Brooklyn Nets: 5 Best Nets Players since 2000

The Brooklyn Nets was founded in 1967 and compete in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at the Barclays Center, New York. They were one of the most dominant teams in the NBA, in the early 2000s.

After all the Nets' legends left the team, they had a five years playoff drought from 2007 to 2012. They made it to the playoffs in 2013, 2014 and 2015, but failed to go past the first round. From 2016 to 2018, they once again struggled to reach the playoffs.

With players like D'Angelo Russell, Joe Harris and Spencer Dinwiddie performing exceptionally well, they are playoff bound in the ongoing 2018-19 NBA season.

In this article, we take a look at the five best Nets players since 2000. Read on to find out.

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#5 Deron Williams

Deron Williams earned two All-Star selections during his time with the Brooklyn Nets

Deron Williams entered the NBA with high expectations on him and was really impressive during his initial days with the Utah Jazz. However, his career graph had an exponential curve once he joined the New Jersey Nets.

In his first season with the Nets, he averaged 15.0 points and 12.8 assists per game and was named an All-Star for the second time in his career. However, the Nets failed to reach the playoffs. Williams followed it up with yet another great season and made it to the All-Star Game, but the Nets once again failed to make it to the postseason.

However, in the 2012 off-season, he signed a five-year, $98.7 million deal to remain with the Nets. They also resigned Brook Lopez and traded for six-time All-Star Joe Johnson. Williams then led the Nets to three straight playoffs appearances, which includes the 2014 playoffs when the Nets lost in Conference semifinals.

He was waived by the team at the end of the 2014-15 NBA season. In his five seasons with the franchise, he averaged 16.6 points, 3.2 rebounds and 7.5 assists per game.

#4 Richard Jefferson

Richard Jefferson played a huge part in the Nets' back-to-back Eastern Conference Championship runs

Richard Jefferson spent seven years with the Nets and played some of his greatest basketball with the franchise. He played a huge part in the Nets' back-to-back Eastern Conference Championship runs in 2002 and 2003. He won his only NBA Championship with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016.

Jefferson was known for his defensive skills and all-around ability to impact the game on both ends of the floor. In his rookie year, he earned an All-Rookie Second Team honour after averaging 9.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game.

The Nets' performance took a dip whenever the Arizona product was out with injury and they performed exceptionally well once he returned. He made it to the playoffs in all but one season with the Nets and finished his career with them averaging 17.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game.

#3 Brook Lopez

Brook Lopez spent nine seasons with the Nets franchise

The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of Brook Lopez is his game winning buzzer beater against the Detroit Pistons in Brooklyn. Lopez was drafted by the New Jersey Nets with the 10th overall pick in the 2008 NBA draft.

In his rookie year, he averaged 13.0 points, 8.1 rebounds per game and was named to the All-Rookie First Team. The Nets struggled post Carter-Kidd era but Lopez was always the one that showed up and did his job to perfection.

He earned his first (and only) All-Star selection in 2013, and averaged 19.4 points, 6.9 rebounds and a career-high 2.1 blocks per game. In his 9-year long tenure with the Nets, he averaged 18.6 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game. However, he did not have great postseason success as he only made it to the playoffs twice in his career.

#2 Vince Carter

Vince Carter had an illustrious career with the Nets

Vince "Vinsanity" Carter was selected by the Golden State Warriors with the fifth overall pick in the 1998 NBA draft. However, he was then traded to the Toronto Raptors for the fourth overall pick, Antawn Jamison. Carter will be forever remembered for his days spent with the Raptors. People don't often talk about his playing days with the Nets but he definitely played some of his greatest basketball for them alongside Jason Kidd.

He averaged career-high numbers with the franchise and led the team to three straight playoffs appearances, along with Kidd. He was named an All-Star in three years that he was part of the Nets.

Carter ended his tenure with the Nets averaging 23.6 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game over five seasons and these figures are better than the ones he has averaged in Toronto. He was traded by the Nets in 2009 to the Orlando Magic, which brought his great run with the franchise to an end.

#1 Jason Kidd

Jason Kidd is one of the greatest point guards to ever play the game

Is this even a question? Jason Kidd is one of the greatest point guards to ever play the game of basketball. Kidd was drafted by the Dallas Mavericks with the second overall pick in the 1994 NBA draft. After spending a good amount of time playing for Dallas and Phoenix, Kidd joined the then New Jersey Nets in 2001.

Just in his first season with the Nets, he led them to a 52-30 finish, which was the first 50-win season in franchise's history. He was named to the All-NBA First Team and finished second in MVP voting, behind San Antonio Spurs' Tim Duncan. The Nets had a memorable playoff run, and won against some quality opponents in the Indiana Pacers and the Boston Celtics to reach the finals. However, they got swept by Shaq and Kobe's Los Angeles Lakers.

He then followed it up with yet another stellar season that saw the Nets reach their second straight NBA Finals. However, a similar story repeated as the Nets lost to the San Antonio Spurs in six games.

After spending 7 years with the franchise, Kidd averaged 14.2 points, 7.0 rebounds and 8.9 assists per game. The Nets made it to the postseason in all the years Kidd was a member of the team.