Nets Are Scorching

There seems to be two camps of fans regarding the New Jersey Nets and their offseason.  The first are those that are mired in the negativity of recent Nets seasons, particular this past 12-win 2009-10 season, and the inability to sign any big free agents, particularly LeBron James and/or Chris Bosh.  What stings even more to those in this camp is that secondary stars were not even wooed enough to join the Nets and those free agents that were actually signed do not measure up to those players the Nets “should have” signed.  The other camp recognizes the positive strides the Nets have made with a new owner in Mikhail Prokhorov, a new and excellent coach in Avery Johnson, and see the free agents signed – Anthony Morrow, Travis Outlaw, Jordan Farmar, and Johan Petro – as a welcome change in direction towards athleticism, improved three-point shooting, and defense.  Count myself in the latter camp, but for the sake of the extreme tempering of expectation, let’s say the Nets don’t make the playoffs and find themselves in the NBA Draft Lottery again.  Who will potentially be available and how would they fit in with the team as it’s currently composed? Read more…

In a letter to USA Today, Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov defends LeBron James’ decision to join Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami, calling it an exciting time for the NBA:

We are seeing the birth of a new, dynamic team with such star players, and all of us can await the new season with great anticipation. I wish them success and give them my moral support. I will be happy for us to beat the Miami Heat in the conference finals, maybe not this season, but in the very near future.

Funny dig at the end aside, sorry Proky, can’t share in your optimism. I am neither excited nor curious to see LeBron and the Miami Heat next season. Similar tactics/dominance from the Yankees nearly killed my love for baseball in the 1990s and quite frankly, I’ve always been a more die hard baseball fan than basketball. Unless the Heat experience some kind of karmic meltdown, making the whole thing a colossal failure, I’m really not excited to see a bunch of egomaniacs pretend like they earned anything if/when they win it all.