Ultimate 5: The best Nets lineup since '95
While hoops remain on hiatus theScore's NBA editors will be compiling ultimate starting lineups for each team in the Association. The catch: only players who have been in the league since the 1995-96 season can be included.
For more than three decades, the Nets played in the industrial swampland of New Jersey, and until the turn of the century, they had a pretty unremarkable history.
The early 2000s brought the franchise's peak years, with back-to-back NBA Finals appearances in 2002 and 2003. A major rebrand and a move to Brooklyn came in 2012. The seasons since have upped the Nets' cool factor, but the on-floor product has either been comically expensive or based on a "wait 'til next year" ethos.
Behold, the best Nets starting five since 1995:
Guard
Jason Kidd
The Nets' acquisition of Kidd in exchange for Stephon Marbury in the summer of 2001 ushered in the franchise's most successful era since its ABA days. New Jersey had made the postseason just four times in the previous 15 seasons. But with Kidd running point, the Nets reeled off a six-year playoff run, including two NBA Finals berths.
Kidd remains the club's all-time leader in assists, steals, and 3-pointers. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2018. He also coached Brooklyn to a 44-38 record in 2013-14.
Guard
Kerry Kittles
Kittles may be a forgotten name, but he was a stalwart at shooting guard for the Nets from 1996-2004. One of the best 3-and-D players of his time (before that term came into widespread use), he averaged 14.3 points and 1.6 steals on 37.8% 3-point shooting in 496 games with New Jersey.
Forward
Richard Jefferson
The Nets of the early-to-mid 2000s were one of the league's most exciting teams, regularly leading the relic known as the TV sports highlight show. With Kidd doing the dishing, athletic players like Jefferson frequently played above the rim.
Jefferson ended his seven-year Nets tenure in 2008 having averaged 17.4 points in 489 games. He remains fourth on the franchise's all-time scoring list.
Forward
Vince Carter
While Carter's star rose with the Toronto Raptors, he had a lot left in the tank during his four-plus seasons in New Jersey. He averaged 23.6 points in 374 games and continued to demonstrate the hops that earned him the nickname "Air Canada."
Perhaps Carter's most notable moment with the franchise was this 2005 posterization of Alonzo Mourning, who the Nets traded in exchange for Carter the previous year.
Center
Brook Lopez
Would it surprise you to learn that Lopez is the Nets' all-time leader in points, field goals, and blocks? It's true, and it's a product of Lopez manning the franchise's middle for nine years.
He played in just one All-Star Game but averaged 18.6 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks across 562 games with New Jersey and Brooklyn.
Just missed
Deron Williams
Williams' 2011 trade from Utah was a blockbuster at the time. While he had injury troubles with the Nets, the point guard was an All-Star in 2012 and averaged 16.6 points and 7.5 assists in 277 games.
He also ran point for the 2013-14 Nets, who, by paying $90 million in luxury tax, are infamously remembered as one of the most expensive rosters of all time. Their reward: A second-round defeat at the hands of LeBron James' Heat.