Billy King: Brooklyn Nets are contenders

Paul Pierce told reporters he left the Brooklyn Nets to join the Washington Wizards because the Nets were going in the opposite direction and would no longer be contenders. Brooklyn Nets’ general manager refuted those claims.

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The Brooklyn Nets have spent a lot of money over the past few years in an attempt to become contenders.

The Brooklyn Nets, however, have not had as much success as they’d like. Although they were able to defeat the Toronto Raptors in seven games in the the first round of the postseason, they were defeated by the Miami Heat in fives games a round later.

Since then, they have lost several players, most notably swingman Paul Pierce, who signed with the Washington Wizards. Pierce told reporters he signed with the Wizards because the Nets “wanted to cut costs” and “felt like they weren’t going to be a contender.”

Brooklyn Nets’ general manager Billy King refuted that statement.

“What he was told and what I said was not the truth,” King said before the Nets’ 111-94 preseason win over Maccabi Tel-Aviv Tuesday night inside Barclays Center in their preseason opener via Tim Bontemps of The New York Post. “But I respect Paul, I’m happy he’s still playing. I’m happy he played and did well for us last year, but he’s with the Wizards now, and we’re here.

“Our goal is to still to try to win a championship. We’re not taking steps back or anything like that. We’re trying to build a team we think can win.”

Even if the Brooklyn Nets wanted to keep Pierce, he isn’t completely wrong – the Brooklyn Nets certainly wanted to cut costs. However, they claim they are still serious about winning, even without Pierce.

Paul Pierce told reporters he left the Brooklyn Nets to join the Washington Wizards because the Nets were going in the opposite direction and would no longer be contenders. Brooklyn Nets’ general manager refuted those claims.

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