Moving day is usually a headache. For the Nets, moving from New Jersey to a shiny new arena in Brooklyn wasn't just about changing zip codes—it was a total identity scrub. They ditched the swamp for the subway. They traded red, white, and blue for a black-and-white aesthetic that felt more like a streetwear brand than a basketball team. But you can’t win games with just a cool logo.
The Brooklyn Nets roster 2012 was a fascinating, expensive, and ultimately weird experiment in building a "win-now" contender from scratch. They didn't just want to be in New York; they wanted to own it. Mikhail Prokhorov, the billionaire owner at the time, was throwing money around like it was going out of style. He didn't want a rebuild. He wanted a parade.
The Core: Deron Williams and the Joe Johnson Gamble
If you weren't watching back then, it's hard to explain how big of a deal Deron Williams was. At one point, people seriously debated whether he or Chris Paul was the best point guard in the league. Honestly, it was a toss-up. By 2012, Williams was the face of the move. He’d just signed a five-year, $98 million contract to stay, basically becoming the cornerstone of the Brooklyn era.
Then came the "Joe Jesus" trade. The Nets sent a package of players (including Jordan Farmar and Anthony Morrow) to Atlanta for Joe Johnson. Johnson was 31 and owed a staggering amount of money, but he was "Seven-Time All-Star Joe Johnson."
🔗 Read more: Eagles List of Quarterbacks: The Names Most Fans Forget
The backcourt was set. You had D-Will running the point and Joe Johnson as the late-game closer. On paper, it looked like a dream. In reality, it was the start of a very expensive era of "ISO-Joe" and Deron's nagging ankle issues.
Filling the Frontcourt: Brook and the Board-Crashers
Brook Lopez was the holdover. He’d been through the dark days in Jersey, and despite people calling him "soft" because he didn’t grab enough rebounds, he was a walking bucket in the post. He averaged about 19.4 points that year. He was the anchor.
But you needed grit. Enter Reggie Evans and Gerald Wallace.
Reggie Evans was—and I say this with love—a basketball maniac. He didn’t care about shooting. He didn't care about the spotlight. He just wanted the ball. He ended up averaging 11.1 rebounds per game that season despite only being 6'8". He was the "bad dude" every team needs.
Gerald Wallace, on the other hand, was the "Crash" everyone remembered from Charlotte, but he was starting to feel the miles on his body. The Nets had traded a pick that eventually became Damian Lillard for him (yeah, let that sink in), so the pressure was on. He provided the defense, but his scoring started to dip significantly.
The Bench and the "What Ifs"
The 2012-13 rotation was deeper than people give it credit for, but it was also aging. Jerry Stackhouse was 38 years old and still giving them minutes. Keith Bogans was the ultimate "three-and-no-D" (or sometimes "D-and-no-three") glue guy who started way more games than anyone expected.
Andray Blatche was perhaps the most surprising piece. After being amnesty-waived by Washington, he came to Brooklyn on a veteran minimum deal and played out of his mind. He was a 6'11" guy with guard handles who actually looked like a Sixth Man of the Year candidate for a minute there.
Then you had the rookies and international projects:
- Mirza Teletovic: The Bosnian sharpshooter who struggled to find his rhythm under coach Avery Johnson but eventually became a cult hero.
- MarShon Brooks: A sophomore who had a killer crossover but couldn't quite crack the rotation consistently behind Joe Johnson.
- C.J. Watson: A steady backup PG who had been through the wars with the Bulls.
Why 2012 Actually Matters Now
The Brooklyn Nets roster 2012 finished the season 49-33. They took the Chicago Bulls to seven games in the first round and lost a heartbreaker at home. Shortly after, the front office panicked and traded the rest of the decade's draft picks for Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce.
But 2012 was the "pure" year. It was the year before the wheels truly came off. It was the year Barclays Center was actually the loudest place in the NBA.
If you look back at that roster, it was a bridge between the old NBA and the modern "Superteam" era. They tried to buy a championship, and while they didn't get the ring, they definitely changed the culture of basketball in New York.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Historians
If you’re researching this era or looking for a piece of that 2012 nostalgia, here is what you should look for:
- Watch the "Deron Williams vs. the Knicks" highlights. The rivalry was never more intense than in that first season at Barclays.
- Study Andray Blatche’s efficiency. His 2012-13 season is a masterclass in how a change of scenery can revive a career, even if only for a year.
- Appreciate Brook Lopez's evolution. Seeing him as a traditional post-up center in 2012 makes his current status as a "Splash Mountain" three-point shooter even more impressive.
The 2012 roster wasn't perfect. It was expensive, a little slow, and arguably built for a 2005 version of the NBA. But for a city that hadn't had its own team in decades, it was exactly the kind of loud, star-studded entrance Brooklyn deserved.
To truly understand why the Nets made the trades they did in 2013, you have to look at the "almost there" feeling of this 2012 squad. They were one piece away, or so they thought. Instead of building, they went for the blockbuster. The rest, as they say, is draft-pick history.
Next Steps for Your Research:
- Compare the 2012-13 defensive ratings to the 2013-14 squad to see how much Garnett actually helped.
- Look up the "Hello Brooklyn" marketing campaign to see how the roster was used to sell the move.