According to the Associated Press, both Josh Boone and Marcus Williams have been inked to contracts that will keep them on the team through 2009. Scoring 4.2 points a game last season, while averaging 11 minutes a game before suffering a shoulder injury, Boone definitely has room to improve. However, with the ineffectiveness of Jason Collins and the uncertainty of Jamal Magloire and Sean Williams, having Boone come off the bench or possibly start is hardly a bad thing.

As a matter of fact, I think that Boone may even have the skill and potential to be a solid contributor on the team. I know I’m not speaking for myself when I say that Collins hasn’t done a thing for the team in quite some time. He’s basically just a big body at this point in his career. Having Boone play a bigger role would make the Nets much more athletic and much stronger on defense.

While Marcus Williams is still injured as of today, still nursing a broken foot, when he comes back, he should be a solid alternative to Darrel Armstrong at point guard. Overall, having both of these guys on the bench helps solidify a Nets bench that really isn’t that bad, despite having a bevy of guards that aren’t going to get enough playing time to be as productive as they need to be.

Nevertheless, the Nets made another move that helped solidify the bench, trading for the well-traveled David Wesley. A few weeks ago, I wrote about how the Nets were looking to shop Bernard Robinson and Mile Ilic. A few people e-mailed me and left comments after that post, saying that no one would want to pick up either one of those players. Sadly enough, the Hornets took the bait and as a result, the Nets have another guard on their roster.

This kind of fills the gap the team believed they had when Allan Houston went and signed with the Knicks. The reason why I’m saying this is that Wesley and Houston can both still shoot the basketball, but can’t play defense to save their lives. With Vince Carter getting 35 minutes a game, Wesley is probably going to get anywhere from 10-15 minutes a night.

In that kind of role, I think Wesley can score about six points a game and provide the team with some solid bench scoring. That combined with Boone, both Williams’, Wesley and Collins, the Nets bench actually gets much more dependable.

While Robinson and Ilic are spare parts at best, that wouldn’t have played a part in the team’s success this season anyway, is a 37-year old that only averaged 2.2 points last season really worth trading two players for?

I have no idea. I guess we’re just going to have to see what Wesley can do on the court this season.