#29 New Jersey Nets
Toward the end of the regular season, there was a strange sense of optimism surrounding the New Jersey Nets. It began with the Russian billionaire swooping in and purchasing the team followed by a late season four game winning streak (before they lost their final six) followed by the growing belief that they would land the number one overall pick and bring in All World point guard John Wall. This of course would lead to a sign and trade sending Devin Harris and Yi Soon-to-be-Ming away to Toronto for Chris Bosh followed by the Russian billionaire signing D-Wade and LeBron James for 20 million a piece with a secret billion going into two freshly created bank accounts located somewhere in between Moscow and Saint Petersburg.
But then reality kicked in like a 65 mile per hour Kenny Powers fastball crashing against a backyard birdbath. John Wall became Derrick Favors, the Russian billionaire’s massive fortune became 60 million dollars (and shrinking) with the reality of the NBA’s salary cap, and Yi Soon-to-be-Ming was sent to Washington as an angry, “Welcome to the eastern conference,” present to John Wall. Jay-Z’s friendship wasn’t enough to bring in LeBron James and the reality of the team staying in New Jersey rather than moving to Brooklyn is becoming as painfully clear as a season three of the Jersey Shore. The “Brooklyn Ballers” went from a starting line-up consisting of John Wall, D-Wade, LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and Brook Lopez, well equipped to rattle off 10 straight championships, to the New Jersey Nets with Harris, Jordan Farmar, Travis Outlaw, Derrick Favors, and Brook Lopez, destined to finish last place.
New Jersey, after reaching the finals twice with the Jason Kidd, Richard Jefferson, Kenyon Martin core, made one final attempt to stay on top of the East by bringing in Vince Carter. When it became inevitable that this team would never get past the Pistons, Cavaliers, or Celtics I think shipping them all away and rebuilding was the smartest move they could do. Plus, I can’t fault former General Manager Kiki Vandeweghe’s strategy for keeping his job. It’s the same way Matt Millen kept his for so many years in Detroit.
“I know we were 0-16 last year, but we might bring in Tom Brady, Chris Johnson, and Darrell Revis next year! Not to mention our first pick in the draft which I can use on another wide receiver!”
The problem with the Nets is they are dangerously close to becoming irrelevant for the entire next decade. There are only about nine players (probably more like five) in the NBA you can build a championship team around. Two of them are on the Miami Heat, one of them will retire a Laker, and one of them plays point guard for the Boston Celtics. Meanwhile, Dwight’s not leaving Orlando, Derrick Rose has only spent one year of his life outside of Chicago, and Durant doesn’t appear to be leaving Oklahoma City anytime soon. This leaves two players left, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul.
If the Nets fail to lure either Anthony or Paul to New Jersey (which they’re going to have to sell as Brooklyn if they hope to have any chance) then the highest they can possibly finish in the next 10 years is a six seed in the Eastern Conference. Here’s what the Nets will look like this year:
PG Devin Harris
Devin Harris is best remembered as the guy who Dallas said in 2004 would be their point guard of the future instead of Steve Nash. Woops.
However, with that being said, Harris is still a top third point guard in the league. In the Eastern Conference I would rank him as the fifth best right in between Brandon Jennings and Darren Collison. He averaged 17 ppg and nearly 7 assists last year on a team whose only real other offensive option was Lopez. Expect his numbers to be right around 15 and 8 next season.
SG Jordan Farmar
I’m assuming the Nets will go with a double-headed point guard approach, but I’m not really sure why 1) they got rid of Courtney Lee 2) why Farmar left L.A. and 3) how the hell Farmar will guard Dwyane Wade. I think Farmar had a perfect fit in L.A. with Fisher on his way to retirement, but I think I see what the Russian Billionaire might be scheming, but more on that later.
SF Travis Outlaw
Good piece to have. Next to Brandon Roy he did very well and if they could bring in Melo or Chris Paul he would be a good second option at the guard spot.
PF Troy Murphy
Here’s what I think is going on with bringing in Troy Murphy. Somewhere along the line in Larry Bird’s spending spree on all that is white, Murphy signed a deal for close to 12 million a year. His contract expires at the end of this season, which I think means Russian billionaire is trying to package Murphy’s expiring deal with Devin Harris (combining to be about 20 million) along with a first round draft pick to go after Melo or Paul at All-Star break. For the Nuggets or Hornets this deal is somewhat appealing since they’d receive a quality point guard, 10 million of cap space, and most likely a top three pick in the draft. For New Jersey you could shift Farmar to point guard if Melo comes in or Farmar as a shooting guard with Chris Paul. Keep Travis Outlaw as another swingman option and still have in place a frontcourt of the future with Favors and Lopez.
If this trade doesn’t work out, Murphy gives them a 14 and 10 guy who can fill in while Favors gets the hang of the league without the pressure of starting right away. A front-court of Murphy and Lopez is a decent combo to have for the 2010-2011 season.
C Brook Lopez
Lopez is simple to rate. He’s the second best center in the East and is on his way to being a 20 and 10 guy next year. Lopez is the only player on the Nets who is untradeable and will continue to improve with age and the emergence of Favors as a second low post threat.
Key Reserve
Shooting Guard Jordan Crawford
Something tells me this guy is going to be a star someday. It all began with his dunk over LeBron that was so nasty Nike destroyed the tapes then continued to an impressive tournament explosion for Xavier (his overtime matchup with Pullen of Kansas State was the best game of the tourney). I think he will grow to be a key piece off the bench and will be a better shooting guard fit than Farmar.
Verdict?
If they land Melo or Paul they suddenly become a much better team, but the same can be said about 29 other teams in the NBA. Expect year two of the Nets rebuilding project to go slightly better than year one, but still count on the Nets finishing somewhere in between 15 and 25 wins.
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