Nets Are Scorching

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.

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.