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The Brooklyn Nets pulled off one of the biggest trades of the off-season which netted in them getting Paul Pierce, Jason Terry, and Kevin Garnett from the Boston Celtics. The Nets starting five now has Deron Williams at point guard, Joe Johnson at shooting guard, Paul Pierce at small forward, Kevin Garnett at power forward, and Brook Lopez at center. Jason Terry will come off the bench. Gerald Wallace, who started for the team last season at small forward was traded to the Celtics as part of the deal (note: to see complete details of the trade, click here).
The Nets certainly seem to have a team that can do some serious damage in the Eastern Conference. Deron Williams is one of the best point guards in the NBA despite having a down season last year and we all know that Joe Johnson and Brook Lopez are both one of the better players at their positions. But obviously, the Nets realized that they were lacking something last season that Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Jason Terry can bring to the table. The focus of my article is to identify what the Nets think that something is, and whether or not Pierce, Garnett, and Terry can do enough to get the Nets over the hump.
Last season, the Nets appeared to be one of the better teams in the NBA, and everybody figured that they would easily beat the Chicago Bulls in the first round of the playoffs due to all the injuries on the Bulls. However, things didn't exactly go according to plan, and before they knew it, the Nets found themselves eliminated from the playoffs at the hands of a Chicago Bulls team that was plagued with injury.
While everybody was praising the Chicago Bulls for playing with so much heart and soul, the Brooklyn Nets at the same time found themselves to be the subject of much deserved ridicule and utter embarrassment. This was a team that was supposed to contend for a title and there they were instead eliminated from the playoffs at the hands of a sickly team hit with a plague similar to the Bubonic plague that swept across Europe in the middle ages. The Nets were rightfully being called soft as a result.
What the addition of Garnett, Pierce, and Terry does for the Nets is potentially fix their softness by adding gritty veteran toughness. Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Jason Terry all have championship rings, and all three are guys who wouldn't back down to a rabid hyena if it was snarling in their face. Kevin Garnett is the toughest of them all and it shows on the court. Brook Lopez may be a good offensive center, but he protects the rim worse than my 16 year old golden retriever protects my house. A burglar with a flame thrower could walk into my house and my dog wouldn't utter a peep. Likewise, Brook Lopez couldn't protect the rim if his life depended on it. Bulls point guard Nate Robinson had no fear flying at the rim with reckless abandon against the Nets in the playoffs, and he is a little squirt standing at 5'9. Kevin Garnett will take care of the rim protecting problem, and players of all sizes will think twice about going inside with Garnett prowling the paint.
As for Paul Pierce and Jason Terry, their scoring will certainly be of assistance to the Nets, but it's more their intangible veteran presence that will help this team. They will help give their teammates confidence in crunch time and help them stay mentally strong in tough situations. They will have a strong presence in the locker room and command respect. They won't let their teammates deflect their problems on others, and will instead teach them to own their own mistakes. This is an effect similar to what Doc Rivers will bring to the Clippers as head coach.
While these three guys may serve as guides similar to Virgil in Dante's Inferno, they won't be able to completely mold their teammates into winners. Deron Williams still has to be the leader of this team if they want to win a championship, and whether or not he can be a great leader is yet to be seen. In addition, Joe Johnson and Brook Lopez will have to toughen up as well and learn to buckle down in crunch time. If the Nets rely too much on Garnett, Pierce, and Terry to carry the load, they will fail miserably. But if they open themselves up to improvement under their wise council, then they just might have what it takes to dethrone the Heat.
---Ben Parker: follow me on twitter @nba_lord
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