History of the Brooklyn Nets
The Brooklyn Nets, a professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, was founded in 1967 and initially played in Teaneck, New Jersey, as the New Jersey Americans, later the New Jersey Nets. They are a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as well as an original member of the American Basketball Association (ABA). In 2012 they moved to Brooklyn and were renamed the Brooklyn Nets.
History of the Brooklyn Nets
On June 10, 2010, Avery Johnson was named the new head coach. Sam Mitchell was named assistant coach shortly thereafter. With owners Mikhail Prokhorov and Jay-Z, general manager Rod Thorn, and Johnson, who at that point had the best winning percentage of any coach in NBA history, on board, the Nets headed into the free agency period with millions in salary cap space and optimistic that they would be able to attract top free agents. They courted LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh to sign with the team and had cap space to sign at least one of them; however, all three signed with the Miami Heat. The Nets' biggest off-season acquisition turned out to be Travis Outlaw, who had a poor year for the team and was waived with the amnesty clause after the season.