Thorn Wants 2, But Will We Get Any?
Jun 30, 2009 2010 Offseason, Brook Lopez, Brooklyn, Chris Douglas-Roberts, Courtney Lee, Devin Harris, Free Agents, Jay-Z, Rod Thorn, Terrence Williams
Here is audio from Rod Thorn’s conference call:
(Remove the audio player – it played automatically and it was getting annoying)
If the above player doesn’t work, click the link here. It is a pretty interesting listen, so if you get the time, check it out. The big thing that I took from this conference call is that Rod Thorn is going to be willing to spend in 2010. Thorn said that if he chooses, the Nets can offer two-max contracts. Having money is just half of the equation though, players are going to have to want to come to Nets (notice I didn’t say New Jersey).
Will that happen (I know this is real early to start talking about this, but this a much talked about topic among Nets fans)? Pessimistic Nets fans (and there are a lot of them) will tell you that it won’t. They will say things like “When have the Nets ever signed a big time free agent?” Or “Why would LeBron or anyone want to come to the Nets if they are still in NJ?”
Maybe I am just an optimist, but I think all that is a load of bull. Yes, I know the Nets haven’t signed a big time free agent in recent memory, but when have they been in position too? For as long as I can remember, the Nets have had a solid core of playmakers (Kidd, Martin, RJ, and Vince Carter have all been a part of the Nets at some point), and haven’t really had a need to go get a big-time free agent. They were always adding veterans who were supposed to be (excuse me for using a now tired theme after this draft) pieces to a puzzles, and it worked for the most part. The Nets were always in the playoff hunt, and while they were never seriously considered championship contenders, they were always competitive.
Despite this competitiveness, Thorn wanted a title team, so he decided to re-tool and start a youth movement. Brook Lopez, CDR, Devin Harris, Courtney Lee, and Terrence Williams are all under 25, and they are going to be big parts of the team this year. Despite the fact that we might be terrible next year as these young guys learn how to play, the future looks bright. Real bright. When looking at this young core (we also get 2 first round picks next year), a big-time free agent might see themselves as the guy who put them over the top. Take into account that most of the big free agents in 2010 are buddy-buddy, once one signs we might be able to snag another. Just imagine Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh joining up with Devin Harris and Brook Lopez. What free agent wouldn’t want to be a part of that team?
As for the whole Brooklyn/NJ thing. Brooklyn is going to happen, whether it be for 2 years from now or 3, it is going to happen. Now if Thorn can guarantee these potential free agents at least 1 year in Brooklyn (by this, I mean that we would need to at least break ground before next offseason), then in my opinion this won’t even be a factor.
One final thing I wanted to touch on that negative fans choose to ignore all of the time is our part owner. Yup, I am talking about Jay-Z. In our era, Jay-Z is an icon, a legend. A lot of these players would love to be able to say that they are playing for Jay-Z and having him watching all of their games. It is already common knowledge that Jay-Z and LeBron are BFF, and I am sure that Hova would be willing to use his “charm” to try to convince players to come over and play for the Nets.
When you combine all of these factors then add in all of the money, I think there is a very good chance that we land a top tier free agent in 2010. If not two.
Tags: 2010, Basketball, Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, Hova, Jay-Z, LeBron James, NBA, NJ Nets
Fun With Charts: Nets Under Contract 2010-2011
Jun 30, 2009 2010 Offseason, Fun With Charts, Infographics, Salaries, Salary Cap
During my daily Internet browsing session, I came across the awesome website FlipFlopFlyBall. It is a site that takes random and some not so random baseball tidbits and displays that information visually through charts and graphs. Seeing that site inspired me to try and make some Nets related charts. So in this one, we are taking a look at a big talking point here in NJ, cap space in 2010:
If the chart is too small for you, you can click it for the full size image. By looking at the pie-chart you notice that the Nets only have a little more than half of the projected salary cap committed to players already. That is a whole lot of space to sign a couple big-time free agents. Or as Rod Thorn puts it (more on this later), “Two maxed out contracts.”
You brake it down even more and you see out of the all of the money that is already committed to players in 2010-2011, only about a quarter of it is guaranteed. A little under half of it is team options so it is a realistic possibility that the Nets could have even more than the “27-30 million” under the cap that Rod Thorn projects us having (lets say that Yi and Sean Williams – both players have team options for 2010 – don’t come around, we can cut ties with them and add another $6.5 million to our cap space).
Stay tuned for more of these, I really had fun making it, and I think by seeing data in charts rather than just looking at the numbers helps emphasize certain points.
Tags: Infographics, Infographs, NBA, NJ Nets
Some Brook Lopez Quotes
Jun 29, 2009 Ben Couch, Brook Lopez, Trade
Ben Couch of NJNets.com was able to sit down with Brook Lopez and have him answer some questions. The first thing they talked about was Brook’s reaction of his buddy Ryan Anderson:
“We talked about it a bit and I told Ryan I was jealous of him being down by Disney – now he can go whenever he wants.”
I still find it hilarious that Brook is just a big kid. Here are some more quotes from the interview:
On Nets draft pick Terrence Williams:
“I played him in the NCAA Tournament my freshman year when he was at Louisville. (Louisville won, 78-58.–BC) We’ve been to a few camps together. I’ve seen his game before, and it’s going to be real nice to get to know him.”On being invited to the USA Basketball National Team mini-camp:
“I’m excited for that. It’s going to be a great experience. The best young players – and some of the already top players in the league – will be there. It’ll be a great way for me to see where I’m at.”
It is good to see that Brook is excited to meet, hang-out, and play with T-Will. Brook is our most important piece, and he needs to be on good teams with the entire roster. I am also glad that he is viewing the National Team mini-camo as a learning experience. He should be able to learn a lot from all of the other players/coaches there. For the whole interview go here.
Hayes Option Picked Up – Hassell Has Until Tomorrow
Jun 29, 2009 2009 Offseason, Jarvis Hayes, Roster Moves
The Nets announced this morning that they have officially picked up Jarvis Hayes:
East Rutherford, N.J.—The New Jersey Nets have exercised the team option on the contract of forward Jarvis Hayes for the 2009-10 season, Nets President Rod Thorn announced today.
“Jarvis was a key member of our rotation last season, providing instant scoring and the ability to stretch the defense,” said Thorn. “We are pleased to have him continue as a member of our roster, and look forward to a similar contribution this season.”
Hayes, a 6-8 forward from the University of Georgia, signed as a free agent with the Nets on July 16, 2008. In 2008-09, he played in 74 games including one start. Hayes averaged 8.7 points and 3.6 rebounds in 24.8 minutes per contest while shooting a career-high .445 (257-577) from the field, a career-high .385 (94-244) from three-point range and .692 (36-52) from the line.
Javris Hayes is the type of player that Thorn loves. He can do a little bit of everything, plus he comes cheap (the option was for about $2 million) after having a pretty productive season.
We now have only one roster spot unclaimed, well for now at least. Trenton Hassell has until tomorrow to let the Nets know whether or not he will be exercising his $4.4 million player-option. The general consensus is he will because who in their right mind would give Hassell 4.4 million for this next year.
OrlandoMagicDaily’s Thoughts On “The Trade”
Jun 29, 2009 Blogger Q&A, Courtney Lee, Rafer Alston, Tony Battie, Trades, Truehoop Network
The beautiful thing about being part of such a great network of blogs (ESPN’s TrueHoop Network) is that whenever something big happens between two teams (sorta like this Vince Carter trade), there is someone I can talk to about it who watches their team (In this case the Magic) as much as I watch the Nets. So when the trade went down, I sent over a few questions to the great Magic blogger Zachary McCann of OrlandoMagicDaily. He was kind enough to answer them:
1. How is Courtney Lee’s shot? I know he was hitting during the playoffs in stretches, but how was his shot during the regular season? Can he play in the dribble-drive/pick and roll offense? Before each game, Stan Van Gundy posts a piece of paper on each player’s locker with personalized points of emphasis for the night. Dwight Howard’s usually said “defend and rebound.” Mickael Pietrus’ said something to the effect of “play with energy and shut down the opponents’ best player.” On the top of Courtney Lee’s sheet it always said “be aggressive on offense.” Every time. That’s because Lee is filled with an incredible amount of offensive potential — from his smooth shooting stroke to his ability to penetrate and get to the rim — and with some assertiveness he can really be a special offensive player. You should be excited about Lee. There’s no doubt in my mind that he’s good enough to start on a championship team.
The stats don’t lie. He shot 40.4 percent from 3-point range on the season, and he’s especially deadly from the corner. In the Magic’s first-round series against the Sixers, Lee really came into his own with 39 total points in the team’s first two victories before going down with an injury.Check out these quotes from the Sixers after Lee went off on them.
Lou Williams: “We’ve got to start treating him like one of the big boys. It’s not just about Dwight, Rashard and Turkoglu anymore.”
Andre Miller: “We need to put a little more focus on him. He brings confidence; he knows we are going to force him to make plays because we are focusing on Hedo, Rashard and Dwight.”
Tony DiLeo: “We knew he was a good player, he has strength, he has athleticism… He can hit the baseline shot, he can hit the pull-up jumper and he’s a good driver too … when you have those combinations it’s very tough to guard. I think that was a very good draft pick for Orlando, he’s going to help them for years to come.”
2. Rafer Alston was crazy inconsistent during the playoffs. Was he that inconsistent during the regular season? Can he play the backup PG spot effectively?
There’s a reason Alston has played on six teams in 10 seasons. He puts up too many shots, often tries to do too much and he’s a wildly inconsistent player who you can never really depend on. I — like the Magic and Magic fans — am very grateful for his above-average play in the playoffs, but the guy isn’t a starting point guard in the league anymore. That said, he’s a great backup… maybe the best backup point guard in the league. His quickness is still there. He can excite the crowd with his highlight-reel passes. He’ll certainly give you energy off the bench, and he’s capable of catching fire from the outside (which is what you want for a player backing up your star). My only concern is how happy he’ll be playing 10-15 minutes off the bench behind Devin Harris. Whether he’s better than that at this point is debatable, but I can guarantee you one thing — Rafer thinks he’s better than that.
3. Can Tony Battie play the 4? Or does he play the 5 exclusively?
Battie can play the 4 or 5… Thee seasons ago Battie started at power forward alongside Dwight Howard. That said, if your team’s depending on Battie for anything but spot minutes, you’re in trouble. His athleticism has all but disintegrated, and he’s more or less a spot-up mid-range shooter at this point. On defense, he’s OK — not bad, not great. I’d keep the expectations low on what to expect from Battie.
And one last thing… enjoy:
So what do we learn from this? Well C.Lee is going to be a very good player. Rafer Alston will be a solid back-up, but we may encounter problems if his playing time is limited (I don’t think it will be and I see him getting 20 minutes a game at both G spots – at least early on). Finally, Battie can play both the 4 and the 5, but we shouldn’t expect too many minutes from him. This could be a problem, because based on what we got in terms of depth at the 4 spot, he may see a good amount of minutes.
I also answered some questions for Zach over at his site. I encourage some of you guys to go over there and answer the questions he asked me in the comments. I am hoping some of the Magic fans come over and do the same.
Blogger Reactions: Terrence Williams
Jun 28, 2009 2009 Draft, Terrence Williams
Like I told you last night, Rookie Chronicles asked me to do a little write-up of my reaction to the Terrence Williams pick. Well, he also asked for some other bloggers reactions, and you can find the entire thing (including my awesome post that you should read again) right over here.
Reaction To Terrence Williams Pick
Jun 28, 2009 Reactions, Rookies, Terrence Williams
The guys over at Rookies Chronicles (A great site that follows the adventures of Terrence Williams, DeMar DeRozen, and Patty Mills – check it out, all of Terrence’s stuff can be found here) asked me to talk about my reaction to the Terrence Williams pick. So here goes nothing:
When David Stern came up and announced that Terrence Williams was the Nets’ selection at 11, it brought a smile to my (and I am assuming all Nets’ fans) face(s) the first time all day. I am going to admit that I didn’t hop onto the “draft Terrence Williams” train until late in the game (a couple days before his workout here in NJ), but once I did a little bit of research (and an interview), and saw what he was all about, I was pulling for him to get drafted.
So why was I so pumped? Well, Terrence is a seasoned guy (stayed in school all 4 years) who played under a great coach in a fast-paced system (this is going to be key. I mean look at our roster this year, we are going to be running and gunning for the most part – or at least I hope we do), and he is crazy athletic. He combines that athletic ability with a body that allows him to effectivly play 3 positions in the pros. This, along with the trade of Vince Carter, means that Williams should get a good amount of playing time for a rookie, which will lead to Williams hopefully developing faster than the normal rookie. We can look at newest Net Courtney Lee for an example of this. Last year with Orlando, Lee got a lot of time during the season, and just look how he played in the playoffs.
What impresses me most about Williams is his mentality both on and off the court. On the court, Terrence Williams is willing to do whatever it takes to help the team win. Back when I interviewed him (I am going to milk the hell out of this) when I asked who he molds his game after, his answer shows what he is all about:
Fan Reactions: Future Of The Team
Jun 27, 2009 Fan Reactions
Got another e-mail today, and I figured I’d put it up. This one is from Sam S. Thanks for the e-mail Sam:
Sebastian -Like your site a lot. I too am a big Nets fan, and was sad to see VC go. But I thought that Waldstein’s article below was the best one I have seen so far on why it made sense. I do not know if Lebron or Bosh would come to the Nets – probably not without Brooklyn. But, as noted below we have a good young nucleus with the 1 and 5 well covered. And some combination of CDR, Lee and TW will be ok for now – and one might surprise on the upside (all will provide good 2/3 depth). I have no faith in Yi – and I do not know why the article below would not highlight that the 2010 draft if LOADED with outstanding 4’s (and Anderson was never going to be more than serviceable). Maybe Dallas falters next year and we get their lottery pick. Maybe Golden State gets Amare and makes the playoffs and we get their first round pick. Three first rounders and seven expiring contracts? In Rod and Kiki I trust. Is that enough to attract two first tier free agents with more than $25mm in cap space? I do not know. But I can suffer for one year while the kids develop and hope (and rationalize every loss as tanking for the 2010 draft – might as well start early)…..Sam S
Fans Reactions: Vince Carter Trade
Jun 27, 2009 Fan Reactions, Vince Carter
Every once in a while, I get e-mails from Nets fans whenever big story breaks. Every once in a while, I will get them up here. Here is one of them (from a guy named Justin DeFeo):
Not sure if you’re able to link other blogs on yours, but on Twitter I had tweeted a whole bunch of Vince’s greatest moments as a Net. Then I decided to just throw them up on my personal blog. http://difsworldofbasketball.blogspot.com/2009/06/vc-for-3.html Check it out and see if its worthwhile to go up. Thanks man.
Do yourself a favor and click over to that site. It is a pretty good post. Here is an excerpt:
As a die hard Nets fan losing Vince Carter this week was hard. I felt the best way to honor him would be to compile his greatest moments as a Net and put it all into one place. Not going to bother ranking them or anything like that, just want people to enjoy the moments.
I am not going to post the videos here, because I wan’t you to click over to Justin’s post. He put a lot of work into it. Enjoy.
An Open Letter To Vince Carter
Jun 26, 2009 2009 Offseason, Open Letter, Sad, Sucks, Trades, Vince Carter
Dear Vince,
I know that you were only with the Nets for 4 fulls seasons (It seems like so much longer doesn’t it), and this might be silly to do for a guy that has been here for 4 years, but you deserve it. I remember when I found out the Nets had traded for you, I was happy because we got you for basically nothing, but I wasn’t ecstatic. I saw how things went down with you and Toronto. The accusations of not playing hard, the injuries, the selfishness, and the failures in the clutch.
However, once you landed in New Jersey, you put all of my concerns at ease. Not playing hard? I haven’t seen you take a play off your entire Nets’ career. The injuries? I thought we were getting a broken down star when you came, but you only missed missed 11 games in your four years here. The selfishness? Despite being paired with two other “stars” you didn’t butt-heads with either, and in the end, you were the last one standing. Heck, when Lawrence Frank decided to go to the dribble drive offense to showcase Devin Harris more, you didn’t make a peep. You just played the best basketball of his career. The failures in the clutch? I couldn’t be more comfortable having anyone else taking the shot at the end. Just look at that game against Toronto this year.
The thing that impressed me the most about you this past season was how you were a professional through everything. Playing hard even though we were out of (realistically rather than mathematically) playoff contention, through the trade rumors, and through the shift in offensive philosophy. It’s going to be strange not seeing you do your pull-up on the net before the games. It is going to be strange not seeing all of the Vince Carter jerseys walking the tunnel to and in the stadium. Most of all, it is going to be strange not hearing our PA Announcer screaming “VC3″ after a big three-point bucket.
I want to personally wish you luck next year in Orlando. You are now going to play on your first “championship contending team,” plus you will be playing in your hometown. I kind of want to think that Rod Thorn purposely sent you to Orlando as one last “thank you” gesture, because I know how much he enjoyed having you on the team both on and off the court. When you went back to Toronto for the first time, you were greeted with a chorus of boos. I doubt that will happen when you will come back to Jersey, I know for a fact that you will be cheered when your name is announced. I know it seems a little corny to write you this open letter when you were only a part of this team for 4 years, but the way you represented the Nets, you deserved it.
Much respect,
Fans of the New Jersey Nets
P.S.
Please don’t drop 40 when you come back to the IZod center. Take it easy on us.