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NBA weekly betting trends: The Nets are a mess

By Jeff Glauser

Dec 30, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Wizards guard John Wall (2) dunks the ball over Brooklyn Nets center Justin Hamilton (41) in the fourth quarter at Verizon Center. The Wizards won 118-95. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 30, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Wizards guard John Wall (2) dunks the ball over Brooklyn Nets center Justin Hamilton (41) in the fourth quarter at Verizon Center. The Wizards won 118-95. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /
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This just in: The Brooklyn Nets are terrible. And it’s a safe bet that you’ll find them at the bottom of the league for the foreseeable future.

The Nets presently sit in the NBA’s basement at 9-41 overall and a somewhat more respectable 21-27-3 against the spread at Sportsbook Review’s top sportsbooks.

Most Net fans, including owner Mikhail Prokhorov, can point to a precise day when it was the beginning of the end: July 12, 2013. Former General Manager Billy King, given a mandate from Prokhorov to assemble a championship-contending team, announced they had acquired Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Jason Terry and D.J. White from the Boston Celtics in exchange for Gerald Wallace, Kris Humphries, MarShon Brooks, Keith Bogans and their unprotected first-round draft picks in 2014, 2016 and 2018. The Celtics also received the right to swap first-rounders with the Nets in 2017.

So congratulations to King for helping to assemble that contending squad. The Celtics thank you.

In all seriousness, the glut of lottery picks Boston has and will inherit make this one of the worst trades in league history. Brooklyn never got past the Eastern Conference semifinals with KG and Pierce, and now the future has been totally mortgaged. The 2017 draft is considered one of the best in many years and the Nets will have the most ping-pong balls to win the lottery. Except, of course, the Celtics will absolutely swap picks with them, so the Nets can’t even purposely tank because it does them no good. Ditto next season.

Needless to say, new GM Sean Marks has his work cut out for him.

Brooklyn entered this week having lost nine straight and 20 of 21. The Nets have lost 12 straight at home and haven’t won there yet in 2017. They are last in the NBA in defense, allowing 114.4 points per game. Thus a lot of their games go over the betting total: 26 of them overall. Things are so bad that before Sunday’s loss to Toronto, the singer flubbed the lyrics to the Canadian national anthem.

The team will somehow get worse before it gets better. That’s because the club’s best player is also its best trading chip, center Brook Lopez. Lopez is fine enough, averaging 20.4 points and 5.2 rebounds, but he turns 29 in April and will be on the downside of his career by the time the Nets can even think about being competitive again. One problem in dealing Lopez is his salary. Not many teams can easily absorb his $21,165,675 salary this season and $22,642,350 next season. Marks reportedly is asking for two first-round picks. Good luck with that.

Next: NBA trade rumors: Pelicans interested in Brook Lopez

Don’t expect the Nets’ losing ways to end this week, either. On Tuesday they visit the Charlotte Hornets. They are 2-22 on the road. They then play host to the Washington Wizards on Wednesday and the Miami Heat on Friday. It’s quite likely the Nets won’t be favored in a game the rest of the season.

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