If a player you traded away thinks you had a good offseason, you must have done something right.
On MarShon Brooks’ first visit back to Barclays Center after being included in the blockbuster draft night trade that sent him — along with Gerald Wallace, Keith Bogans and Kris Humphries and the rights to several future draft picks — to Boston in exchange for Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry, Brooks said he understood why the Nets made the move.
“No, I didn’t take [anything] personally,” Brooks said before going scoreless in an 82-80 Nets win Tuesday night in front of 15,554 at Barclays Center. “It’s a business.”
“When you get a chance to get [Garnett] and Paul Pierce, you do what you’ve got to do.
Players learn quickly that, while they’re playing a game, the NBA is a ruthless, cold-hearted business. That’s why all of the Celtics players involved in the trade, to varying degrees, have accepted the deal and moved on, despite leaving a team guaranteed a playoff berth to one that is instead aiming to get as good of a draft pick as possible in what is universally considered to be a loaded draft class next June.
“It was kind of weird being on the bus going down the elevator,” said Humphries, who entered the game the first time to a smattering of boos and finished with 12 points and eight rebounds and two blocks — including an emphatic one of Mirza Teletovic. “I had never really been on the bus as a visitor.
“But I’m getting used to it. I’ve been on a number of different teams … maybe five now? So it comes [with the territory].”
Bogans felt similarly, as he enters his 11th NBA season and is now playing for his seventh team. Sitting on the sidelines with his sprained right thumb wrapped, though, he couldn’t help but admit it was a little weird to be back in Brooklyn.
“I helped open this place up,” he said with a smile.
Of the four players dealt to Boston, it’s clear Gerald Wallace took the trade the hardest. The veteran small forward has been a major contributor on only three playoff teams in his first 12 years in the NBA, and after re-signing with the Nets last summer made it clear he was excited about the prospects of being on what looked like a perennial playoff team with the chance to make an impact in the postseason.
Instead, he is staring at a long season in Boston, where he is one of the few elder statesmen on a young team clearly starting what looks like a long and arduous rebuild after the six-year run of the Big Three Era ended when Garnett and Pierce were dealt away.
Wallace showed the trademark hustling style that earned him the nickname “Crash,” falling all over the floor throughout his 26 minutes of action Tuesday and finishing with four points, four rebounds and two assists. He also had a shot blocked by Mason Plumlee, and cleanly wrapped up former teammate Teletovic on a fast break to prevent a layup.
“I was shocked and surprised [about the trade],” Wallace said before the game. “I didn’t see it coming. I didn’t know nothing about it.
“I think [it was tough to accept], especially coming to a situation like this with a young team. They’re in the rebuilding process, so it was kind of tough to get into, but I’m here now, the season has started, I’m excited to play with the guys and our main thing is to just try to get better every night.”
All of the players involved understood why the Nets made the move, and the potential impact adding a pair of players of Garnett’s and Pierce’s ability — even at this late stage of their careers — could have in Brooklyn this season.
“They’re trying to win a championship,” Brooks said. “They think that gives them an opportunity. … I feel like they made a good move. They had a real good offseason.”
Most of the NBA would agree.