After a frustrating season in New Jersey, the New York area's ABA franchise shifted to Commack a city on New York's Long Island. Along with the move came a name change as owner Arthur Brown took seriously a suggestion to pick a name that rhymed with the baseball Mets and football Jets.

However, the Nets failed to come through in what would have been the biggest move losing out on a chance to sign UCLA star Lew Alcindor who received a better offer to play for the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks. The Nets were a team in transition as they made ten trades and went trough 23 players during an awful 17-61 season.