Which Players Have an Argument to be on Nets Mount Rushmore This Century?

With the Nets team success in the 2000s and several all-time greats cycling through the roster for short tenures, the four-man list is hard to make.

Jan 19, 2005; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New Jersey Nets forward Vince Carter (15) with the ball up the court against the Milwaukee Bucks at Continental Airlines Arena. Credit: Lou Capozzola-USA TODAY NETWORK | Lou Capozzola-Imagn Images

Bleacher Report recently made every NBA team's Mount Rushmore since 2000. The Nets' four players are throwbacks in terms of how long its been since they've repped the organization: Vince Carter, Richard Jefferson, Jason Kidd and Brook Lopez.

Lopez most recently played for the Nets, and he is the only one to represent Brooklyn. These players all produced at a high level while with the team, but are they the right options?

The Locks

Starting with the selections that Bleacher Report got correct, Kidd should top the list. He led New Jersey to back-to-back NBA Finals appearances in his first two seasons with the Nets. Kidd never missed the playoffs in his seven years with the franchise.

In the 2001-02 season, Kidd's first year with New Jersey, he played in all 82 games, made the All-NBA first team, the All-Defense first team and the All-Star game.

The second and final lock goes to Carter. On a per-game basis, his time with the Nets was the best of his career. In five seasons, he got the All-Star nod three times and averaged 23.6 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game.

Carter also saw the best efficiency of his career with New Jersey, shooting 44.7% from the field across his tenure. Going from the Toronto Raptors to the Nets helped him reinvent his game by making smarter shot selections and developing his playmaking abilities.

Potential Replacements

With Carter and Kidd being locks, that means that Lopez and Jefferson are on the hot seat. Starting the candidates is Kevin Durant. He only played 129 games over three seasons with Brooklyn, but he filled up the stat sheet and reached the playoffs twice.

Durant was a three-time All-Star with the Nets, averaging 29.0 points, 7.1 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game. He constantly willed an injury-riddled roster to wins and put up better numbers for a season than most Nets players in the 21st century.

Next up, for his defensive contributions, Kenyon Martin deserves a shot. Martin was a part of the back-to-back Finals run with Kidd, anchoring the defense in the front court.

He was taken first overall in the 2000 NBA Draft by New Jersey and went on to be the runner-up for Rookie of the Year. His time with the Nets ended after the 2003-04 season, where he grabbed his lone All-Star nod. Martin averaged 15.1 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game across his four seasons with the team.

Our Picks:

• SG Vince Carter
• SF Kevin Durant
• PG Jason Kidd
• C Brook Lopez