Why Nets’ Joe Tsai isn’t panicking over ’embarrassing’ Knicks championship

This summer has been one to forget for Brooklyn Nets fans. On the heels of a second straight lottery letdown, the New York Knicks’ championship made the Nets the butt of jokes.

Nets owner Joe Tsai understands the negative impact the Knicks’ title had on his team’s fanbase. However, he’s not letting it impact how the franchise operates as it moves forward in its rebuild.

”Every year, some team is going to win a championship,” Tsai recently said in an interview with NetsDaily. “So it happens that this year that team is in the same city. It doesn’t make us feel very good. It irates our fan base and it is embarrassing but in business or in competition, in sports, or in anything, you shouldn’t let the embarrassment factor affect how you perform… [We] had a plan and we’re rebuilding and I think right now we are on a positive trajectory. So it doesn’t change my thinking at all.”

The Knicks’ championship win coincided with the Nets’ third consecutive bottom-10 finish. Many pondered whether New York’s title could lead Brooklyn to reach for relevance this summer.

Nets not concerned with Knicks’ championship optics as they move forward in rebuild

However, Brooklyn showed restraint in its offseason moves. The Nets acquired three-time All-Star Julius Randle as a salary dump from the Minnesota Timberwolves and signed Keon Ellis and Moe Wagner in free agency. They also selected Mikel Brown Jr. and Joshua Jefferson with the No. 6 and No. 28 picks in the draft.

Yet, they did not trade any of their future first-round picks and declined to utilize upwards of $25 million in cap space and exceptions.

“No, not at all,” Marks said when asked whether the Knicks’ title changes the Nets’ mindset. “We’re not going to be motivated or less motivated by what somebody else is doing. I think all we control is our path. I think we set out on this a couple of years ago, and I think I’m very happy with what the group has done, what Jordi [Fernandez] and the coaching staff have done to develop these young men. It’s gonna be really exciting to see what they look like, whether it’s a year or two years from here, and who really seizes this opportunity?”

Randle will attempt to elevate the Nets from the NBA’s basement to relevance, as he did for the Knicks during his five-year tenure. New York won just 17 games in 2018-19, the season before Randle signed in free agency. Two seasons later, they won 41 games and secured the East’s fourth seed in the 2021 playoffs.

Randle averaged 21.1 points, 6.7 rebounds and 5.0 assists on 48.1 percent shooting across 79 appearances with the Timberwolves last season. Minnesota’s offense was 7.6 points better per 100 possessions with him on the floor than off, the NBA’s 10th-best offensive rating swing among players who played over 1,500 minutes, per CleaningTheGlass. Meanwhile, Ellis adds a high-level point-of-attack defender, and Wagner presents a capable backup center.

While these moves could make the Nets more competitive, they’re unlikely to elevate the rebuilding squad to postseason contention.

Brooklyn’s over/under win total is 24.5, the second-lowest in the NBA, ahead of only the Sacramento Kings, per FanDuel Sportsbook. Meanwhile, the Knicks are favored to win the Eastern Conference and have the third-best championship odds, trailing only the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs.

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