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Brooklyn Nets
Overall: 110
Title track: 114
Ownership: 107
Coaching: 89
Players: 117
Fan relations: 102
Affordability: 70
Stadium experience: 81
Bang for the buck: 110
Change from last year: +1
Just how bad are things in Brooklyn? The Nets are preaching progress this season -- not wins. Hey, at least new GM Sean Marks and first-year coach Kenny Atkinson are being realistic about the uphill battle the franchise faces on the heels of a 21-61 finish in 2015-16.
What's good
For starters, ticket prices are down -- at an average of $66, they are half the price of admission at the other New York team's arena -- but that's also a product of the team's rebuild (still, affordability, at 70th, represents the Nets' best showing in these standings). Fans aren't too hard on the team's stadium experience, at 81st overall. The Nets have solid infrastructure in terms of facilities -- including a $1 billion arena and brand-new practice facility on the Brooklyn waterfront -- and staff. This year, they'll even have afternoon entertainment: The Nets' D-League team will play its inaugural season at Barclays Center before moving to the refurbished Nassau Coliseum on Long Island in 2017-18.
What's bad
Jeremy Lin's addition has brought relevance to a franchise that is tradition-rich in irrelevance, but that isn't enough to help the Nets' player ranking out of the basement (only the Suns and the Kings rank worse in the NBA). There's reason to worry: After owner Mikhail Prokhorov's failed five-year championship plan (Prokhorov ranks 107th here) and former GM Billy King's failed transactions, the Nets don't have total control over their own first-round pick until 2019. And who knows when they'll be able to attract a marquee free agent. Despite all their connections to Kevin Durant, they couldn't get a meeting with him. Atkinson's track record of developing young talent desperately needs to continue, and Marks is going to have to unearth some diamonds in the rough.
What's new
As affordability rises 35 places, a disappointing season causes the team's bang for the buck to fall just as drastically (down 39 spots to 110th overall). This year, the Nets are hoping to right the ship, beginning with Lin. His fans are rabid, as is his media following overseas. The Nets are preaching culture now that Marks has had a chance to make his mark. The highlight of his influence might be Brooklyn's performance team -- fitness, wellness, sports science, the whole ball of wax -- which will be guided by Zach Weatherford, formerly with the U.S Navy SEALs.
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