With a sad farewell to a prominent leader, the New Jersey Nets start fresh with a new opportunity. A land that had been trampled but never conquered as an identity is formed from dirt.First is the process of determining what direction we truly want to head in. We have a 25-year-old point guard and two big men in their early 20s, yet our go-to-guy has just passed 30.
It truly ends and begins with Vince Carter.
If we trade him, we rebuild. If we keep him, well, we hope light in the tunnel is closer than we thought. The main problem is that Vince Carter is thought of by the owners as higher than Rod Thorn himself. That resulted in the Nets basically bidding against themselves for Carter's services.
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Now we are in a rut trying to decide between unloading the contract that does not expire till 2010 or keeping him for mere fan satisfaction.
Rumors of a Vince Carter for Jermaine O’Neal deal have floated around, but those depend on O’Neal’s knees. In reality, that deal is about acquiring a contract ending one year earlier than Carter's.
The Nets real future plans lie with the friendships of our owner. The vast world of 2010 NBA free agents is astounding and the biggest name of all, LeBron James, just happens to be buddy-buddy with Nets' part-owner, Jay-Z.
The chances of landing him are slim to none, but there are some incentives leaning in our favor.
LeBron's $100 million bonus for playing in New York, Los Angeles, or another big city certainly does not hurt our chances. He also has an immense respect for Jay-Z, not only personally, but business-wise as well.
The pieces they have to entice the King? It starts off with the Kidd trade.
Devin Harris played second-fiddle often to Jason Terry, but he was the replacement for Steve Nash when he signed to Dallas. Though he does not have the two MVPs, he has Finals experience to go along with a winning record in every season he has played.
It is quite fitting that he steps into even bigger shoes in Jersey, as he will try to accomplish half of what Kidd did for the Nets.
The Nets also have two young men by the names of Josh Boone and Sean Williams. Boone is the stud finisher down low, while Williams has made highlight after highlight in dunks and astonishing blocks.
The Nets front office certainly has some tough choices to make in the near future.
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6 months ago
Well, I have being a New Jersey Nets Fan for all my life, and here what i think about certain things. Since last year when nets were talking to resign Vince Carter i told my friend that it was a bad idea. He only plays whenever he feels like playing. He doesnt like sharing the basketball. He like those long shots which he makes 1 out of 10. What is the point of that? What i said we needed was someone else with the skills to run the court with Jason and Richard, Vince wasnt the one for that. Vince needs to go, and the idea of getting a player like Lebron would be something that i would gladly take.
from 6 months ago
It wasn't a horrible idea signing Vince. We thought Magloire was capable of 10 and 10 while Krstic would be preforming at full pace right away. We just couldn't get the ball rolling and the deal looks worse than it was.
If we were competing with the Celtics then it would look a whole lot better.
6 months ago
Stephen,
I didn't know Jay z and LBJ were such good friends. Don't you think the Nets need to have a team the future billionare feels he can win a title with?
LBJ is sure not going out west. I've always felt he will move to the big apple some day, and with the new arena, the Nets have just a good of a chance as the Knicks.
In the mean time, are the Nets good enough to make the playoffs and then how do they compare with the Celts, who you know they will play?
John Fatland
from 6 months ago
It's a pretty neat race the Nets and the Knicks have going on while they really show no interest in signing him, we have been showing signs two years before he's even on the market. What really kills us is loosing Kidd because if we had him younger, it would easily bring LeBron here.
As for the Nets chances if we make the playoffs, I'd rather face the Celtics team. I believe Devin Harris could do a lot of damage to that team with Rondo running the point. We have bigs in Williams and Diop who could trouble Kevin and Paul and Ray would go toe to toe verses Vince and Richard.
In my mind we still have little chance of winning but it would be an interesting series to say the least.
5 months ago
Signing LeBron would be the best thing. You've got Vinsanity, RJ and the King on one team. Think about that. LeBron can play the 4 position also, or you can play Carter off the bench. It would be like this.
PG: Devin Harris
SG: Vince Carter
SF: Richard Jefferson
PF: LeBron James
C: Nenad Krstic or Josh Boone
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