Yeah, none of this is true. The Gerald Wallace trade? The Nets did protect that pick (top-3, I think) and ended up with the #6, which went to the Blazers and became Damian Lillard. It was a dumb trade in retrospect because Crash was a guy whose game relied on athleticism and he had just hit 30 and didn't exactly take care of himself, but they also needed to ensure Deron Williams re-signed after giving up picks for him and he demanded Crash. They wouldn't have been able to sign him outright because the Blazers controlled his Bird Rights. They also went to the playoffs the next few years and made it to Game 7 in the second round before exiting in the Pierce/Garnett year.
The series of acquisitions from Deron Williams to Crash to Joe Johnson to Pierce and Garnett all made sense at the time, the problem was Williams (who was arguably the best point guard in the league for a year or two in 2008-2010) was always injured or sucking, Crash's athleticism disappeared, and Pierce and Garnett weren't the same guys they had been a couple years before. And they kept trying to get Howard, but he'd do stupid **** like sign a contract extension when he wanted to be traded because the Magic had Mickey Mouse visit him. Basically, the Nets put together a 2008-2010 championship team who only had one above average year left in them before they blew it all up.
To be fair, though, Garnett turned into Thaddeus Young who turned into Caris LeVert, who looked pretty damn good last year, so they at least have something to show for the whole mess.
Poor Brook Lopez. He's one of my favorite basketball players of all-time. He deserves so much better.