Nets Are Scorching

We heard after the Nets’ game in Phoenix that Amar’e liked the Nets’ potential:

“There are some teams you may say, ‘no way,’ ” said the 6-foot-10 Stoudemire, who scored 27 points in the Suns’ 118-94 win that dropped the Nets to 3-38 at the season’s halfway point. “I don’t think the Nets are one of them.”

Well now we are hearing that the feeling may be mutual.  Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting the Suns, who will most likely be unable to work a deal with Stoudemire before the deadline, are looking to trade the All-Star.  Wojnarowski wrote & tweeted about the news today:

Add Detroit to list of teams — including Chicago, Miami, Phily, NJ — with interest in doing a deal for Amar’e Stoudemire, sources say.

From what I am reading, any deal has to include Amar’e signing an extension.  Is this the right move for the Nets to make?  While he isn’t my favorite selection at the PF spot (I like Bosh and Lee a bit better), Amar’e could fit with the Nets.  He makes the frontcourt defense (an area where the Nets have really been struggling) a lot better and will take attention away from Brook on the other end.  This trade will also make the Nets more attractive to any free agents.  The Nets should have enough cap space to sign close to 2 max contracts, so this trade for Stoudemire doesn’t mean the Nets will be sitting still during the offseason.

So who or what will the Nets have to trade to make this happen?  It most likely won’t be Devin Harris as the Suns are set at point guard.  My guess would be that it would be an expiring contract or two and some draft picks (Probably the Mavs’ first rounder this year and a second rounder or two).  Pay attention guys, we might be seeing some changes with the roster.

With the 2009-10 season more than halfway over, we thought it would be a good time to do a little report card for the Nets. And despite our temptations, we’re not just going to give everyone Fs.

Read more…

Roundball Roundtable

By Tony Maglio

In honor of the midway point of the season, I swapped emails with some of the best young New York comedians:  J-L Cauvin (www.JLCauvin.com), Pat Breslin (www.PatBreslin.com), and comedian/actor Mike Bernardi (no website yet, so I considered just giving out his cell phone number).  The following is the transcript – after very heavy censorship.

NAS: We’ll get to your teams in a bit, but from an outsider perspective – what do you think of the Nets 3-40 start, and are they the worst team of all time?

Read more…

Dave D’Alessandro always has a way of cutting through it all and asking the obvious but important questions: Which raises the question: If they spent nearly four hours practicing defense on Tuesday and another 90 minutes reviewing their principles on Thursday, what was the emphasis exactly?

Al Iannazzone talks about how the Nets are actually getting worse: But here’s looking at a small sample of games before we go big picture. Over the four-game trip, the Nets allowed the opposition to shoot 55.4 percent and average 112.8 points per game. They were beaten by an average of 25 points, prompting one of most honest answers a player ever uttered.

The always super Hardowood Paroxysm looks at PER and usage rate midway through the season for every team – including the Nets, who contrary to popular belief, are still part of the NBA.