2015 and a 2019 second-round draft pick, according to ESPN.
The deal cannot be finalized until after the NBA moratorium ends on July 10.
On the surface, Kidd got the short end of the stick. He went from a playoff-contending team to a lottery pick team. The reality, though, is Kidd now is in a much better position to succeed long-term. He inherits a young talented team, headlined by Giannis Antetokounmpo, Larry Sanders and Jabari Parker, a team with future first round draft picks and a team with financial flexibility in the coming years.
Brooklyn, meanwhile, has only one year left to win a championship. Veterans Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett both will likely return for another season at Barclays Center, but the Nets' future beyond the 2014-15 season is murky at best.
Garnett will likely retire after next season, and even if Pierce returns, age likely will have completely caught up with him. That leaves Joe Johnson and injury-prone veterans Deron Williams and Brook Lopez, who owns a player option for 2015-16, to headline the team.
Rebuilding through the draft isn't an option for Brooklyn -- they won't have another first-round draft pick until 2019.
Free agency isn't an option, either.
While the Nets' will have salary cap space in the summer of 2015, it looks like the potential marquee free agents -- Kevin Love, LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony, to name a few -- will be signed with new teams before then. Even if a big-name free agent is available, Brooklyn can't promise much in terms of competing for a title.
Big trades also are unlikely to happen.
Brooklyn has no draft picks and no valuable assets. Williams has chronically bad ankles and hasn't been the same player since leaving Utah, and few teams would consider 33-year-old Johnson worth the $24 million his contract demands. Lopez would have suitors, but he's coming off ankle surgery and can essentially veto any trade he doesn't like by threatening to opt out in 2015-16.
