Nets Are Scorching

After signing Travis Outlaw, the Nets aren’t done collecting wing players.  They have now turned their attention to Warriors’ restricted free agent Anthony Morrow.  Morrow and the Nets agreed to a deal that would play the undrafted wing player $12 million over the course of three years, according to Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

This is a real good deal for the Nets because it is a reasonable amount of money for a sharpshooting wing.  However, it is so reasonable that I think the Warriors have a good chance of matching it.  Wojnarowski says that’s not the case:

The Golden State Warriors aren’t expected to match the offer, a league source said. They have seven days to make a decision after Morrow officially signs the sheet.

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With the franchise in financial flux because of an impending sale and having just committed $80 million to forward David Lee(notes), the Warriors aren’t expected to spend to keep Morrow.

I will eagerly be counting down the days.  I personally think that the Warriors “shrugging off” of Marrow could be a smokescreen.  This is because if teams know a restricted free agent will have his offer matched, they will just jack up the offers forcing teams to pay big if they want to keep their guy.  The Nets could have signed Morrow to a good deal thinking that the Warriors won’t match, just to have the Warriors turn around and match it (This is kind of what happened with Marcin Gortat last year).

As what this signing would mean for the Nets, I don’t want to get too much into it in case the Warriors do match, but this works.  Morrow is a sharpshooter that will spread the court and keep teams honest (no more zone with Morrow on the court).  Also, this signing tells me one of two things.  Either that the Nets are comfortable enough using Terrence Williams as a backup point guard with Outlaw and Morrow on the wings, or the Nets are loading up on wings because they are looking to deal one or two of them.  In my opinion (just my opinion, I have no sources) the latter is more than likely the case.  The Nets now will have Terrence Williams, Damion James, Travis Outlaw, Anthony Morrow, and Courtney Lee on their roster as wing players.  All five of these guys seem like they can come in and contribute right away, but there doesn’t seem to be enough time for all of them.  All five of these guys have pretty good contracts (with 3 of the 5 still on their rookie deal), so that is a lot of attractive assets the Nets could include in a trade.

However, we might be getting ahead of ourselves.  Hopefully we can revisit this in seven days…

The Nets got smoked in a game against the Jazz yesterday, and it was a pretty unexciting blowout.  Damion James hurt his wrist/hand/thumb, so we might not see him suit up in the final game, but here is a quick recap of the events that took place.

Terrence Williams

It was a sloppy game with nobody really wanting to step up offensively for the Nets, and this lead to Terrence Williams getting shot happy.  He took 20 attempts, but hit 10 of them going for 23 points.  One of his makes was another monster dunk:

Read more…

Obviously, this is a New Jersey Nets blog, however, the NAS crew absolutely love the NBA in general. So, every week, Sebastian, Mark, Devin, and myself will answer questions regarding the L.

Hey NAS readers, thanks for your support first of all.  Second, everything will be okay.  Finally, breathe.  In any case, it’s been awhile since the last NORT went up on here, but we had more important things to worry about, such as pondering why only the first two-thirds of Stripes is so good and the last third so boring in comparison?  Same sort of goes for Full Metal Jacket, except with the first segment in basic training versus the rest of it.  Oh, and there was also the NBA Draft and Free Agency that had to put NORT on the backshelf.  However, we’re back!

1) Thoughts on the Amar’e Stoudemire signing with the New York Knicks?

Sebastian: While Amar’e is on two bad knees with a bad eye, I think this is a decent signing.  Before the Amar’e signing, the Knicks had Danilo Gallinari and that is about it.  Amar’e brings star power and pairing him with a guy like Anthony Randolph will make the Knicks so fun to watch.  Not saying they are going to make the playoffs, but with coach Mike D’Antoni running the squad, it’s going to be interesting.

I also like the Stoudemire signing because it kept the Nets from signing him.  Stoudemire and Lopez together on defense is too much of a liability, and I think the Nets have a good enough core where they didn’t need to give Amar’e the max to be competitive. Read more…

So who needed that LeBron guy anyway?

Now that all of the big name free agents are off the board, the Nets can get back to doing what they were supposed to be doing in the first place: rebuilding a roster. I understand that names like Travis Outlaw and Kyle Korver are not sexy choices, but they’re not bad building blocks either. All playoff contenders have good role-players like an Outlaw and Korver. Where the Nets lack right now is star power, but with some of the pieces that are already in place, maybe that point is overstated as well.

Obviously, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed in how  the Nets struck out with the “big guns.” A LeBron-Bosh duo is the stuff dreams are made of, and while he has his flaws, I’ve always been bullish on David Lee and thought he could make for a scary three-man rotation frontcourt with Brook Lopez and Derrick Favors. But just because the Nets missed out on these players doesn’t mean they’re doomed to repeat as 12-win also-rans. If you remember the circumstances behind last year – an injury decimated roster in November followed by a clueless head coach in Kiki Vandweghe is an easy recipe for disaster. With new ownership that’s willing to spend, a new coach, new draft picks, and a stronger, more well-rounded bench that’s not overstuffed with expiring contracts, there’s no reason to believe this coming season will mirror last season. It’s also worth noting, HOW the Nets are rebuilding. As noted by ESPN’s Chad Ford yesterday, by spending about $20-$30 million this summer and leaving about $10 million for midseason acquisitions, the Nets are following a blueprint drawn up by the Oklahoma City Thunder, a team that’s evolving into a force in the Western Conference, all through this kind of intelligent roster building.

I think if we all sit down, take a deep breath, and think long and hard about the past year, we would realize that this team is right where we expected them to be. Brining LeBron and Bosh to New Jersey was always the longest of long shots, given the competition. Amare Stoudemire and Carlos Boozer do not have project to be good long-term contracts. Rudy Gay and Joe Johnson are not max players.  So why should we lose face because our best option was never realistic and the Plan B’s were all rolls of the dice?

Perhaps, many of us were caught up in the way the Nets have been selling themselves the past week. The swagger, the taunting billboards, the “leaks” of information from negotiations… maybe it all created a false sense of accomplishment. They always tell a fighter not to lead with the chin, and Team Prokhorov has certainly put it all out there, inviting a backlash. But personally, after the past six years of Bruce Ratner’s focus on real estate, rather than basketball, I welcome an owner who’s willing to take calculated risks and not be ashamed if they don’t hit the bullseye when it comes to assembling a roster.

With or without the big free agents, we are entering a new era with this organization, Nets fans. Remember, Prokhorov spoke of a five-year, not a five-week plan. Let’s also remember that there’s more to roster building than just bidding on the best guys. There may not be playoffs next season. But who knows. After watching the 2008-09 season, would you have predicted the Thunder would give the Lakers a major run for their money in the playoffs last year? It’s going to take time, but the Nets have plenty of it – or at least five years.

So, how about that one-hour television special last night? Gotta give props to Jim Gray who conducted a terrific interview …. ah who am I kidding. What an egomaniacal bunch of hooey that was. I’ll have more thoughts on LeBron and the state of the Nets in a bit, but let me fill your morning cup of coffee with some links:

For starters, Mr. Prokhorov has a message for you all: “We have a vision of a championship team and need to invest wisely and for the long term. Fortunately, we have more than one plan to reach success, and, as I have found in all areas of my business, that is key to achieving it. To Nets fans past, present and future, the goal of making the playoffs this season remains intact and we reiterate our commitment to winning a championship within five years.”

Record columnist Tara Sullivan is one of many to call LeBron James cold, selfish, stupid, a poopy-head, etc.

Al Iannazzone has measured, yet critical words for Prokhorov and the “Blueprint for Greatness”: There is nothing wrong with confidence, putting yourself out there because you believe this is the dawn of an era of exciting things. It seems times and philosophies are changing for the Nets, which is a good thing. To win, you have to have a good owner with deep pockets and willing to spend. The Nets have that now, but they jumped the gun a little bit or were a little overzealous in Prokhorov’s first go-around as an NBA owner.

Steve Politi, not so much: Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov issued a statement not five minutes after the decision to “reiterate our commitment to winning a championship within five years.” But that billboard outside Madison Square Garden, the one declaring that Prokhorov and Jay-Z had the “blueprint for success” is 30 stories worth of hubris today, and the new owner looks as feeble as the old one.

Speaking of bug-eyed crazy, anyone read Cavs owner Dan Gilbert’s letter to fans about LeFraud?

Dave D’Alessandro talks about tbe bidding war developing between the Nets and Bobcats over Tyrus Thomas of all people. With Derrick Favors being asked to spend the first half of the season on the bench, will PF be another major point of weakness for the Nets again?