Five Free Agents Not Named LeBron James the New Jersey Nets Should Go After

The Nets are a rebuilding team. Luckily, most of their payroll comes off the books in 2010, opening room to sign two big time free agents.

If the Nets are lucky enough to get the first pick in the draft, they should start their rebuilding process by drafting John Wall. Wall may not seem to serve relevance in this article, but he actually does.

In that big time free agents would see him as a reason to play there. John Wall, Devin Harris and Brook Lopez are three young studs that the Nets can build around.

Big time free agents would love having two great point guards like Wall and Harris dishing the ball to them and a big man down low with such skill as Lopez.

Nets fans should also dawn on another fact: LeBron James is not coming to New Jersey.

Think about it. Why would he turn down the publicity and media of New York to be in the shadows of New Jersey? Here are five upcoming 2010 free agents that the Nets should pursue.

Chris Bosh

Chris Bosh is one of the most talented and underrated forwards in the NBA.

Bosh is averaging 23.4 points and 11.1 rebounds per game this season. He wants to go to a bigger market team where he's more liked and better known (as per an article Sports Illustrated featuring Bosh and his team).

The Nets and Heat look to be possible suitors as they are two of the teams that will have large amounts of money coming off the books next year. If Dwayne Wade is re-signed, Bosh will likely go to Miami.

Even so, the Nets would seem to have a better chance at convincing Bosh to play for them if they had John Wall. Bosh also plays power forward, a position the Nets are in desperate need of filling.

Dwayne Wade

This move seems improbable, but if LeBron does indeed go to New York, Wade might want to start fresh. That is, if the Nets also sign Bosh or Amar'e Stoudemire.

Wade is one of the premier players in the NBA and could (please!) sign with the Nets. The Nets would need to surround him with other stars and convince him that the team has a promising future.

If the Nets do endorse John Wall as their future, they could shop Devin Harris around like they did during this year's draft. Reports claim that they dealt Harris along with their draft pick to Minnesota for Ricky Rubio and Al Jefferson. Even if these reports were false, it shows how much respect Harris has around the league.

Dwayne Wade will probably stay in Miami, but it sure seems like more of a possibility of him going to the Nets than LeBron.

Amar'e Stoudemire

If I haven't stressed the need for a power forward enough, well I can't stress it enough. THEY NEED TO GET A POWER FORWARD.

Amar'e is an offensive beast, he's great down low and has improved his jumper greatly. There are a few white flags with him; Amar'e is very injury prone and even though it hasn't been a problem, two laser eye surgeries are more than frightening while thinking about offering a multi-year deal.

You think the Wizards aren't regretting giving Arenas that mammoth of a deal? The other bad thing about Amar'e is his lack of defense. Actually, I wish he had some defense to lack because he has none.

He only rebounds about eight per game and his lack of defense is definitely not the best message to a young team like the Nets. New Jersey will not be Amar'e's first option (don't worry, it's mutual) since his former coach (Mike D'Antoni) is just across the river in a bigger media and market.

If Bosh goes to the Heat, Amar'e will be a good backup although a third option won't hurt. (The last thing the Nets want to do is be like the Blazers, who lost Turkoglu and Milsap to other teams.)

Yao Ming

Yao could be the icing of the cake to a perfect offseason for the Nets (wait the Apocalypse comes right after this) who can add Yao after getting Wade and Bosh.

I'm not really serious about this move but imagine how crazy the Chinese fan base would go with Yi and Yao on the same team?! (I smell reality T.V. show) Well Yao could be a backup if all else fails.

David Lee and Carlos Boozer are other names the Nets could turn to if nobody else wants to go there. Lee would give the Nets a great rebounder and Boozer would give the Nets a great scorer.

This is really just a dream of mine (being of Asian decent) and this wouldn't really benefit the Nets except for the fact that he can be slotted in at the power forward position.

Rudy Gay

Rudy Gay and the Grizzlies failed to agree on a contract extension, so Gay is able to become a free agent after the season is completed. Tyrus Thomas is another guy that failed to sign to an extension.

Thomas is an explosive energy guy but should be far down the list of who the Nets are looking to sign. If The Nets wanted to sign Gay, they would need to add another big man, but not much else. If the Nets did get Wall, Bosh and Gay, their lineup would look something like this:

PG Wall
SG Harris
SF Gay
PF Bosh
C Lopez

Looks pretty good to me. Gay has shown the ability to rebound and has been much more aggressive of late. Again, the Nets have a lot to do but it could be as simple as getting John Wall and a power forward.

The Nets will have a lot of money available and role players that can shoot the three will be a concern if Rudy Gay is signed. It's highly unlikely, but maybe Michael Redd or Ray Allen would take a pay-cut to win a championship.

Power forward should still be the first initiative in the offseason for the Nets.