Nets Of the Round Table VIII: Franchise Player, Rookie To Watch, Chris Paul
Jul 23, 2010 2009 Draft, 2010 Offseason, Nets of the Round Table
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.
1) If you were an NBA GM and your owner mandated multiple titles in the next five years, and you had a choice of any player to build your franchise around, who would it be?
Sebastian: It has to be Kevin Durant. I’m not saying he is the best player in the league (though he will be soon), but when building a team, I don’t think there is anyone better. Not only is Durant a superstar, but he is a guy who does things the right way and he is a good teammate.
Mark: Well, up until a few weeks ago, I would have said LeBron James, because he struck me as the multi-talented do-it-all guy who could carry a team on his back and beat you in so many different ways. I guess he still is, but now that his talents are in South Beach with the Superfriends, it’s clear he doesn’t have the alpha dog gene and I want my building block to be a cold blooded killer… which given how the game has changed doesn’t leave me with many players to pick anymore. For the sake of making a choice, let me go with who I think is going to be next season’s MVP and say Kevin Durant. He’s a unique player who finds ways to score without having the kiss of death “Next Jordan” moniker or the egomania of Superfriends.
Devin: It hurts me to say it, but the answer is LeBron James. It’s possible that somebody like Kevin Durant becomes the Russell to his Chamberlain, but everything I said in my LeBron James FA Targets piece still holds true, regardless of how creepy free agency seems now. LeBron is the most talented basketball player walking this earth right now and at 25 he’s entering his prime years. If he doesn’t win multiple championships, especially now with his current line-up, he becomes the “biggest” loser in NBA History. I just don’t see that happening.
DV: I know that he’s “old” and by year five, he might not even be playing anymore, but I’d take my chances with Kobe Bryant. (Awaits the boos at the choice). Bryant is hands down the only closer with that crazy desire to win now that LeBron James went down to South Beach, thinking that he needs Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to win championships. Because of that, he loses testicular fortitude points, which is something you want in a franchise player.
I don’t think there can be any argument that Kobe doesn’t want NBA titles, he needs them. I believe that he has two more years of being a dominant player, followed by two more years of being very good to excellent. I think by then his experience will help his teammates and the team – the wily veteran factor, if you will. There is no doubt that LeBron is the best talent, but Kobe is the best player. Over five years, particularly at the beginning, I think Kobe can will himself and his team a couple of titles.
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Terrence Williams Draft Video
Aug 21, 2009 2009 Draft, Terrence Williams, Videos
Over at Terrence Williams’ blog, RookieChronicles.com, Terrence posted some video he shot during the draft with his flip camera:
This video is just plain awesome in so many ways, but my favorite part is just seeing all the nervous energy from all of the players, including Terrence. They are about to realize their dreams, and you can see it in their faces and they way that they interact with each other.
Posted by Sebastian Pruiti
Nets Are Scorching Interview – Terrence Williams
Aug 7, 2009 2009 Draft, 2009 Offseason, Audio, Interviews, Terrence Williams
Remember when I said Ben Couch’s interview with me was the best one I have done? Well, that didn’t last too long. Today I was able to interview Terrence Willaims, who I once Twitterviewed, over the phone. It is a bit short (only around 10 minutes – because of me, not him), but there is a lot of real good stuff and it is an awesome listen if you can get over me acting like a nervous 12 year old girl. For those who can’t, the transcript is after the jump. You can listen to the windows media file here, or you can just click play on the MP3 file below.
Again, a big thank you goes out to Terrence Williams. He took the time out of what I am sure is his busy day, and he let me interview him. Transcript can be found after the jump.
My Take On Ben Couch’s Interview With Kiki Vandeweghe
Jul 27, 2009 2009 Draft, 2009 Offseason, 2010 Offseason, Kiki Vandeweghe
Kiki Vandeweghe has been with the Nets for 18 months now, so Ben Couch decided to sit down with the Nets’ General Manager and ask him a few questions. It is broken down into two parts (part 1 and part 2 here) and it is a great read for any Nets fan. Ben Couch also put together a complete list of all the moves Kiki has been involved in. Ben asked some great questions, and some of Kiki’s answers really got my wheels spinning (These are bits and pieces from Kiki’s answers. Again to see the complete answers check out Part 1 and Part 2 of Ben Couch’s interview):
NJNets.com: Looking back at the past 18 months, how do you feel about where the team is now — and where it could go — relative to its position when you joined back in December 2007?
It’s difficult to replace great players, but our players were getting older. And in 18 months, we’ve gone from a sort of older team that did not have any cap flexibility and no real good way to improve to a team that has four or five really good young players who can play together for a long time, great cap flexibility – probably as much or more than anybody in the league – some extra draft picks. We also lowered the cost of the team and moved all the real big long-term contracts. We’ve got shorter term contracts at lower numbers, which is where you need to be if you want to improve, so I would say we’re as well-positioned as anybody in the league to improve in a very short time.
I like our young players very much: Devin Harris, Courtney Lee, Jarvis Hayes, Yi Jianlian, Brook Lopez, Chris Douglas-Roberts, Terrence Williams and Josh Boone, who are all young and all have big upside; they’re good players now, but they can continue to improve. I like our veteran group: Rafer Alston, Eduardo Najera, Keyon Dooling, Bobby Simmons, the addition of Tony Battie, Trenton Hassell. I like our group, we’ve got a nice mix of players.
Improving in these challenging economic times, it’s about flexibility, and I would say we’ve got as much flexibility as anybody. We’ve done a 180 and we’ve done it about as quick as I’ve seen it done. And it’s been great working with Rod — I’ve learned a ton already. It’s a tremendous opportunity for me to be a part of this. To me, the way I personally look at it, the real work begins now because you’ve created the opportunities to improve. Now you’ve got to take advantage of those opportunities: you’ve got to use your extra draft picks wisely, you’ve got to use your cap space wisely. That doesn’t come around all the time. But these are opportunities and I think that if history is any indicator, with rod and myself, we’ll be able to do some good things.
I know that fans want their teams to be competitive every year, but it is the GM’s job to pay attention to the future. Kiki is a great GM that understood Nets weren’t going to reach their ultimate goal with the current roster they had, so he (along with Rod Thron) decided to rebuild. It is also comforting to know that Kiki and Rod don’t think the job is done, and that there is work to do. I think they have made a ton of great personel decisions so far (I still think we have the best young core in the NBA), and I hope they continue to draft well for the next couple of years and add that one free-agent who will be able to put us over the top.
Blogger Reactions: Terrence Williams
Jun 28, 2009 2009 Draft, Terrence Williams
Like I told you last night, Rookie Chronicles asked me to do a little write-up of my reaction to the Terrence Williams pick. Well, he also asked for some other bloggers reactions, and you can find the entire thing (including my awesome post that you should read again) right over here.
Draft Day Quick Thoughts
Jun 26, 2009 2009 Draft, 2009 Offseason, Analysis, Rookies, Sad
I was a part of the TrueHoop Network’s Live Draft that lasted for 8 hours and 23 minutes so I am just getting my thoughts down. We will have more to come about everything, but right now, here are my quick thoughts in run-on sentence form. I am just letting everything go here…
Well it was an interesting draft day for the Nets. The most interesting thing happened hours before the draft. So here is who we had leave the team:
- Vince Carter
- Ryan Anderson
Here is who we added to the roster:
- Rafer Alston
- Courtney Lee
- Tony Battie
- Terrence Williams
It was real sad to see Vince leave (check back tomorrow morning for something special), but it is the right move for the future of the team. I would have liked to see us make one more run at the playoffs, but doing that could have meant us not getting as much value for Vince, and it would have completely ruined our small (very small) chances at LeBron.
It is also a little disappointing seeing Ryan Anderson go. He really won me over during the year (I remember thinking he was going to be a huge bust after seeing him in his first preseason appearance), and he was a valuable part of the team (he also made for great comedy with Brook). With this trade, the Magic got two guys who can contribute immediately.
As for the guys we got, we made out pretty well in this deal (Especially considering the rumors for other trades that we shot down). In Rafer Alston, we got a PG who was a starter for long stretches, including the playoffs & finals. He is going to be a solid backup that will allow Keyon Dooling to move to the backup SG spot. Tony Battie adds toughness to a frontcourt that lacks it. I don’t know if he will be the starter for this team, but this trade shows the confidence that the front office has in Yi and his health, since they traded away his only competition.
The real crown jewel of this trade is Courtney Lee (which is why he gets his own paragraph). He is going to be a special player in this league. I have seen few rookies play with the swagger that Courtney Lee played with this year. He does a lot of things well, and few poorly.
In the draft with the 11th pick, we took Terrence Williams. This is a guy who can play 3 different positions and he is crazy athletic. Williams is also a playmaker who said he wants to mold himself after LeBron, but not the scoring LeBron, the LeBron who does everything. Getting assists, rebounding, and defending.
So what does our roster look like now? Well here is what I think it might look like on opening night:
- PG – Devin Harris/Rafer Alston/Keyon Dooling
- SG – Courtney Lee/Keyon Dooling/Jarvis Hayes/Terrence Williams
- SF – CDR/Bobby Simmons/Terrence Williams
- PF – Tony Battie/Yi
- C – Brook/Boone
There are other guys on this team, but these are the guys who will probably get the minutes. The thing is though, we are probably not done with the moves. We are over on our roster spots and will probably have to lose 1 or 2 guys. Who? Well, I know we already said we were picking up Hayes’ option, but did that happen already? If not, he could be the guy. I also see the Nets trying to trade Bobby Simmons to clear roster space and leave the SF spot open for CDR and Terrence Williams.
Our finances? Well, they no longer look too bleak…quoting Dave D’Alessandro:
Cap space for 2010-11 before the Vince trade — $9,724,569 (10 players). That was with a $46,775,431 payroll.
Cap space for 2010-11 after the Vince trade — $27,303,344 (9 players). And that’s with a 29,196,656 payroll.
The thing is, I don’t really think this is for LeBron. I mean if he wants to come to NJ (Brooklyn), I won’t turn him away, but with us drafting T-Will, I can see us going for Chris Bosh with all our extra cash.
More on all of this stuff over the next couple of days, but I am exhausted right now, and I want to let this sink in…
Another Draft Rumor
Jun 25, 2009 2009 Draft, Rumors
So we got another draft rumor. There will probably be a ton more tonight, but we will talk about that in the Live-Draft. Which is why you should join it. But the Magic may be interested in VC. From Chad Ford:
The New Jersey Nets are in serious talks with the Magic about a deal that will send Vince Carter to Orlando for Rafer Alston, Tony Battie and Courtney Lee, two league sources told ESPN.com.
The talks have reached a point that a deal could be done by the end of the day Thursday, according to sources.
So like I just said, it looks like Thorn is seriously considering rebuilding. Rafer and Tony are expiring contracts, and Courtney Lee really played with some swagger in the playoffs. I don’t know how I feel about these trade rumors yet.
Two Big Nets Rumors As We Approach Draft
Jun 25, 2009 2009 Draft, Rumors
Via the DraftExpress live blog:
-A complicated three-way trade involving New Jersey, Minnesota and Memphis, which would send Devin Harris to Minnesota, the #5 and #6 picks to Memphis and Ricky Rubio and Craig Smith to New Jersey.
-New Jersey is also heavily shopping Vince Carter around in exchange for expiring contracts. It looks like they could be starting over from scratch, especially if both of these rumored trades go through.
It looks like Rod Thorn might be thinking about rebuilding. If this is the plan, who knows, it seems like we would have a good base. Craig Smith is a beast, he was just struggling to get minutes.
That being said, I would love to see this team try and compete for one more year before blowing things up.
TrueHoop Network’s Live Draft-Day Chat
Jun 25, 2009 2009 Draft, Draft, Live-Chat
Update: Turns out I’m an idiot and don’t understand time-zones. Draft starts in an hour!
TrueHoop Network Draft Day Live-Chat
Jun 25, 2009 2009 Draft, Live-Chat, Network Live-Chat, Truehoop Network
The evening of the draft lottery, I had a a Live-Chat over here and it was awesome. We had a great turnout and chatted about us getting the 11th pick. We are doing again tonight, although it will be a tad bit different. This time, the whole TrueHoop Network will be joining us in the chat, so come in, chat, have some fun, and represent the Nets!