Here’s just a snippet of this solid piece:

“Maybe this summer is the quiet before the storm of 2010. But there seems to be some dark skies ahead for the area NBA teams and no guarantee of relief next summer.”

You can read the full thing here:

My Thoughts:

Spot on. Even if the Nets youngsters prove they belong in this league this season, they’ll be hard pressed to stay above water for very long. Sure they’re a bit faster and even a bit bigger, but they aren’t nearly as dynamic and considering Courtney Lee’s feelings, they may even be a bit more disgruntled.

At this point, seeing them with more than 30 wins seems like crazy talk.

AP writer Tom Canavan wrote a great article a few days ago on the team’s marketing plans this season.

“With no big-names on their roster following the trades of Jason Kidd and Vince Carter over the past 18 months, the New Jersey Nets have taken a novel approach to ticket sales this season _ they’re marketing LeBron, Kobe, K.G., Dwyane and Dwight Howard.

The Nets on Thursday announced a special 10-game “Match-Up” ticket plan through which their fans can also get a collection of reversible jerseys with the uniforms of LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Dwyane Wade and Howard on one side and the jersey of the Nets’ player that will match up against the visiting star on the other.”

Read the rest of the article here, as it gets much better:

http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/678/2009/august/13/no-kidd-or-carter-nj-nets-to-market-opponents.html

Editor’s Note:

Not a good time to be a Nets fan, especially with moronic advertizing like this going on. What about Devin Harris? Why not market around him? The guy has a great season last year and was hurt for a large majority of it. Why not show him some love? What about Brook Lopez too?

This move shows this team has already waved the white flag for the season as this is a move I’d expect from the Flint Tropics, not the New Jersey Nets.

Courtney Lee has been complaining ever since he was traded to New Jersey a few months ago.

It looks like the crying will continue into the preseason.

“After the season ended, (we were) talking about what he needed to do, what we needed to do to get back to the Finals,” Magic center Dwight Howard told the New York Post. “He was ready to get back in the gym and work on it and he got traded so he’s hurting.”

Editor’s Note- Insert world’s smallest violin here.

You can check it out here:

http://www.201.net/issues/2009/08/features/Brett%20Yormark%20Profile.story

My thoughts:

Pretty interesting to see the day to day activities of a CEO, but it means nothing if this team can’t find a way to win this season, especially when trying to attract free agents and keep their young players developing.

In an interesting piece by The Record staff writer Al Iannazzone, newly traded Vince Carter sees big things from Devin Harris in the future.

“It’s an opportunity, it’s just who wants it,” Carter said Wednesday at his annual basketball camp inside the Nets’ practice facility. “Devin can do it. He has seen it done and he’s been around, it’s just if he wants it. He has definitely established himself in the NBA as a player and that’s the next level for him.”

My thoughts:

Without Carter drawing attention from opposing defenders, Harris will have his hands full. Only time will tell if he’s ready to be a real leader and not a part of an effective one-two punch like he was last season.