With the surging Knicks (ranked #7) and floundering Nets (#23), the narrative finally flips.

One reason the New Jersey-to-Brooklyn Nets had an opportunity to attract fans and establish a new fanbase was the perennial mismanagement and mediocre play of the New York Knicks, which remained a cash cow due to the legacy fanbase and the location in midtown Manhattan.

More than a decade later, the situation has reversed.

The Nets first capitalized on novelty, then built a scrappy team of strivers, then threw it away in a not-unreasonable bet on star power, signing Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, and James Harden. When they played together, in only a fraction of games, the team was a juggernaut.

But injuries, the coronavirus, Irving's mercurial personality, and a lack of structure undermined the Nets, and the stars all wrangled trades, leaving the Nets stuck in mediocrity, albeit with some future draft assets.

Meanwhile, the Knicks, finally, deftly rebuilt, garnering former Dallas guard Jalen Brunson, trading for Torono's O.G. Anunoby, and developing/acquiring a series of solid players.

Ranking divergence

Before this week's NBA trade deadline, the Knicks were ranked 7th (of 30) in the power rankings by The Athletic, the NBA, and ESPN. The Nets were 22nd in the first list and 23rd in the other two, which means they'd struggle to make the playoffs.

Then the Knicks acquired two solid players, Alec Burks and Bojan Bogdanovic, from the Detroit Pistons for a modest price, leading the New York Post to observe:

The NBA world doesn’t know what to do when the Knicks are making competent moves.

After years of ill-fated signings and trades by hapless executives, the Knicks are suddenly being celebrated for their front-office decisions led by team president Leon Rose.

CBS summed it up: NBA trade deadline grades: Knicks, Thunder earn top marks.

Meanwhile, the pre-trade headlines for the Nets were glum, such as the New York Post's Struggling Nets undone by Stephen Curry late in loss to Warriors and Kevin Durant provides brutal reminder of what he brought to Nets.

That said, the Nets made a possible modest upgrade with trades, and do have assets to rebuild. But that's a few years away, while the Knicks build organic buzz.