Nets Are Scorching

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.

I’m sitting out this week, but my NAS colleagues kicked major derriere on the questions below.  – DV

1) List in order the teams (New Jersey Nets, New York Knicks, and Houston Rockets) that have the best shot of acquiring Carmelo Anthony and what the winning bid (players traded to the Denver Nuggets) would be.

Sebastian: I am going to have to say the Rockets.  They have a combination of what you need to trade for a star player.  They have a lot of young talent at the Small Forward position (Chase Budinger and Shane Battier – who is expiring), and they have a ton of trade exceptions.  Plus Daryl Morey seems to be a guy who can pull this thing off.

The Nets simply don’t have enough to make the contracts match up.  The only tradable contract that they have is Devin Harris, and the Nuggets don’t really need a point guard.

Mark: Based  purely on possible assets to trade I would say Nets, Rockets and Knicks. The Nets are obviously loaded with young, affordable talent on the NBA level and first and second round draft picks. If a guy like Terrence Williams continues to evolve into the player he was at the end of last season, perhaps Denver can be enticed with a package centered around him, Golden State’s first rounder we acquired for Marcus Williams and Troy Murphy’s expiring, though I’m guessing Denver will want at least Derrick Favors and/or Devin Harris (I’m sure they’ll also ask for Brook Lopez, but that’s not happening). With that being said, the whole point of importing a player like Anthony is to improve your core of players and become a title contender and if the Nets have to trade Harris or Favors to do that, I don’t know if there’s enough depth on this roster to reach that point. And consider if Anthony wants to leave Denver because he doesn’t see them as a long-term title contender, why would he come to New Jersey to be a perennial 5th seed in the Eastern Conference? And obviously the Nets don’t do any deals if Melo doesn’t sign an extension. As per my quota let me just throw in that if the Knicks think a deal around Eddy Curry and the Rooster is going to get Denver interested, they’re nuts.

Devin: I’m not going to keep falling for the New York media circus. They’ve just been wrong too many times about who’s lining up to play at “The Mecca.” (I’ve been to both venues many times. The Prudential Center is better.) Since the Rockets are an inexplicable choice to me (seriously, Houston? How random is that? Did their fans even think about the possibility of getting Melo? Did Morey? Who knew?), I’m going to have to go with the order they were given – Nets first, Knicks second, Rockets third. As for a straight-up Denver-NJ trade, the only thing that makes sense for the Nets to give up is Harris+T-Will+Hump+3mil+picks – but the Nuggets already have Billups & Lawson, which makes a trade for Harris’s long-term deal unlikely.

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We’ve been debating this question all week: can the Nets make the playoffs? While HoopsWorld doesn’t break down how it could happen the way NAS is trying to, but they do raise the question after talking to Tory Murphy yesterday:

The Nets making the playoffs would mark one of the biggest turnarounds in NBA history. It may seem outlandish, but Murphy’s presence doesn’t make it impossible.

Personally, I’m just happy to see someone in from a site that’s not NAS or NetsDaily say “Nets” and “playoffs” in the same sentence without adding “no chance.” I think this season is going to be fun. Then again, I thought last season was going to be fun. Yeesh.

After struggling with a 12 win season last year, Nets fans are feeling good about their current situation.  A much improved roster, a successful coach, and an owner willing to spend has fans thinking about the playoffs.  We here think that the playoffs are a possibility but not a guarantee.  Over the next two weeks, we are going to look at four things that need to happen for the Nets to make the playoffs. This is part II.

The Nets Will Make The Playoffs If…TWill Develops Into the Player We Saw at the End of Last Season

Why Is It Important?

After a complete roster makeover this summer, Terrence Williams is one of four remaining Nets from last year’s roster. While some believe the trade of Courtney Lee opens the starting SG spot for sharpshooter Anthony Morrow, I personally believe with TWill’s diverse skillset, a permanent spot in the starting lineup is his for the taking. No player on the roster may be more linked to the Nets respectable finish to last season than Williams. After floundering for most of the season on the bench, even receiving a threat from the front office that he would be demoted to the D-League if he didn’t get his act together, TWill became a fixture in the Nets rotation for the season’s final six weeks.  And TWill rewarded the team for its faith, averaging 14.1 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.9 assists in March and 14.3 points, 7.1 rebounds and 6.3 assists in April. Without this boost in production from TWill, the Nets possibly end up with the worst record in NBA history. Instead, they won 4 of their last 11 games.

TWill’s playmaking ability and tenacious rebounding compliment the Nets starting five. While he’s not an effective scorer from the perimeter, he has an explosive first step and is a strong finisher at the basket. With Brook Lopez working the post, Travis Outlaw and Troy Murphy working the perimeter and Devin Harris being another threat to slash and score, TWill will likely be matched with defenders who will not be able to handle his combination of speed and strength.

Can It Happen?

Yes. TWill’s Summer League performance seems to be a mixed bag as some criticized him for not getting the ball to rookie Derrick Favors enough (Favors’ one good game came without TWill who was sitting with an injury). But Williams was also clearly the star of the Orlando Summer League, averaging 18.8 points, 5 assists and 3 rebounds. Yes, it’s only Summer League, against other first and second year players, but TWill looked poised and confident, and most importantly demonstrated that his ability to fill a stat sheet last March and April were no fluke. His game still has significant flaws: his outside shooting beyond the corner three is putrid and his turns the ball over too much for a playmaker – often trying to make the spectacular play instead of the smart one. But TWill potentially brings so much to the Nets when he’s focused and playing smart, that his evolution is essential to the Nets Playoff chances.

Not to get too far ahead of ourselves with comparisons, but just for fun,  in Scottie Pippen’s sophomore season (age 23, like Williams) he put up 14.4 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.5 assists. We all know how his career worked out.

Good old Dave D’Alessandro interviews the newest Net, and Jersey native Troy Murphy. In addition to having the potential to post a double-double every night, Murphy has the rare honor of being one of the few players who actually seems thrilled to be with the Nets this coming season (compare his response to Courtney Lee’s last year):

“It’s not just because I’m from Jersey, but I couldn’t understand when all these free agents were looking for places to go that so many of them overlooked the Nets,” the Nets’ new power forward said.

“Really, look at it … objectively: Besides a great young center and an All-Star point guard, all the pieces are in place for this to be a very good team very quickly once we develop some chemistry. And by that I mean a playoff team.”

I guess a cynic could say a broken clock is always right twice, but I’m thrilled that Billy King was able to pull off this deal. Obviously, we all need to see how this plays out on the court, but not only did King address a need, he brought in a player that Nets fans are going to love to get behind.

Yesterday, I was lucky enough to be allowed to attend Panini’s 2010 NBA Rookie Photo Shoot.  Over 40 rookies were in their uniforms walking around from station to station, getting their pictures taken for their first Panini basketball cards.  Media were allowed in, and I was able to grab both Derrick Favors and Damion James and talk to them for a little bit.

What really impressed me about both James and Favors is that they were both willing to talk about their weaknesses and what they needed to improve on.  I asked Favors about his defensive struggles during Summer League and what he needed to do to improve on that end, and he offered no excuses saying “Adjust to the NBA style of play.  I got called for defensive three seconds a lot so I just need to adjust to the NBA-style of defense.”  When I asked how he would be able to do that, he told me “It comes with work and experience.”  Favors also mentioned that he was working to improve everything, especially his strength.  Meanwhile, James told me that he was working on his ballhandling.  This is pretty important, because James played both the three and the four in college, but at the pro level he is going to play the three mostly.  He needs to be able to handle the ball a bit better than he did in college (turnover rate of 14.0 last year with Texas).  It was reassuring to see that both James and Favors are able to identify their weaknesses, come to terms with them, and be willing to do the work to improve on them.

In addition to their weaknesses, both rookies seem to be excited about building a winning team and playing for coach Avery Johnson.  As Favors told me, “He’s a nice guy, and I am going to try to help build something with him.”  As for Damion James, I was really interested to see what he had to say about coach Johnson because he has been mentioned as an Avery Johnson type of player.  When asked if he was excited to play with coach Johnson he said, “No doubt man.  I know he is eager to come back to coaching and he is going to try to turn the team around.  I want to be a part of that, and I look forward to it.”

Finally, with the fact that most guys have seen Derrick Favors play, but haven’t been able to see Damion James play too much, I asked him to describe his playing style.  “I’m a guy that’s relentless.  Never let up on my opponent and try to dominate him on every play.  I go hard on both ends.”  And then, to make sure he got his point across, he concluded, “I play hard.”

After the jump, check out some video of both James and Favors getting their picture taken and some general thoughts/observations of the photo shoot.

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Ok, ok, one more link I promise (fingers crossed). What do you expect? It’s the middle of August and the team’s roster is essentially set. Daily News beat guy Stefan Bondy implores the Nets to bring Carmelo Anthony to Jersey/Brooklyn. Will the DN make a web site “Get Melo.com?” Anyway, Bondy says with the Nets young core, tradeable assets and aggressive ownership, they have what it takes to trump the Knicks this summer:

If Carmelo Anthony is going to be traded and he’s , as reported, the Nets are in a much better position to land him than the Knicks, or many other teams, for that matter. … Here’s the caveat, however: The Nets can’t mortgage their future for Anthony unless he’s willing to sign an extension. So get it done with a sign-and-trade!!

Mike Fratello was a head coach in the NBA for 16 seasons, coaching three different teams (the Hawks, the Cavs, and the Grizzlies), and he is one of the most respected basketball minds in the game.  Currently he is an analyst for TNT, and YES calling a good amount of Nets games (he was one of the few things that made Nets’ games bearable last year).  When he isn’t on TV, you can find him talking about basketball either on Twitter or over at his blog (both are must reads).  Coach Fratello was kind enough to take the time out to answer a few questions about the Nets:

There aren’t too many holdovers from last year’s 12 win season, but the guys who are still here are pretty important (Devin Harris, Brook Lopez, and Terrence Williams).  Should these guys use last year as a learning experience and motivation, or is it best that they just put it behind them and move forward?

Any time you play an 82-game schedule you want to use that as a learning experience. You have to learn how to win. And sometimes learning how to win comes through losses. So after last season, I would think that when those three players enter training camp this Fall they will remember the pain that they went through in only having 12 wins, and that should be a motivating factor for them to get off to a better start and to wind up having a much better season than they had a year ago.

With the way the team is currently being built, in terms of the roster and coaching staff, what kind of playing style do you expect?  A half-court defensive team, or a team that can get out and run?

I think that Avery Johnson will try to establish a defensive presence at one end of the floor, and at the other end explore his transition opportunities with a guy like Devin Harris who has speed and quickness to push the ball and penetrate and get in the lane, creating shots not only for himself, but for his teammates as well. The Nets are trying to become a more athletic team. Their first round draft pick has the ability to run the floor; and the pieces that they have brought in certainly show that they are trying to become a team that can attack you in transition as well as a team that is able to score in the half-court, either with Lopez and Harris playing a center pick and roll game or through post-up opportunities with Lopez down low.
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After struggling with a 12 win season last year, Nets fans are feeling good about their current situation.  A much improved roster, a successful coach, and an owner willing to spend has fans thinking about the playoffs.  We here think that the playoffs are a possibility but not a guarantee.  Over the next two weeks, we are going to look at four things that need to happen for the Nets to make the playoffs.

The Nets Will Make The Playoffs If…Brook Lopez has a 20/10 season

Why Is It Important?

Devin Harris might be the former all-star on the Nets, but without a doubt, Brook Lopez is the best player on the New Jersey Nets right now.  That is pretty impressive for a center who is entering his 3rd year in the NBA, after just recently turning 22.

So why is a 20/10 season from Brook so important?  Well, because if Brook Lopez can make himself a threat every time he touches the basketball, it opens things up all over the court.  Look at how the Orlando Magic run their offense with a 4 out and 1 in strategy.  The Magic surround Dwight Howard with 4 shooters, and dump the ball in.  Eventually teams are forced to send double teams, and that opens up shooters.  While the Nets don’t have the shooters the Magic do, they have a roster that you can consider a “poor man’s Orlando Magic,” and that means they can have success with the 4 out and 1 in.  Brook Lopez has a better post game than Dwight (not saying that he is a better player), and that will lead to more double teams.  Lopez is a solid passer, and he will be able to find open teammates on the perimeter.

Even without the 4 out and 1 in (not sure how much it would be run…never saw Avery’s Dallas teams run it), the Nets and Avery Johnson seem to be a perfect fit.  Their projected starting five isn’t a team that is going to get out and run (Brook Lopez and Troy Murphy are two slower guys and Anthony Morrow isn’t the most athletic player, just a spot up shooter), but that is just fine for coach Johnson.  Despite his Mavericks teams being near the bottom of the NBA when it comes to pace, his teams were always near the top when it came to offensive efficiency.  That tells me he was good in the halfcourt, mainly because of Dirk.  With the Nets, he is going to need a guy to go to in the halfcourt when the team needs a basket, and that will be Brook Lopez.  If he is able to put up 20 points with these touches, the Nets could have a successful season.

Can It Happen?

Yes, it can.  Brook Lopez put up 18.8 and 8.6 last year, while he was still raw in the post (in my opinion).  At 22, Brook still has a ton of time and potential to develop a more mature post game (right now he relies on his size and touch, and while it works, it can be stopped), and I think that development will start this upcoming season.  In addition to creating more baskets, a more fundamental post game will lead to more fouls on his opponents, sending him to the line more.  For most bigs, this would be a problem…however, for Brook this is a good thing as he has a very good stroke from the line.

Another reason why this will happen is because of the quality of his teammates have improved.  Much like how Brook’s success will help his teammate, his teammates’ shooting ability will help Brook.  Last year, Brook faced constant double and triple teams because there was no shooting threats on the outside.  With guys like Troy Murphy and Anthony Morrow on the court, there will be less double teams thrown in Brook’s direction, meaning more room to operate.