The Nets infamously traded Kyle Korver’s draft rights for summer-league expenses and a copier in 2003.
Their 1998 draft was apparently also a doozy.
Former Nets executive Bobby Marks on ESPN:
John Calipari was on vacation. We didn’t have a first- or second-round pick. We go through the whole draft, and the phone didn’t ring once. When we looked over to the wall, the phone was actually unplugged the whole night. So, when teams are trying to call to make a trade, the phone was not.
The John Calipari era in New Jersey really was something.
Yes, this still falls on him, even though he was on vacation. The coach who holds front-office control shouldn’t vacation during the draft.
At least the Nets – who’ve moved to Brooklyn and multiple times turned over owners, executives, coaches and rosters – are no longer awash in ridiculousness. Oh.
