Starting two off-guards when everyone knows the team needs a more reliable playmaker/creator out there. I'm sure Mikel will be swapped in for Keon once he's fully up and running but why not give Nolan that opportunity right now?

Two best players are borderline all-star forwards who need to get their shots and kinda don't gel together too well, except MPJ and Randle don't double as parts of our rebuild.

And both teams choose to go center-by-committee, except the Magic have WCJ/Bitadze/Vucevic for a consistent inside presence while we've got 2 GUYS whose natural position is the 5 that I can't reasonably trust to play 48 minutes a night. God forbid one of them gets injured.

I’ll preface this by saying I appreciate Sean Marks. He pulled this franchise out of the darkest post-Billy King era, restored respectability, and built a legitimate culture.

That said, my patience with his current rebuild approach is wearing thin. The front office seems hooked on pick-hoarding and drafting archetype without addressing our roster construction.

Just a few things why I think they need to retool this rebuild.

1. The Guard Logjam & Wasted Development Minutes

I was ok drafting 5 picks but we all know it's risky, but making the majority of them guards was baffling. Now, adding MBJ into the mix compounds the exact same issue. Can’t develop four or five young ball-handlers and wings simultaneously while still trying to run a coherent offense. They just end up with DNPs because there physically aren’t enough rotation minutes to go around.

1. He has not hit a high value asset in a while.

A war chest of draft assets is only valuable if one of two things happens. You land an undeniable franchise cornerstone or you leverage those picks to acquire one. Marks has been solid at finding rotation-level gems late, but he hasn't hit a draft jackpot.

1. We need to consolidate

Sell the picks and win-now pieces like MPJ and/or Randle for high ceiling young guys that will fit our timeline and roster needs with MBJ and Egor.

The Nets were clearly not trying hard to win last year, but so were many other teams.

Of our 20 wins, 3 were over WAS, 3 v CHI, 2 v MIL w/o Giannis.

IND, CHA early, DET w/o Cade, TOR, PHI.

WAS looks very good- AD is motivated and Dybantsa has yet to play; IND has Tyrese back; TOR got Kawhi; PHI is serious this year.

With the East more competitive, the good teams can not afford to take a game off. The bad teams want to avoid relegation and will see the Nets as an important win.

Stars will get injured as always (ORL is aaalready down Paolo and Suggs, but could get them back before they play us). But our players will get injured with the same randomness. There is no guarantee we can beat the Bulls or the Bucks- both tanked heavily last year.

I am afraid the all-time low (PHI 9-73) is in play.

... at evaluating talent and adding good players? Persistently chasing Allen Crabbe, trading for Ben Simmons, the 2025 draft debacle... when has he actually come through for the Nets in adding talent?*

*Kyrie and KD only arrived because Kyrie insisted on signing with his hometown franchise; KD wanted to team up on the Knicks.

I’m sorry but I already see why MINN and Knicks couldn’t wait until Julius left town. Despite his numbers he plays a ball stopper offense and completely dogs it on defense. worse, he‘s not complementary to the youth and pairs absolutely horrible with porter and sharpe defensively. he’s likely to opt in next season so it’s prob best to get off him while we can. who would take him? likely not many but —warriors could desperately use him and …once healthy…we could def use a killer like jimmy butler. Sure he’s out until January but butler is an expiring so no matter what —we’re good. they’d prob prefer porter but if that’s the case we need compensation.

anyway, it’s obviously early but I just don’t see how this Julius experiment works out considering our roster.

I tried to watch the game yesterday, and I checked out at halftime. Not because it was a blowout (because it wasn't at the time), but because we're just so fckin boring.

The team has no sauce, no sizzle, no pizzazz, no flavor, no NOTHING. We only score by getting lucky breaks, and even then, we'll mess up.

And defensively, we just allow pretty much anyone to do whatever they want. No urgency, no scrapiness.

The Nets, for the past few years, just seem so averse to dunking. I love dunking. Who doesn't love dunks? We don't dunk. Our personnel is hilariously unathletic. Our fast breaks are slow jogs.

I guess to sum it up would be this... If you're gonna be a bad team, at least be entertaining to watch. I can watch losses if I enjoy the basketball I'm watching. But I can't watch unathletic, lazy, low-IQ players ooze garbage all on the court.

At that point, what exactly am I rooting for? What tf are y'all rooting for?

The trade

Orlando Magic receive: Michael Porter Jr., 2027 first-round pick (via NYK), 2028 first-round pick (1-8 protected, via PHI), 2029 second-round pick (via GSW) and 2029 second-round pick (via MEM)

Brooklyn Nets receive: Franz Wagner

A bit of a history lesson since I already compared this team to the 91-92 Nets.

BK has allowed 110, 125 and now 136 points in its first three games. Against Indiana, the Nets actually led after the first quarter before giving up 112 points over the final 36 minutes.

Fernandez called the performance “just unacceptable” and pointed to pretty much everything: spacing, execution, pick-and-roll communication, effort and guys dropping their heads after mistakes.

I did not realize that to open the season first two weekends they gave us 3 games 4 days both weekends. I knew teams like Philly got handed an easy schedule but didn’t realize how done dirty we were

Sports writer Rick Laughland (NetsInsider.com) joins Pete to breakdown the Nets development path for Mikel Brown Jr, his role coming off the bench, when he may get in the starting 5, and predictions for his rookie year. -- TIME STAMPS BELOW --

1:12 Surprised Mikel Brown Jr Didn't Start?
3:23 Not Playing With Egor Demin
5:12 Adjusting To The Nets & NBA Game
8:24 Rick's Reason He Isnt Starting
9:06 Pete's Reasons
10:50 When Will He Start?
12:24 MBJ Season Predictions

Congrats to him, that's a great opportunity.