BRIEF: Among the players the Nets have expressed interest in are Caron Butler, Tayshaun Prince, Shane Battier, Shawne Williams, Rasual Butler, Arron Afflalo and Josh McRoberts. King also contacted Kris Humphries’ agent, letting him know they remain interested. But Nene and Chandler are the Nets’ top priorities.
Arron Afflalo is the top dog in this list of guys (at least we think so), but given how many suitors he has on the market the Nets are a step or two behind in acquiring him. The other guys are filler players, which actually doesn’t upset me too much. It’s all about short-term contracts now.
As for teams in the hunt, the top two teams at this moment are:
The Nets, whose primary trade chip is a 7’2″ jump shooter with poor defensive and rebounding skills, and
The Lakers, whose primary trade chip is a 7’1″ knee injury waiting to happen, and that’s suspended for the first five games of the season for throwing at elbow at a guy that may literally be half his weight.
Now, I know I rag on Brook often (most recently two sentences ago), but I do wonder if the narrative of Brook outstripped the reality somewhere along the way. In the summer of 2011, Brook fought a nasty bit of mononucleosis, never really recovered, and still didn’t miss as much as a quarter all season. Despite seeing his field goal percentage sink into the low 40%’s in the middle of the season, he still finished the year with 49.9% shooting on over 20 points per game. Only one other center matched those numbers, and the Nets are trying to trade for him now.
As for Brook’s rebounding, his rebound rate shrunk from 15.8% his rookie season to 13.5% his sophomore campaign to 10% last year. That’s an anomaly, not a rule. With Humphries and mononucleosis gone, his rebound rate should be closer to the first two numbers than the third.
Brook is still one of the most talented offensive centers in the league, a premier low-post scorer in a league that has few of them. Is he a top-20 player in the NBA? Absolutely not. But let’s not act like he’s worthless, or a throw-in trade chip that’s a major step below some of the other talent the Magic could acquire.
Hey, guys. On the day that practice facilities open for the Nets, Justin DeFeo and I will host our first non-lockout episode of Nets are Scorching TV. We’ll talk Atlantic Division with John Kenney and Robert Silverman of KnickerBlogger, and Ryan DeGama of CelticsBlog from 7-8 PM EST.
You can watch, ask us questions, and generally be merry. We’ll talk about it on Twitter (with the hashtag #NASTV) as well, so if there are any topics you want us to touch on, let us know.
Also, here is a quote from Billy King regarding the Dwight Howard rumors:
“I’ll go on the record that I haven’t talked to Orlando about a trade since February, right before the trade deadline,” King said. “I have not had any conversations at all with my good friend Otis (Smith, the Magic general manager).
The New Jersey Nets are prepared to offer a trade package featuring Brook Lopez and two future first-round picks to acquire Dwight Howard before the Orlando Magic center becomes a free agent in July 2012, according to sources close to the situation.
Sources told ESPN.com this week that, to sweeten the proposal, New Jersey would likewise offer to take back the contract of Magic forward Hedo Turkoglu, who has three seasons left on his contract worth just under $35 million. Absorbing Turkoglu’s remaining salary would become financially feasible for the Nets after the expected release of swingman Travis Outlaw through the amnesty clause that will be included in the NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement and by including another smaller contract or two in the deal.
The Nuggets are operating under the firm belief that Nene will test the market as an unrestricted free agent, according to a person familiar with the team’s thinking. Six teams have registered interest, the source said: Golden State, New Jersey, Indiana, Miami, Dallas and Houston.
Nene, the top unrestricted free agent on the market in the view of many team executives, will have a say over where he winds up — though not as much as free agents did under the previous system since free agents can no longer get max deals when leaving their teams via sign-and-trades.
Nene is the best free agent in this class, though I’m not sure how well he’d fit next to Brook Lopez. Nene’s a better defensive player, but not by much; and at 29 years old, a contract longer than three years may prove too expensive. Also, any contract signed in the range Nene is expecting would make signing an additional max contract in next year’s free agency impossible.
Speaking of which, Berger also gives me a minor heart attack here:
UPDATE: The Nets would have room sign Nene to a max deal starting at 30 percent of the cap — $17.4 million — if they used amnesty on Travis Outlaw.
NO. NO. KILL THIS IDEA. KILL IT WITH FIRE. Also, kill it by not amnestying Travis Outlaw until next season. But mostly fire.
One important note: Farmar, a former Nets player representative to the union, says that the talks were being kept “secretive back home.” The union came under fire for not communicating well with players multiple times during the lockout.
Either way, welcome back home to your backup role and ten minutes per game.
Besiktas’s talks with Brook Lopez have allegedly fallen through, but that hasn’t stopped the bigs-strapped Turkish club from officially signing Los Angeles Lakers forward Lamar Odom, according to NTVSpor.net. This marks the second power forward in the past year married to a Kardashian that Deron Williams has shared a roster with, assuredly breaking some kind of record.
In signing Odom, Besiktas shored up its front line after Semih Erden broke his thumb in Tuesday’s 105-94 victory.
