BOSTON — It’s been more than three years since the Brooklyn Nets mortgaged their future in a trade with the Boston Celtics for Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, and they still can’t escape it. They’ve tumbled downhill ever since, from 49 wins in 2012-13 to a rock-bottom 21 last season.

Garnett, 40, is retired, and a 39-year-old Pierce is on the verge of joining him. Brook Lopez is the only current member of the Nets who was even on the roster when Billy King pulled the trigger on that deal. King is gone, too, and Brooklyn is on its fourth head coach since the trade.

The aftershocks can still be felt in Brooklyn. Boston received three unprotected first-round picks from the Nets and the right to swap another. While the first of those, James Young, barely made the Celtics this season, the second went No. 3 overall this past June. Given prognostications, the pick swap and Brooklyn’s first-round pick in 2018 both have a chance to be No. 1 overall.

“I was fully aware,” Kenny Atkinson, whose vibe is sincere, business-like and “don’t you dare mess with me” all at the same time, said when asked if he considered Brooklyn’s future draft status upon accepting his first NBA head coaching position in April. “I understand the situation.”

Making matters worse, Atkinson debuted on the road opposite the Celtics on Wednesday night, and rookie Jaylen Brown, who came courtesy of Brooklyn with that third overall pick, beat Nets guard Joe Harris backdoor for an uncontested dunk that gave Boston a 22-point lead with 9:37 remaining in the fourth quarter. And three years of jokes about the Nets ineptitude came to life.

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