The Detroit Pistons drafted Darwin Cook, but he was unable to crack the roster.  The Nets took a chance on him, and he made the team. He would average over 11 Points per Game in his first three seasons.  Cook was not special offensively, but he was very adept defensively.  He would finish in the top ten in Steals per Game three times, as a Net, peaking at fifth in the 1982/83 season.

Levern Tart was drafted by the Boston Celtics in 1964.  Still, he was unable to crack the roster, and he toiled in semi-pro leagues until an opportunity arose with the Oakland Oaks of the American Basketball Association.  Tart found a home in the ABA, was named an All-Star in 1969, and was traded nine days later to New Jersey.  Tart did not receive as much playing time with the Nets and was traded midway through the next season to the Houston Mavericks, but he was back again for the 1969/70 season, when he was New Jersey’s starting Shooting Guard, averaging 24.2 Points per Game and being named an All-Star.   He was traded the following year to the Texas Chapparals but was out of Basketball the following season. 

Both the Dallas Mavericks and New Jersey Nets were looking to shake things up, and they engineered a major trade during the 2007/08 season that essentially swapped Point Guards: Devin Harris for Jason Kidd.  In his first full season with the Nets, it looked like the Nets got the better end of the deal as he was named to the All-Star Game and he had career highs in Points per Game (21.3) and PER (21.6), but he wasn’t able to get the Nets into the playoffs.  New Jersey would then jettison Vince Carter, who would then suffer ankle injuries, reducing his effectiveness.  He was still good, but he was traded to the Utah Jazz when the Nets decided to rebuild again.

If this list were about popularity and excitement, then “Chocolate Thunder” would have been at the top.  Prior to his arrival with the Nets, Dawkins made a name for himself with his glass-shattering dunks, and people legitimately paid for tickets with the hope of seeing the big man cause a mess around the paint.