While most of the trade talk has focused on the Nets’ expiring contracts, the ESPN’s Chad Ford, over at the TrueHoop mothership introduces a brand new scenario where the Nets could potentially move Devin Harris and an expiring contract or two for an impact player that would help the Nets win now:
The thinking is that if the Nets can land two good players now, that might be better than having to overpay to good players this summer out of desperation.
This tidbit comes on the heels of reports that the Lakers and Rockets had both shown interest in Toronto’s Chris Bosh – one of the big free agents to-be this summer. Such a trade could dramatically alter the free agent landscape this summer because of the “Bird Rights” which allows a player’s current team to offer them the most money in free agency. By moving Bosh (or Wade or LeBron hypothetically) to another team, it lessens the Nets (and Knicks) ability to sign one of these marquee names, leaving those two teams with secondary players to spend their valuable cap space on.
According to the Ford report, only Brook Lopez is “untouchable” on the Nets.
I have to admit, I’m a bit surprised by this report. Not because I think Devin Harris is necessarily untouchable, but because I really didn’t think the Nets would be willing to move one of their “core” guys and abandon their 2010 summer plans.
Total speculation here, but here are my two theories why the Nets would move Devin Harris now:
1. The Nets braintrust believe that his struggles are not linked to injury and that he’s simply not a cornerstone player and that last season (where Devin was really only dominant through the first half) was a fluke.
2. The Nets are really, really panicked that they won’t be able to land a free agent this summer because of the current trade market, and their current record. Remember, Bosh, Joe Johnson, and LeBron all indicated that a team’s record matters. I also think money talks, but we’ll see.
Still, trade talk around the Nets just got a lot more interesting.
The trade has been made official, and the Nets have sent Eduardo Najera for Kris Humphries and Shawne Williams. To make room, Sean Williams was cut. Shawne Williams should also be cut, but it seems the Nets will keep him on the roster for a bit to get a “free look” at him. Who knows, maybe this trade will help him perform up to his potential (probably won’t happen). The big acquisition in the deal is Kris Humphries. The ladies of the Fort Worth Dallas area are taking it hard, but I am excited we have him. I put together a little video of what Kris Humphries can bring to the Nets, and Mark talked to Rob Mahoney of The Two Man Game, and asked him a few questions about Humphries.
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NAS: Kris Humphries has some decent points/rebounding per 40 stats but didn’t seem to get a lot of playing time in Dallas. Any explanation for this?
For one, the Mavs have a lot of talent. At power forward, Dirk Nowitzki’s logging almost 38 minutes per game, which only leaves table scrabs. At center, the Mavs had two superior options in Erick Dampier (the anchor of the Mavs’ defense) and Drew Gooden (does everything that Humphries does well, only better) combining for an average of over 48 minutes. Throw in some minutes at power forward for Shawn Marion in small bill situations, and there’s not much left for a guy like Humphries. To make matters worse, Hump isn’t the best defender in the world. He’s the kind of guy you hate to criticize because you know he’s working hard out there, but he just doesn’t have a very good grasp of where he needs to be on defense when his man doesn’t have the ball. He’s usually slow in providing help, disappointing on the pick-and-roll, and a bit undersized. He has defensive strengths (rebounding, rebounding, rebounding, and the occasional highlight reel block), but for a Maverick team that’s trying to forge an identity based on their defense, Kris was often the odd man out of the rotation.
NAS: Do you think Humphries is the kind of player who can succeed with less talent around him?
Sure, as long as your definition of “success” is reasonable. Hump isn’t ready to be a double-double guy, even with an increased role. But with extra minutes and more opportunities, he can provide some buckets cleaning up the offensive glass, energize the second unit, and hit the boards with the best of them. Those things are fairly independent of who’s on the floor with him. After his time sitting on the bench in Dallas, Humphries will be ready and willing to play and to work hard, and provided he isn’t discouraged by the lack of team success (sorry, but it needs to be said), he should definitely have a successful season filling in off the bench at either the 4 or the 5.
NAS: John Hollinger criticized his defense and his knack for taking ill-advised jump shots. What did you see?
I can see Hollinger’s concerns about Humphries’ defense, but I don’t want to beat a dead horse. It definitely qualifies as a weakness, especially when considering how good of a defender Hump could be given his strength and athleticism.
Hollinger described Humphries as a “selfish offensive player,” which just doesn’t seem to be the case. He may be deceived by Humphries’ high usage rate (21.4%, tied for fifth on the team) but that statistic is complicated by a few factors. First of all, a lot of Hump’s shots come off of self-made possessions via offensive rebounds. He boards, and goes right back up for a put-back. Those are calculated as used possessions, despite the fact that in most cases, they’re not even an honest to goodness shot attempt so much as a heavily contested tip attempt. Additionally, Humphries’ finishing skills don’t quite measure up to his rebounding, which often leads to sequences in which Hump gets three or four looks around the basket. Even though he’s adding possessions with the boards, he’s artificially inflating his usage rate. Plus, Humphries is a fan favorite and a garbage time all-star. When he goes in the game, his teammates look to get him points, regardless of who is in the game with him. That’s going to inflate Hump’s FGAs, and though he’s legitimately taking those shots, it doesn’t quite qualify as normal circumstances. I’m not sure if suiting up for this season’s Nets qualifies either (Hump could very well go into “hero mode” and overstep his role in the Nets’ offense), but see what makes Humphries a “selfish offensive player.” Yes, he attempts shots around the basket. Yes, he attempts a little over one jumper per game, and in most cases, he’s wide open. That’s a far cry from what Hollinger’s claiming.
Now, if you want to talk about his lack of shot-creating abilities, nonexistent post game, or inability to put the ball on the floor…
NAS: How physically equipped is Humphries to play PF in the NBA?
Very. He’s not the tallest at his position (listed at 6’9”), but in theory, Hump has the bulk to battle post-up forwards and the quickness to guard perimeter-oriented threats. But again, there’s a gap between Humphries’ physical skills and his actual performance. You’d think that both his muscle and and his quick feet would be quite helpful on offense, but Humphries isn’t great at driving to the basket or capitalizing on poor post defenders. You’d think that his athleticism would make him an excellent and versatile defender, but something’s missing. He can’t capitalize on his leaping ability in a natural, organic way like Josh Smith, or compensate with superior technique like Luc Richard Mbah a Moute. Hump just doesn’t have a mind for the defensive end or the skills for the offensive end, and that’s why he’s essentially stuck in development limbo. He has everything he needs to be a very successful power forward, and maybe one day he’ll get there.
Life is a funny thing. One moment you’re in an Escondidos, drinking Modelo and thinking the Nets are going to win a very tough road game in New Orleans. The next moment it is all taken away from you on bad switch defense and a touch-foul homer call. You still have your Modelo, but the food kind of sucks and nothing else is the same. Life and the Nets are similar in this regard, if you get your hopes too high, both can let you down. I should have been a Lakers fan, and we should have gone to Chili’s.
But once in a while, both life and the Nets throw you a bone. Some days you wake up and the world just feels right. It doesn’t feel like New Jersey in January anymore. You watch Paul Blart: Mall Cop – and it’s not even as bad as you thought it would be. There are two NFL playoff games on later; and it’s a Saturday! You turn on your laptop, head to NetsAreScorching.com, and you realize why everyone seems to have an extra spring in their step today, why neighbors are somewhat extra-neighborly – Eduardo Najera is gone. He’s really gone. And he’s (hopefully) never coming back. I haven’t been this happy to see someone leave since that time in college when a blind date came over 40 pounds heavier than her picture.
I’ve wanted Najera out of the locker room like he was a gun owner with a gambling debt and bad knees. I was hoping the Nets would send him to Brooklyn two years in advance on some made up location-scouting assignment. Najera’s spent too much time in front of me in Section 114 making unathletic plays, too many evenings in my living room bricking jumpers – I wanted him out of my house like an abusive father. I have been waiting for this day for what seems like forever, picturing every glorious detail prematurely like a little girl plans her future wedding.
Najera had endeared himself to casual Nets fans for some reason I really don’t understand. He has a reputation of being a hard-worker and a “hustle player”, but so do I – that doesn’t mean you want either of us on your basketball team. Now Eduardo Najera is Dallas’s problem. I’m convinced this trade only happened because the collective Dallas community was distracted by the Eagles/Cowboys game, and that is just fine by me. I hate the Cowboys, but they could have the Super Bowl so long as they take Najera. I feel like I should send Mark Cuban a fruit basket.
Now, I don’t know anything about Kris Humphries or new-spelling Shawne Williams, but it doesn’t matter if they ever see the floor. It really doesn’t even matter if they exist. The important thing is that now Eduardo Najera only exists in our memories, and hopefully less often, our nightmares.
I would have made this trade at any cost. I would have traded Najera for one red paperclip. I would have used my childhood best friend Kenny’s flawed system for trading baseball cards where he used to absorb tremendous losses, swapping good players with my brother and I simply to get cards of any player named “Ken”. We were making impossible trades in the late 80’s like Gordon Gekko in Wall Street. The joke was on us though when Ken Caminiti started doing more steroids than the Oakland A’s in the 90’s and won the NL MVP. Although I suppose you could make the case that in the end Caminiti got the worst deal of all of us.
So goodbye Eduardo, it’s been real. Real bad, much like your game. I’d thank you for your service and wish you the best, but like most sentiments in my life – that would be insincere. But I can tell you one thing from the bottom of my heart: I can’t wait to turn on the Sunday night game (and all subsequent games) and not see you and your stupid non-basketball-player haircut either sitting on the bench or on the court, redefining “garbage time”. Now the only time I’ll have to see that butchered hairstyle and lame performance is in Luke Wilson AT&T commercials. Life is truly beautiful (except for the aforementioned AT&T commercials).
After Friday’s heartbreaking loss to the New Orleans Hornets, I wondered whether or not the Nets would be able to build on the game, despite the demoralizing outcome.
Results are inconclusive after last night’s 97-85 loss to the San Antonio Spurs. The Devin Harris-less Nets certainly looked good enough out of the gate, leading 22-20 after one and only trailing 49-47 at the half – which is a positive sign. But the Spurs are just so good, it was only a matter of time before they went on a run that was going to put the Nets in a legitimate hole. That run came in the third quarter, when the Spurs opened a double-digit lead and outscored the Nets 28-18, using a 14-4 run for most of the damage.
The Nets did a good enough job of not letting the Spurs pull full away in the fourth, though Tony Park and Tim Duncan were one the bench for most of the period. Duncan looked like he could have outrebounded the Nets by himself if he was out on the floor long enough, grabbing 17 rebounds in 27 minutes.
What the Nets weren’t able to build on from Friday was their three point shooting and rebounding. The Nets were only 3-14 from long range, after going 9-17 against New Orleans. Courtney Lee looked especially off, following up his 28 point effort with four points on 2-11 shooting. Lee truly is an enigma. He did a great job dribbling around screens and getting himself open looks from about 15-feet. His form looks fine to the naked eye. The arc of his shot looks perfect coming out of his hands. But the shots aren’t falling. And the Nets are proving that they’re not going to be in position to steal games like yesterday’s without a Courtney Lee or a Keyon Dooling hitting threes with consistency, drawing defenses away from the paint where Brook Lopez and Yi Jianlian live.
As for the rebounding, this was just a brutal game for the Nets. Perhaps the play that best summed up the Nets struggled on the glass came towards the end of third quarter. Trailing 75-65 with a chance to cut the lead to single digits headed in the fourth quarter, the Spurs were able to get to the ball three times on the offensive end, before Manu Ginobli slashed through the paint and tomahawked the ball.
Fortunately the Nets saw the good Brook Lopez last night, while treating him like the team’s number option on offense. Brook was active around the post the entire game, dominating the undersized Dejuan Blair early, and still maintaining his momentum even after Duncan was switched over to guard him. Lopez ended with 28 points, 11 rebounds and 2 blocks, and was a solid 10-17 from the field. He got consistent touches throughout the game, which is always a good thing to see considering Brook’s usual disappearing acts in the fourth quarter.
Rod Thorn recognizes that the Nets have to get better to attract free agents this summer: “People who are on the open market will see us as a team with some (problems), but the reality is that we have to play better the rest of the way.”
A quirky piece from Dave D. about Mikhail Prokhorov and the reporter who claims to be a target of Russia’s richest man.
In a reveal that should shock someone, Devin Harris’ tendinitis may have been affecting him for a few games now, according to Dave D’Alessandro.
Brook Lopez talks about his Tim Duncan matchup: “He’s definitely one of the best to ever play, so it’s definitely a tough matchup for me,” Lopez said after putting up a good line (28 points, 11 boards, three blocks) in 42 minutes. “It’s a very cerebral battle, there’s so many things he can do. You just have to be patient, because that’s what he’s doing on the block– he’s being patient, reading everything, and making the best read off of it.”
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