With a franchise history that spans nearly five decades and two leagues, the Brooklyn Nets have had a handful of great players pass through the organization.
A litany of Hall of Famers, All-NBA team members, and All-Stars have donned a Nets jersey at some point in their career.Some spent more time than others, and most of the guys on this list were with the franchise for their best seasons.
Some names you may think about very quickly — of the top of your head, perhaps. Others, however, you might have to dig deep.
The following five guys will be placed by position and, even though they might not be the five best players, they’re the best at their respective positions.
Point Guard: Jason Kidd
Jason — Ason, actually — landed with the New Jersey Nets prior to the 2001-02 season and it came without giving up much. Kidd and Chris Dudley were exchanged for Stephon Marbury, Johnny Newman, and Soumaila Samake, and the latter two never even laced up for Phoenix.
The former Cal Golden Bear was traded in the middle of his prime, and the then-28-year-old averaged 14.6 points, 9.1 assists, 7.2 boards and almost two steals a game over the course of his seven-and-a-half-year career.
His ability to pass the basketball is rivaled by only the all-time greats, and Kidd was undoubtedly the NBA’s best defensive point guard during his tenure in Jersey.
Kidd’s size (6-4) and sneaky athleticism made him an outstanding rebounding guard, and his blend of skills made him a constant triple-double threat. He controlled the Nets offense entirely and recorded 49 triple-doubles between 2002 and 2007 — that’s 37 more than Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett, who tied for second with 12 each, according to Basketball-Reference.
New Jersey became contenders immediately and went to the Finals in Kidd’s inaugural season. They got swept by the San Antonio Spurs. Kidd finished second in MVP voting that year, along with being a first team member on both the All-NBA and All-Defensive teams.
To this day, no Net has gotten more All-Star nods (Five), handed out more assists (4,620), picked more pockets (950) or made more threes (813, which is really ironic for someone whose career was made fun of for his atrocious shooting ability).
Shooting Guard: Vince Carter
Man, the Nets really got some steals for two of their best all-time players. Not only was Kidd given up for nearly nothing, so was Vinsanity.
The hyper-athletic slasher had an established brand up North with the Toronto Raptors, and Toronto threw that away when they traded him for a washed-up Alonzo Mourning, Eric Williams and Aaron Williams, who were role players at best.
Carter, who was nearing the end of his prime, maintained a surprisingly versatile offensive repertoire while being the beneficiary of more alley-oop passes than an NBA Jam game.
Only Julius Erving (28.2) and Rick Barry (30.6) have a higher career scoring average than Vinsanity, and only those three have scored more than 2,000 points in a season for the Nets.
If there’s one knock on Carter, it was his lackluster performing in the playoffs. Granted, some blame could be placed on the workload the Nets gave him, but, superstars show up in crunch-time.
Regardless, Vince did more good than he did bad, and he consistently showed up for a Nets team that lacked a go-to guy.
Small Forward: Julius Erving
How could I leave the greatest player in franchise history off this list?
It’s truly a shame the Nets had to sell his rights to the Philadelphia 76ers after the 1976 season. Surely, the Doctor would’ve been able to pad his rather short resume with the Nets.
Erving won the ABA MVP each of those three years while he brought home the only two championships for the franchise. He was the first truly explosive basketball player, beating the likes of David Thompson and Michael Jordan to the aerial acrobatics party. His afro flopped as he flew before a thunderous dunk was thrown down, but he had just as much finesse as he did power.
The up-tempo style of ABA basketball helped lead to inflated offensive stats, but Erving was tremendously efficient, and never fell in love with the three-point shot.
During his 252-game run with the New York Nets, the Doctor shot 51.6 percent on his twos and a respectable 34 percent on threes, but he enjoyed the slashing game much more.
His size and explosiveness made him a hellacious defender on the perimeter and in the paint, and Erving averaged more than two steals and two blocks as a Net.
Power Forward: Buck Williams
During the 1980s, only one player averaged a double-double with ten points and ten assists. And he played for the Nets the length of the decade.
Williams had seven seasons averaging more than 11 boards, and six of them he eclipsed 12. Oddly enough, he never won a rebounding title, but he’s far and away the best player on the boards for the Nets. On the career leaderboard, Billy Paultz is second with 4,544 rebounds. Buck has 3,032 more than him.
He’s also the Nets’ leader in points scored (10,440), games played (635) and field goals made (3,981), among other stats.
Williams was a quiet scorer, but efficient. On any given night, the Nets could expect anywhere from 15-18 points from him.
Unfortunately, New Jersey was seldom able to make noise in the playoffs, and Williams made it out of the first round just once in his tenure.
Center: Brook Lopez
No player in Nets history has seen the good, the bad and the ugly as often as Brook Lopez. He’s seen the playoffs and a 12-win season with mediocrity squeezed in there, but that hasn’t hampered is production.
Up until this season (2016-17), Lopez was very much an old-school player. He’d use his size and strength to play bully ball on the block, and he’s been the Nets’ first option since his sophomore season.
On defense, Lopez is above-average despite being a poor rebounder for his size. His biggest upside is as a rim protector, and no one has swatted more shots in Nets’ history than he has.
He’s more versatile at this point in his career than ever before, and Lopez’s extended range makes him even more of a load to handle on offense.
It’s arguable he has the best post game of any Net in history, and it’s a skill set not seen often in the new NBA.
Unfortunately, Lopez has been the talk of trade rumors over the last few seasons.
If his time with the Nets were to come to an end, it would be an uphill battle for any center to compile a better career.