There’s going to be a new era in Brooklyn, as the Nets are slowly hitting the reset button. The team has been looking to add a bevy of young talent while gradually parting ways with veterans.  

To start the offseason, the Nets notched a deal to acquire Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Steve Blake from the Portland Trail Blazers for Mason Plumlee and Pat Connaughton on draft night. It was a solid two-year stint with Brooklyn for Plumlee, but he will now move on to a team where he will see an increase in minutes.

The Nets sorely wanted Hollis-Jefferson due to his outstanding defense. Although he has a lot of room for improvement offensively, Hollis-Jefferson should earn minutes at the wing position thanks to his athleticism and defensive prowess.  

To kick off free agency, Brooklyn almost immediately re-signed Thaddeus Young and Brook Lopez. Young and Lopez, both 27 years of age, will become the cornerstones of the team. The Nets really favored Young’s versatility on both ends of the floor last season and made it their objective to re-sign him.

Lopez, who’s had an injury plagued career, is still believed to be the best player on the roster. He has been the key to Brooklyn’s success over the last few years, providing low post scoring as well as face up shooting. Lopez’s rebounding is still suspect, but the big man makes it up with his strong offensive game.

After retaining the two most important pieces, the Nets moved forward by signing a heap of new free agents, including Shane Larkin, Wayne Ellington, Andrea Bargnani, Thomas Robinson, and Willie Reed. They also made a trade for Quincy Miller.

Larkin, 22, is a young, high energy point guard who figures to play heavy minutes off the bench this season. The 5-foot-11 guard showed flashes of growth and improvement during his one-year tenure with the New York Knicks this past season.

Ellington, meanwhile, was brought in for his high volume three-point shooting. With the Los Angeles Lakers, the six-year player out of North Carolina gained popularity and was able to display his value. As a starter, Ellington averaged 12.5 points and 3.8 rebounds on 36.6 percent shooting from deep, proving that he could be productive when given play time.

Since the Nets lost Plumlee, they have turned to veteran Andrea Bargnani for answers. It’s been a miserable last three seasons for the 29-year old as he has been unable to stay healthy, but the Nets believe he could make for a solid backup to Lopez.

Thomas Robinson has bounced around the league, but Brooklyn trusts that he will turn things around this season. Robinson, 24, may not see much time on the hardwood, but he is assurance in case the two injury prone big men, Bargnani and Lopez, miss time due to ailments.

Willie Reed was signed to a bargain deal after the 2011 undrafted 25-year old played well during Orlando Summer League, averaging 13.5 points and 7.8 rebounds on 60 percent shooting from the field. Reed simply provides more frontline depth and insurance for the Nets.  

After acquiring Steve Blake, the Nets quickly traded him to the Detroit Pistons for Quincy Miller. This was a minor move, giving Brooklyn more wing depth. However Miller’s stance on the roster is still undetermined. When he was first acquired, it was believed that he would be waived. That, nevertheless, remains a possibility.

The prime move of the summer was the waiving of All-Star Deron Williams. The Nets tried extremely hard to ship either Williams or Joe Johnson via trade but were unable to find suitors for their poisonous contracts. Thus leading Brooklyn to stretch and buy out Williams, who later joined the Dallas Mavericks.

Williams was reportedly having off-court issues with head coach Lionel Hollins. Aside from all that drama, his on-court performance was slowly declining, as a few minor injuries have overwhelmed his career. Since Williams was released, the Nets are now comfortable with keeping Johnson’s $24.8 million expiring contract.

Other rather crucial contributors the Nets lost this offseason were Mirza Teletovic, who signed with the Phoenix Suns, and Alan Anderson, who signed with the Washington Wizards. The Nets will surely miss Teletovic’s three-point shooting and floor spacing at the power forward slot, but the team is hopeful that young pieces, such as Cory Jefferson, rookie Chris McCullough, and Reed, could fill his shoes. Anderson was another tough loss, but the Nets are hoping Ellington could steadily replace him.

It wasn’t an enormous summer for the Brooklyn Nets in terms of greatly improving their positioning in the inferior Eastern conference, but they shook up their roster and are headed toward the right direction by riding themselves of Williams’ fat contract.

Off-Season Grade: C+