New Jersey Nets: Light at the End of the Tunnel

As one of 10 remaining New Jersey Nets fans, this has been a difficult season to endure.

The Nets currently sit at 3-38 at the halfway point of the season and are on pace to set an NBA record for fewest wins in a season.

There have been humiliating and heartbreaking losses along the way.

Through it all, I have stuck by my team but it hasn’t been easy and it most certainly hasn’t been fun.

With the 2009-2010 season pretty much a wrap, the only thing I can take solace in is the fact that the future looks very bright for the New Jersey Nets.

Having the worst record in the league has its privileges: It provides the Nets the best possible chance to land the No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming draft.

Now obviously, the NBA does things a little differently than the NFL and MLB: the worst record does not automatically guarantee the top pick in the draft. However, with roughly a 25 percent chance to land the pick, the Nets have the best chance.

If the Nets land that top pick, they will undoubtedly use it on Kentucky’s standout freshman, John Wall.

Wall is one of the most talented college basketball players to come along in the last 10 years, and his addition to the Nets would improve the team tremendously.

As it is, the Nets already have an All-Star caliber point guard in Devin Harris, and one of the most talented centers in the sport in second-year man, Brook Lopez.

Center and point guard are the two hardest positions to fill, and the Nets already have two quality starters occupying those spots.

Throw in some quality young guys like Chris Douglas-Roberts and Courtney Lee, the Nets have a solid young nucleus moving forward.

There are few other factors that should contribute to the Nets rapid rise from obscurity.

Bruce Ratner, who has torn apart the organization from the inside in hopes of moving the team to Brooklyn, will soon sell the team to one of the wealthiest men in the world, Mikhali Prokhorov.

Ratner had no knowledge of how to run a basketball team; he just saw the team as a means to an end in hoping to set up his Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn.

While the team still plans to move to Brooklyn within the next few seasons, Prokhorov brings a breath of fresh air to the organization.

He was very involved with the Russian basketball league and has a working knowledge of how the sport works.

Prokhorov has kept team president Rod Thorn in his current role, which will ensure the team will still be run properly.

Even though the team will be in Brooklyn in a few years, reports are surfacing that there is very good chance that the team will move to the Prudential Center in Newark next season.

This provides a brand new arena for the team to play in, as well as allows easier accessibility for fans to attend games.

Lastly, Prokhorov has repeatedly said that he plans to spend money to field a competitive team. This is great news for the few remaining Nets fans, as the team has around $26 million in cap space next season.

So while it is highly unlikely that LeBron James would leave Cleveland to spend a few seasons in New Jersey, it is not unfathomable for other free agents such as Joe Johnson, Chris Bosh, or Al Horford to seriously consider the Nets as a landing spot this summer.

This has been a difficult season for the New Jersey Nets, but the future looks promising, and that is the one thing that keeps me going.