Back before Jason Kidd, before the two trips to the Finals, before the move to Barclays Center and Brooklyn, before the opening of HSS Training Center, draft prospects weren’t necessarily enamored of playing for the Nets. Both Kenyon Martin and Richard Jefferson admitted that that they kinda sorta tanked their Nets workouts in 2000 and 2001. And do we need to talk (again) about how Kobe Bryant threatened to play in Italy if the Nets took him in the 1996 Draft?
No longer. In recent interviews, both Jalen Smith, the 6’10” Maryland big, and Desmond Bane, the 6’6” TCU sharpshooter have basically lobbied for the Nets to take them when Adam Silver steps to the virtual podium with the Brooklyn pick at No.