For the past two seasons, the Nets organization has blindly put their faith behind Yi Jianlian with very little to show for it in terms of statistical results. Now, as the front office gears up for one of the biggest off-seaons in the organization’s history, they are seemingly being punished for their belief in Yi. The Chinese import has no role in the future of this organization with the drafting of Derrick Favors and Damion James and the team’s reported desires to sign a top PF in free agency. Meanwhile, the $4 million and change they currently owe Yi for 2010-11 – because the front office just HAD to pick up his rookie option, sight unseen, despite two largely disappointing seasons to start his NBA career and reports that he’s a few years older than his birth certificate says – has proven to be an obstacle in their chase for two max salary free agents.

The agony that is Yi is complicated further when you read Dave D’Alessandro’s latest report which indicates that with the team’s effort to dump Yi and his salary, they’ve apparently discussed packaging him with a member of the team’s young core in order to make his contract more appealing to another team. As we saw with the Chris Douglas-Roberts trade, the Nets are more than willing to dump a contract for future considerations like a trade exception or a draft pick. Apparently, as of now, no other team is ready to concede that Yi is worth that pittance. Even Marcus Williams yielded the Nets a draft pick.

But hopefully there is a lesson learned for the Nets organization with this Yi situation. As is this case in all professional sports, it’s a dangerous roll the dice and commit, in years and dollars, to a player who is all potential and no performance. In his first two seasons in the NBA, Yi only proved that he was a concept – a long, tall, power forward with a quick first step, and some range from behind the arc. But outside of a small handful of games, his play rarely matched this concept. He showed an alarming lack of basketball IQ, no defensive instincts whatsoever, and an inability to remain consistent on offense. Yet, the organization ignored these red flags when they picked up his option before this third season in the NBA. Back before the 2009-10 season started, the front office made it clear that they were ready to move on from a player like Sean Williams, who like Yi, was more of a conceptual player rather than one based in the reality of performance. But they couldn’t throw in the towel on Yi. And after three years, this was clearly a mistake.

If the front office can’t find a way to shed Yi’s salary without giving away a legitimate asset like a Courtney Lee or Terrence Williams, picking up his option may prove to be one of the biggest sins of the Vandeweghe era. If the team can’t move Yi, it could hypothetically prevent them from being able to financially lure LeBron James and a FA of his choice to Newark next season, providing an opening for the Chicago Bulls and the New York Knicks to make a play for the King. If the Nets trade Lee or TWill in order to dump Yi, they are giving away basketball talent, and one of the cogs of the team that should be used to attract free agents. If the Nets keep Yi, lose out in free agency, and wind up having to play him major minutes for a third consecutive season, it signals to fan that organization is not moving forward in their five-year plan under Mikhail Prokhorov.

Yi Jianlian had  a rough start to the year.  After 4 games, Yi was injured and didn’t return until December 23rd (suffering setback after setback during his recovery).  When he came back, there was a new Yi, but as we have seen in the past, he was unable to remain consistant.

The Positives

Quick Decisions

When Yi came back from injury, he just seemed ready to play basketball, and the biggest example of this was his quick decision making.  When Yi struggles, he seems to take forever to make up his mind when deciding what to do with the basketball.  When he goes quick though, he gives the defense no chance to play effective defense on him:

Aggressiveness

Also, when Yi came back he was very aggressive, forcing the action.  Teams were playing him as a spot up shooter, and he was making them pay, big.

The Negatives

Defense

It always seemed that opposing team’s Power Forward would kill the Nets, and the main reason was Yi’s lack of defense.  He just didn’t really have the presence or the know-how on the defensive end most nights.

Here, Yi doesn’t have the strength or the footspeed to stay with a guy like David West. Yi seems to know where he is going, but because he needs to stay and defend the shot, he kind of gives up the drive, and doesn’t have it in him to recover. It isn’t just star players though:

I think this play sums up Yi’s season on the defensive end. Here you have an ok player, but he looks like a superstar when matched up with Yi. Here, the one place Yi can’t let Beasley go is baseline. If Yi forces him middle, Brook is there for the help that way. However, Yi lets him go baseline, Brook can’t get there in time, and Beasley gets the easy bucket.

When the team you follow can run out a guy who’s 7-feet tall, can stretch a defense by hitting a bunch of threes, and is long enough body-wise that he’s able to block some shots and grab rebounds, you want to believe this guy is capable of becoming a major player in the NBA. Unfortunately, that same player is maddeningly inconsistent offensively, is one of the worst defenders in the league, and seems to lack every other physical tool outside of length. What you get is the Nets’ “Most Frustrating” player in Yi Jianlian.

Perhaps problem number one for me was having any expectations at all for Yi headed into this season. But after seeing him bulk up and put together a strong showing in the Asia Cup games last summer, I allowed myself to believe that at the bare minimum, Yi could develop into a league average player at his position. After missing a majority of the first six weeks of the season with a knee injury – Yi proved me wrong – he looked like an even better than average player, scoring 22.5 points on 54 percent shooting in his first four games back from injury. What was even better was how Yi was doing it – an assortment of inside and outside moves. Kiki Vandeweghe immediately tried to instill a “twin towers” strategy on offense, with most plays running through Brook Lopez and Yi. The results were a disaster. Brook’s offensive production took a short-term hit, and Yi faded back to the player he was in his first two NBA seasons: 13.4 points per game with woeful 39 percent shooting in January. It’s also no coincidence that January was probably the most embarrassing month for the Nets last season, including back-to-back losses against the Warriors and the Jazz where the Nets were blown out by more than 30.

And Yi’s season continued to slide from there, as he average less than 10 points per game in Feburary and March. After missing some more time in March, he came back and outside of one game against the Pistons, was a non-factor. It was like 2008-09 all over again, when Yi flashed potential, only to miss some time with a wrist injury and never really be an impact player again.

Talking strictly as a fan, what frustrates me the most about Yi is from my vantage point, he’s come to represent all that the front office has done wrong with this organization the past few years. Yi was acquired in a salary dump for Richard Jefferson – and while the idea of having cap space this coming summer was nice, it was disingenuous for the front office to tell fans that this deal was made to make the Nets better in the long-term. Milwaukee, a team that has done a mighty good job rebuilding itself the past few years, was quite quick to dump Yi after only one season. That speaks volumes. There’s also the idea that Yi is solely on this roster as a marketing ploy – capitalizing on the world’s biggest market in China. Considering the desperate lengths the front office has gone to try and make money the past few seasons as their eyes were turned to Brooklyn, it’s not an outlandish Idea that Yi was seen as a cash cow and nothing more.

I wonder how much rope Mikhail Prokhorov will allow Yi this coming season. There are players out there that will improve the team at the PF position, but if the Nets are unable to lure any of them to Newark, this team is going to have to make a decision on Yi. I think he’s had ample opportunity to prove he’s not a starting caliber player in this league, not when he can’t give the team enough consistent offense to offset the fact that the opposing team’s PF is all but guaranteed to go 20 and 10 while Yi is on the floor.

Jeff Van Gundy offers no comment on the prospects of him coaching the Nets next season.

If you’re in NYC limits and spot a yellow cab, it may be advertising suites at the Barclays Arena.

Who are the NBA’s worst defenders? Well, there’s a Net somewhere on the list.

Fred Kerber puts TWill’s season in perspective: There was a time this season — actually, several times — when the Nets thought about sending Terrence Williams to the D-League. There also was a time when folks thought the Earth was flat and those new fangled computer gizmos were a fad.

Kiki Vandeweghe still has Yi’s back, even if it looks like Kiki won’t be back after this season: “He’s still a young player,” Vandeweghe said of Yi. “What he doesn’t have is the background of the pickup games that all these other guys have. So he has to spend a lot of time working over the summer.”

Courtney Lee has the right attitude about his unknown role with the team next season: “To me it’s about winning more than anything. If we can get two stars in here to go along with Brook (Lopez) — or if Devin (Harris) is back to go along with the three of us — I’d be very happy with that. I’m on board with anything, as long as we win.”

Is it possible for a team to permanently play in New Jersey after the Nets leave for Brooklyn? Commish David Stern doesn’t heartily endorse it while talking to Dave D’Alessandro:  The Commish, as usual, saw that one was coming, and he didn’t skip a beat: “All I can say is, given the difficulties in TV arrangements, sponsorships, and the number of teams in the market, it’s something that has to be analyzed.”

Bleacher Report looks at “four cornerstone” the Nets can draft this summer.

10 things you need to know about Brook Lopez.

Brook Lopez

Brook is a fantastic player, and his improvement this year over last year is fantastic.  The main reason why is his improvement inside 10 feet:

This motion chart tells us that Brook Lopez is not only getting more attempts inside 10 feet, but he is shooting even better from this location.  Last year, Brook was shooting 40% from this spot while shooting 2 shots per game.  This year, Brook is taking 2.62 shots/game inside 10 feet while making 49% of his shots.

That’s the good.  Here is the bad:

For his size and position, Brook Lopez is considered a pretty good shooter.  Last year while shooting 1.63 shots/game Brook was shooting a solid (for centers) 41%.  This year, Brook is only shooting 32% on 2.73 shots/game.  This is pretty indicative of what is really frustrating about the Nets’ offense.  They don’t really seem to have a direction or a dedication to get Brook the ball inside (where he shoots very well).  Instead, he seems to float outside so much more this year, and while a good shooter, if he takes too many (which he is this year), his shooting percentage goes down considerably, almost negating the positive increase <10 feet.  Next year, I am hoping to see this motion chart return to 2009 levels, with Brook shooing about 1 outside shot a game, and concentrating more on the inside.

Yi

Yi was pretty solid inside 10 feet last year (54% on on .39 shots/game), but it could be argued that he didn’t attack enough and settled.  This year he is attacking much more.  Sounds like a good thing right?  Well, with his increased attempts (now shooting 1.42 shots/game), his shooting percentage has dropped to 31%.  After watching Yi take a number of running hooks and crazy lay-ups all year, yeah this makes sense.  So what does this tell us?  Last year there was hope, because Nets’ fans were thinking, “hey, if he can attack more, he will become a better player.”  This year?  We have seen him attack more and not improve.

Devin Harris

In the eyes of most fans, Devin Harris has gone from an All-Star point guard and the future PG of the Nets last year, to being a pretty big disappointment, and almost expendable this year.  While most of his shooting numbers look the same, his shooting from inside 10 feet took a big hit this year, and it can almost explain his poor play:

With Vince Carter not there to take away attention from Devin, he has not only had to take more shots inside 10 feet (0.87 shots/game to 1.4 shots/game), but it has caused his shooting percentage to dip considerably (from 58% to 34%).  Another factor is Devin not getting to the line as much.  Last year, Devin was able to draw a ton of fouls (.58 FTR), but this year not so much (.44 FTR).  Devin was really good at drawing contact by throwing his body into guys while shooting, almost not worrying about making the shot, just about getting hit.  Last year when the fouls were getting called, those missed attempts would get wiped off in the statbook.  This year, the refs seem to be “onto” Devin’s antics, and he isn’t getting as many calls.  So these attempts where he just flings the ball at the rim are getting recorded as misses rather than resulting in foul shots.

Andrey Vauskin, president of CSKA in Moscow and a rumored member of the Nets FO next season is apparently unhappy with the cost-cutting of his ownership.

It’ll be Yao vs. Yi in China during the preseason as the Rockets face the Nets (uniforms subject to change).

Evan Turner is ready to come to the NBA and lose: ”I don’t plan on losing, but if it happens I always say you have to pay your dues,” Turner said. “The most important part is learning from your losses. You have to have confidence and be committed to the mission.”

As Julian Garcia notes, the Nets managed to clinch something last night: Wednesday night’s 108-89 loss to the Bucks put the Nets in position to at least be tied with Minnesota for the worst record in the league when the season ends on Wednesday. If the Nets finish dead last, they will have the best odds – 25% – of getting Kentucky point guard John Wall or one of the other top-notch college players who declared for the NBA draft yesterday. If they finish tied with the Timberwolves, the teams will have the same lottery chances of getting the top pick.

Al Iannazzone writes that Yi’s status with the team is uncertain: Presuming the Nets don’t get LeBron James or Dwyane Wade, they should have a shot at the likes of Carlos Boozer, Amar’e Stoudemire and David Lee. Each has been an All-Star at some point, so Yi’s days as a Net seem numbered.

Al also takes a look at Mikhail Prokhorov’s riches.

Devin Harris, talking with Madison.com, has some perspective about his career: “If you’re looking to put it in perspective,” added Harris, who won 67 games as a member of the Dallas Mavericks in 2006-07, “I’ve been to the highest of the highs and the lowest lows. I’ll learn from it. I’ll be better next season, I can tell you that.”

Bleacher Report looks at the Top 10 first-round playoff series, and the Nets/Pacers match-up from 2002 makes the cut. I would have ranked it much higher, personally.

Option 1:  Sign Chris Bosh

Yeah, this one was pretty obvious huh?  There has been a lot of talk that Chris Bosh should be the third option when it comes to the big Free Agents this year (behind LeBron James and Dwyane Wade), but I have been saying since last offseason that Chris Bosh is the one player I hope the Nets pursue.  For one, I think that he is the most likely to leave (of the three) this offseason.  I also think that Bosh is a perfect fit for the roster they are building.  Nets’ fans saw first hand what he can do not only on the inside, but on the outside, which is why he fits so well with Brook Lopez.  Bosh can dominate the high-post/elbow area while Brook Lopez can dominate the paint (think Tim Duncan and David Robinson).  You know how Brook gets doubled as soon as he touches it this year?  I think teams would hesitate to double Brook if Bosh was the man they had to leave open (and vice versa).

Option 2:  Sign David Lee

Now there is the chance that Bosh resigns with the Raptors or that he chooses to play with another team (alongside Dwyane Wade in Miami perhaps).  David Lee on the other hand is almost guaranteed to become a free-agent this offseason and could be an attractive option for the Nets.  While not as much of a threat from the outside as Chris Bosh, David Lee was an all-star this past year and he is a very good screen setter and rebounder.  On the defensive end, not so much.    I think Lee and Lopez could work, and apparently they do too (from our friends at TheKnicksBlog):

“…If statistics work out, they get the No. 1 pick,” Lee said, “They have a great center in Lopez, an All-Star point guard, Devin Harris, great athleticism with wings Chris Douglas-Roberts and Terrence Williams. They could have a big turnaround year next year if they get a good free agent and the No. 1 draft pick. It’s going to be interesting which direction they go.”

…

“It would be great,” Lopez said of possibly teaming with Lee, “a guy who loves to crash the offensive glass for so many extra possessions. Then with Yi, if you had the three of us playing together, it would be a great situation…”

This is the type of signing that you can’t really like or dislike until it happens.  In my opinion it all depends on the cost it takes to bring in Lee.  As a restricted free agent, Lee signed a $7 million one-year deal last summer with the Knicks, but with all this cap room available, teams could overpay for Lee’s services.  David Lee isn’t a max-contract guy, but there may be teams out there who would offer him that.

Option 3:  Upgrade Via The Draft

The Nets have three draft picks in this upcoming draft, and I can see them using one of these picks on a Power Forward.  Now, unless the worst case scenario happens and the Nets end up with the 3rd or 4th pick in the lottery, the Nets won’t be using their first round pick on a PF.  However if the worst does happen, there are a lot of options at PF early in the draft (after the first two spots):

• Derrick Favors
• DeMarcus Cousins
• Al-Farouq Aminu
• Ed Davis

Out of these four guys, my pick would be Favors.  The problem with all of these guys is that they are picks made on “potential” rather than coming in right away and helping, and while Yi and Humphries can hold down the fort until one of these guys are ready, that is a less favorable option.

The Nets’ second first round pick comes courtesy of the Dallas Mavericks through the Jason Kidd-Devin Harris trade.  Right now, this is projected to be the 27th pick (thanks Washington!).  I actually seeing the Nets using this pick as a part of a trade (maybe a sign-and-trade with a big three guy?), but I can see the Nets taking someone like Patrick Patterson if his stock falls.  Don’t know if it will happen, but with the emergence of all the young guys on Kentucky, Patterson has taken a back-seat.  While his ceiling isn’t as high as the guys I mentioned before, Patterson will be able to come in and contribute a lot sooner, thus making him more attractive of a pick in my opinion.

The third pick the Nets have is their second round pick.  Despite the off the court stuff with CDR, he was a pretty solid second round pick, and the Nets have a history of doing pretty well with their second round picks (at least in my opinion).  I can see the Nets taking a flyer on any one of the following players with their second round pick:

• Jarvis Varnado
• Trevor Booker
• Charles Garcia

Anyone of these guys would be a pretty solid second round pick in my opinion.  There is also a slew of international big men this year (I am not too familiar with them), and with a new Russian owner, who knows if that is an option.