This trade may end up going down as one of the worst in the team’s history. However, if things work out, it could be the beginning of a new-look Nets team that will be younger, faster and better on defense than they have been in quite some time.

Why the Nets would give up their leading scorer in Vince Carter, a proven NBA commodity who had serious chemistry with Devin Harris and a talented youngster in Ryan Anderson for what they got seems a bit obscene at first.

Sure, Rafer Alston is a talented point guard that showed flashes of brilliance during the playoffs, but the Nets already have a point guard, a good one at that and a more than competent backup in Keyon Dooling that proved during the season that he can be more than an understudy if he has to be. So where does Alston fit? Is Harris going to move to shooting guard to accommodate the loss of Carter? What’s going on here?

The same thing goes for the signing of Tony Battie, who despite being an excellent rebounder off the bench and a trusty veteran, comes in with players like Sean Williams, Josh Boone and cough, Yi Jianlian capable of manning the position and in need of minutes. With that being said, where will he fit in with the Nets?

Courtney Lee however is an interesting player. I think he can definitely be a solid small forward if given about 30 minutes a night and with some more pressure on him. He’s also an excellent three-point shooter that is far more explosive than Bobby Simmons, with much more upside. If he can score a dozen points a game and provide some energy, this trade may not be so bad.

With the drafting of Terrance Williams from Louisville as well, the Nets also continue to get younger and more energetic in addition to having cleared a ton of cap room by trading away high-priced veterans like Jason Kidd, Richard Jefferson and Vince Carter over the past two years.

It’s the end of an era.

But it could be the beginning of something great as well.

With the draft still on its way, NetsNotes.com takes a look at a couple of players the Nets could get their hands on.

Terrance Williams-Louisville

From CBSSports.com:

One of the more colorful characters in college basketball, to call Williams “unique” would be an understatement. When he first arrived on Louisville’s campus as a freshman, he was a brash, cocky youngster with a me-first attitude, but he quickly adhered to head coach Rick Pitino’s rules. He not only became the team’s leader and “spokesman,” but in this day and age where players opt out of college for a chance to play in the pros, he was very comfortable staying with the Cardinals until his eligibility ran out.

After Williams led the Cardinals to a 76-66 win over Syracuse in the Big East title game, he jumped on a press table, impersonating Syracuse’s Eric Devendorf for his teammates. He shook the television announcers’ hands at the conclusion of the victory and entertained reporters, saying he saw “Tweety birds” when he took a forearm to the face, and boasting about the 55 text messages he had waiting after Louisville won the Big East.

My Thoughts: It’s obvious the kid grew a lot during his time with Pitino and I love his energy. He’d be a fun addition to the team and given the fact that he’s a good rebounder and a decent three-point shooter, he gives the team even more options.

Jordan Hill-Arizona

From CBSSsports.com:

Hill has made remarkable strides in all areas of his game despite his virtual neophyte status. He rates as one of the premier rebounders eligible for the draft, excelling at attacking the offensive glass with the athleticism to evolve into an offensive threat.

Hill’s rebounding skills saw him set the school single-season record with 375 as a junior, and his career total of 763 boards place him ninth in Arizona history. A high-percentage shooter, Hill made 65.2 percent of his field goals as a freshman (second-best percentage in Wildcats’ annals) and 62.0 percent of his attempts as a sophomore (fourth on the season list). In 97 games for UA, his field-goal percentage of .578 ranks fifth on the school all-time record list.

My Thoughts: He’s a damn big power forward with great rebounding ability with the potential to be a better offensive player than he is right now. My personal choice for the Nets this season if they can land him.

It’s pretty interesting to see how most of the time professional sports operate above many of the constraints that plague its fan base. However, it seems that the economic problems destroying the middle-class in this country are starting to affect the NBA as well.

Here’s a snippet from the Herald’s Al Iannazzone yesterday that I found pretty interesting:

The Nets had three picks in last year’s NBA draft, worked out more than 50 players and it cost them well over $100,000.

“I think you’ll keep seeing it,” he said. “From my perspective it’s a heck of a lot of cheaper and you get to see everything you want to see.”

Not a bad idea if you ask me. There’s no reason to spend more than someone makes in a year to have players come down and workout. Sure these guys have to be transported in and taken care of while they’re there, but 100,000 smackers is a bit nuts if you ask me.

That same kind of rational thinking has affected the Nets potential new home as well, as they have changed designs and architects, which has caused a bit of controversy form the New York Times and others who feel the new design is a “colossal, spiritless box.”

Nevertheless, the Nets have to do whatever it takes to get an affordable building up in time before their lease runs out at the Izod Center.

“Unfortunately the world we live in today is very different than what it was three or four years ago when we hired Frank, [Gehry, the original architect for the building]” Nets chief executive Brett Yormark said Wednesday at Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal’s conference on sports facilities and franchises.

“The world is more simplistic. It’s not as grand and glitzy. And I’m not sure that design would have been appropriate right now, as much as we all loved it. I think the design that we have now is very appropriate. It speaks to Brooklyn.”

After all this talk over the past few weeks about the Nets looking for another forward to help on the boards, the team may not be looking in that direction after all.

“Not necessarily,” team president Rod Thorn told the Associated Press regarding the Nets potentially going for need and drafting a forward. “As we’ve said, if there is somebody there and we feel he is the best talent, and it may be a point guard, we’ll take him. There are a lot of good point guards out there.”

I still say this team needs another solid rebounder with some spunk. Some think Sean Williams should be given a good opportunity to fill that role and those people may have a good point. At guard, I think the Nets are strong as long as Vince Carter and Devin Harris can stay healthy. I like especially what Keyon Dooling was able to do last season and see Chris Douglas-Roberts as a viable option as well. Simply put, if the Nets go out and get another guard, how much is he going to play? If they go the route of a forward, that person can instantly be thrown into the mix and be put in a situation to earn minutes, rather than a guard that would be lost in the shuffle. Just my thoughts.

On the relocation-effort, the Nets have decided to make a big change that could possibly get the team over to Brooklyn a bit quicker.

According to NorthJersey.com:

“The Nets have replaced world-renowned architect Frank Gehry as designer of the proposed Barclays Center in Brooklyn, they said Thursday, in a move that could knock hundreds of millions of dollars off the $950 million projected price tag for the basketball arena.
Ellerbe Becket, a Minneapolis-based architectural firm, will take over for Gehry.”

My thoughts:

Beckett has designed a few NBA homes over the past few years and is a more than suitable replacement, especially considering the Gehry was looking to make the place a landmark, capable of drawing income from all over the world. In the big scheme of things, it doesn’t seem possible that a building located in the ever-changing neighborhood that the Atlantic Yards project is smack dab in the middle of could ever be home to anything internationally renowned.

Just build a great place to watch basketball and people will come.

In other news, check out this interesting piece that talks about Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson almost coming to New Jersey.

http://www.northjersey.com/sports/nets/OConnor_Kobe_was_almost_a_Net.html

Pretty crazy how things turn out sometimes.