Are Nets at risk of losing their big advantage: being Brooklyn cool?

Within a Sports Quotient analysis of the Nets draft picture --an accurate enough recitation of the bleak future of traded picks and swaps, writer Kyle Diuro wonders aloud if something more is at stake here, that is, their "cool." -- which even if a bit manufactured has sustained them in Brooklyn.

Writing about Mikhail Prokhorov and Billy King, Diuro states...

The lack of success in both on the court results and off the court exposure and excitement have left many Nets fans wondering whether this duo will stay together for much longer. The Nets were supposed to be a phenomenon, a fashion statement, and a symbol of Brooklyn culture. All that, not just wins, is at stake in the coming years.

He notes as well that there is "little fanfare associated with the team’s performance." it is indeed a common complaint among fans. The team is boring, with little athleticism or star power.

Diuro points to a list of NBA teams success on Facebook and Twitter, where the Nets rank 16th, between two teams playing in Indianapolis and Portland and well behind their crosstown rivals, the Knicks. The analysis is a bit overwrought (but not much). The Nets still rank high in merchandise sales, although nowhere near where they were when they were the new, hip, Jay-Z inspired brand.  They still sell out nearly 97 percent of their hip new arena and rank fifth in per game revenue at over $1 million.

And Diuro thinks all is not lost, either, endorsing the Nets apparent strategy of trying to win while rebuilding, writing...

[T]he Nets have no reason to gut the team fully and tank à la Philadelphia or Minnesota. Perhaps keeping the team as a 5-8 seed with makeshift deals until the trade books are clear and the cap situation improves can keep management alive until a long term plan can come together.

Bottom line --and we mean that in the business as well as figurative sense, Diuro's best point is not about the team's Draft picture, but the need for the Nets to drive their own narrative, the Brooklyn narrative, or face the loss of their biggest and best asset.

• The Brooklyn Nets Seemingly Bleak Draft Future - Kyle Diuro - The Sports Quotient