Nets Are Scorching

Hey guys – with about 500 things going on with this team right now, I thought I’d bring back the fuller a.m. link dump rather than the single links I’ve been doing since the season ended in April. However, I urge you guys to comment on the news that way you have been with the daily links:

So, one of the biggest things about Mikhail Prokhorov signing on to the Nets was this idea that with his money, charisma and business drive, he could change the decades-old negative perception around the organization. And if you read this morning news about LeBron James and his free agency plans, Prokhorov could be enough to snag the world’s most coveted free agent. Al Iannazzone reports that Prokhorov and co. will be the first to make their pitch to James once free agency opens later this week.  The Frank Isola/Mitch Lawrence Daily News New York Knick cheerleaders CONTINUE to dismiss this notion that LeBron would never sign with the Nets because it would involve this horrifying notion of playing 10 minutes outside of NYC in Newark for 2 years before moving to Brooklyn (I’m still waiting for a non-speculative report from someone who is not Isola that explains to me how two years of Newark and three years of Brooklyn could damage LeBron’s marketability compared to him just playing at the World’s Most Famous Arena for the World’s Most Embarrassing Owners in the Dolans). However, Iannazzone quotes someone close to LeBron saying:  “He’s coming to New Jersey.” While that source is about as reliable as Jalen Rose telling people he’s 100% certain LeBron might leave Cleveland, there’s food for thought there.

Meanwhile, in one of the most rational pieces I’ve read yet on LeBronmania, Steve Politi of the Star-Ledger weighs the pros and cons of Newark.

Dave D’Alessandro reports the Nets might have to give up a piece of their young core (Devin, Courtney or TWill) in order to shed some of their dead financial weight (Yi) to make a run at two max free agents.

Sam Arnick of Fanhouse chides the Nets for not having a “plan B” in place with Rod Thorn leaving on July 15. Meanwhile, top candidate Jerry Colangelo says he doesn’t know anything about being in line to replace Thorn.

Did Russian spies push Rod Thorn out of the organization?

Former coach of the year Sam Mitchell has been taken on as one of Avery Johnson’s assistants while Tom Barrise and John Loyer have also been retained as assistants.

Remember the post that Devin did the day of the draft talking about a media event that Derrick Favors was at? Well, we have found video of some of it, so take a look (the audio comes in low for the first few seconds and then returns to normal).

Yesterday I recorded an interview with Brian Doolittle, the man who runs the radio show At The Buzzer.  We covered a number of things the Nets draft, the CDR trade, and of course free agency.  While it is a St. Louis radio station, you can still listen to it online here.  The show starts at 6.

One of my favorite sayings about the Nets (and one I used a ton when trying to explain any Nets’ move) was “In Rod We Trust.”  After July 15th, that saying is going to be pretty much useless because according to ESPN’s Chris Broussard writing for ESPN New York, Rod Thorn is stepping down:

Thorn, the Nets president since 2000, is under contract through June 30 but will remain for two weeks to help the club through the first two weeks of the free-agency period.

Thorn is not being forced out by new owner, Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, and there is no tension between the two, according to sources.

“They’ve given Rod everything he could want,” a league executive said. “This is entirely his decision.”

Many people are going to remember Rod Thorn as the “Man who drafted Michael Jordan,” but what he did in New Jersey is going to always stick with me.  Thorn did a great job of bringing in talent and also getting rid of talent at just about the right time.  He somehow kept the team competitive, creatively bringing in big player after big player, retooling instead of rebuilding.  And when he finally decided to rebuild, he swiftly made that decision and took a roster of older, big salary players and stripped the roster down to a young core, most of them still on their rookie contracts.

Despite the 12 win season last year, I think that Rod Thorn did a fantastic job of putting this team in a very good position to turn around quickly.  Usually rebuilding takes 5-6 years (just look at teams like Indiana and Detroit) but Rod Thorn has put the Nets in a position to make the playoffs next year, even if LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, or Chris Bosh don’t come to New Jersey.

Moving forward, the obvious choice for the new Nets GM has to be just fired Portland GM Kevin Pritchard.  In case you don’t know who Pritchard is, he is the man who turned the Blazers around in short order and he wasn’t fired because he was doing a bad job (there was some ownership issues there).  Prokhorov was willing to give Rod Thorn $8 million over two years, and in my opinion I don’t think he’d have any reservations about opening up his check book and writing down a hefty sum to sign Pritchard, one of the best GMs in the league…even if he’s unemployed.

The New Jersey Nets have added at least two undrafted free agents to their summer league roster today.  One was an expected name, and the other not so much.  According to a tweet from Draft Express (who did a fantastic job during the whole draft process, you really need to check them out) Brian Zoubek will be joining the Nets in Orlando:

Brian Zoubek will play summer league with the New Jersey Nets in Orlando.

This is the one that I expected.  Zoubek was an offensive rebounding machine, and a solid performance could mean that he gets picked up by the Nets as Brook Lopez’s backup.  How good of a rebounder is Zoubek?  Well, according to Pomeroy Rankings, he was ranked 1st in terms of offensive rebound rate and 36th in defensive rebound rate.

The second undrafted player that will be joining the Nets is Wayne Chism.  According to GoVolsXtra, Chism will be playing for the Nets in Orlando:

Former Tennessee player Wayne Chism has agreements to play for New Jersey in the NBA’s Orlando summer league and Sacramento in the NBA’s Las Vegas summer league after not getting drafted Thursday night.

This one is more of a flier (as you can tell by playing for two different teams in two different leagues), and a bit of a surprise if you want my honest opinion.  At Tennessee, I liked Chism as a player, and he is a pretty athletic guy, but he is one of those “tweeners” without a position.  He is like James (who the Nets drafted at 24) that is plays between Small Forward and Power Forward, but I don’t think he is physical enough for the NBA.

Anyway, some interesting signings and I am looking forward to seeing the Nets play in Orlando on July 5th.

It all began a long time ago when my mother and father met in Japan where my dad was studying ninjutsu and my mother was visiting from the Phillipines. It was there that they decided to come together. As a result, I was born into this crazy world and 30+ years later, find myself at the 2010 NBA Draft as a credentialed media member representing NetsAreScorching.com. Now, I hold Sebastian and Mark (Devin, not so much) in the highest regard and didn’t want to disappoint them with my coverage… especially since I wasn’t certain how I would cover the draft. I was more lost than the passengers of Oceanic Flight 815. Obviously, admitting not knowing what to write about is not an admission that will promote confidence in my ability to write for NAS, but honestly, I got to take a picture with Craig Sager, adorned in that beautiful lavender of his and that’s pretty *damn cool!

*Sebastian had to remind me to not curse when I wrote this, otherwise, I would have used a more profane adjective in front of “cool.”
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With the 3rd pick, the Nets selected Derrick Favors out of Georgia Tech. They also traded their remaining two picks for the rights of Damion James. I’ll give this draft a B, just because the James pick was a bit of a head-scratcher. What do you guys think? This thread is here for those who want to talk the draft before the posts tomorrow.

The Chat will start right around 7…this should be fun…