New Jersey Nets: 30 Teams in 30 Days

2008 Statistics

Finished 34-48, third in Atlantic Division, 11th in Eastern Conference

Missed Postseason

Key Additions

Rafer Alston via trade, Courtney Lee via trade, Tony Battie via trade, Terrence Williams via draft

Key Losses

Vince Carter via trade, Ryan Anderson via trade

The core of the early 2000s that consisted of Richard Jefferson, Jason Kidd and Vince Carter dominated the Eastern Conference for years. But as the years passed with no championships to show for it, one by one each player was sent packing with each attempt of contesting for a legitimate spot at the title coming up short.

That core has now disbanded with the loss of Vince Carter. Vinsanity was traded away along with Ryan Anderson to the Eastern Conference Champion Orlando Magic for point guard Rafer Alston, second-year shooting guard Courtney Lee and seldom used big man Tony Battie.

Carter has been one of the most consistent players in the league, averaging more than 20 points per game for the past five years, and has averaged more than 20 points in 10 of his 12 seasons in the league. He put up 21 points, five rebounds and five assists last year for the Nets, who had their second straight 34 win season.

Vince has been criticized for his performance when a team comes across tough times, especially when he was in Toronto when he tanked games to get traded. It was not apparent in New Jersey, but as the core left and lesser known role players were brought in, Carter's stats went down, as well as the team's performance as a whole. They haven't suffered losing seasons this bad since the 2000-'01 campaign when they went 26-56.

The players they brought in are not expected to make an immediate impact as Alston is expected to ride the bench as a second-string point guard. The same goes with Tony Battie, who will not see much playing time. Courtney Lee, on the other hand, is expected to start at the shooting guard spot in only his second year in the NBA.

In Lee's first season as a member of the Magic, he averaged eight points and two rebounds and was known mostly for his performance in the postseason. He only averaged eight points, but his explosiveness came up big, and he is expected to become one of the next top guards of this league.

The Nets do have one of the top point guards in the league at the moment with Devin Harris, who had the year of his career so far. He had career highs in nearly every statistical category, including points, rebounds, and assists. He emerged as a team leader and gained a lot of experience last year, as he is expected to be the team leader in the 2009-'10 season for a New Jersey team that is trying to make a case for the postseason once again.

Harris wasn't the only one to emerge as a perennial All Star. The Nets' first-round draft pick from last year, Brook Lopez, emerged as a top center. He averaged 13 points, eight rebounds and two blocks in his first season, and in his second to last game of the season had a high of 20 rebounds. Lopez is one of the few big men in the league that has size and can score at will, as well as rebound and defend. He shows a lot of potential in his game and had all-rookie team honors last year as the starting center.

The Nets starting lineup is going to suffer this year with Vince Carter no longer on the team, and will have to rely on players such as Bobby Simmons and Yi Jianlian to strengthen the lineup enough to bring it a semi-decent season.

Simmons is expected to become the team's new starting small forward and will need to elevate his game if he even wants to halfway fill the shoes Carter left behind. In his first season with the team, he averaged eight points and four rebounds starting for half the season. His career high was 16 points—coming back in 2004—and he will need to channel the thoughts he had five years ago if he wants the Nets to succeed.

One of the most hyped players to ever come out of Asia, Yi Jianlian has failed to live up to the standards of a No. 6 pick so far. His frame is small and he does not have one of the finest attitudes in the game. When he was drafted by Milwaukee, he voiced his displeasure publicly about going to a "small market" team and was traded after only one year.

You would think that he'd step up his game after going to a "big market" team like the New Jersey Nets, but he basically put up the same numbers he did playing for the Bucks. He averaged nine points and five rebounds last season and has not shown much potential to do much more than put up mediocre numbers like that. He is the projected starting power forward and will need to perform much better to give the Nets a legitimate spot at a playoff spot.

New Jersey has yet to feel what a championship feels like. The organization knows what it's like to make it and be a dominant force of the NBA, but those days are dead and gone and the Nets are back to square one as a team. With Devin Harris as the new team leader, he will need to quickly assume what power he has over the team and use it to unite this group of players and make the Nets a serious team in the NBA once again.

Projected Starting Lineup

PG-Devin Harris

SG-Courtney Lee

SF-Bobby Simmons

PF-Yi Jianlian

C-Brook Lopez

This is part 18 of a 30-day series of 2009-10 season previews of each NBA team. My profile will contain every other team that has been previewed before.