Tons of things to look at with the Nets as far as rumors go this week, so let’s get started:

Every week since I started writing this blog, I’ve always found something interesting to write about this team. This week is no different as the rumor mill is still percolating with plenty of interesting things to talk about.

The big rumor this week is the proposed deal that could send Marcus Williams or Josh Boone and Vince Carter to the Pacers for Jermaine O’Neal. While the Star-Ledger, the publication that reported the rumor thinks that it’s a bad deal considering how O’Neal’s numbers have curtailed over the past four seasons, I actually like it. Who knows if Nenad Krstic will every be the same player when he comes back and at least they know what they’re going to get from O’Neal. As far as his numbers dropping, he’s not even 30 years old yet and may need a change of scenery.

As far as Krstic goes, he doesn’t even know what his time table is. He’s a report taken from Yahoo sports today:

Krstic began participating in non-contact drills last week, with good results, according to the New York Post. “I am really happy,” said Krstic. “I’m getting closer to being back for playing time.” He remains on an indefinite timetable, however, adding that it was “hard to say” when he’ll actually be ready to be activated.

Vince Carter however has been playing much better over the past month and change, but in order to get into the playoffs and stay alive, this team needs more help up front. Josh Boone has been rebounding pretty well over the past few games and Sean Williams [when he stays out of foul trouble] has been alright as well. The only question is do the Nets want to wait for Boone and Williams to develop? Getting rid of Carter would force the Nets to give someone like Antoine Wright to step and be the player everyone expected him to be a few years ago.

Earlier in the season, Wright looked like he was ready to be an option off the bench and play 25-30 minutes a game. Once he gets back into the lineup, his play might be the deciding factor as to if New Jersey decides to make a move or not.

Away from the rumors involving players, The Associated Press reported yesterday that the Nets aren’t going to be ready to play in Brooklyn until late in the 2009-2010 season. For a team that’s in desperate need of a spark, this news is like losing a star player. Despite firm opposition to the plan to move them here by several activist groups in Brooklyn, this team would be embraced in the Atlantic Yards and will be able to bring in more fans than the Knicks.

Over the past few years, the Knicks have gone from something that lived in the blood of most New Yorkers to something that bringing up in casual conversation could ruin an other wise perfect night. This team needs to come to Brooklyn as much as basketball fans in New York need something and someone new to believe in.

Simply put, this stinks.

More Notes from the rumor mill:

The Akron Beacon Journal reported on December 17^th that Lebron James wants the Cavs to pursue Jason Kidd.

 

”If there’s one guy in the world who says they can’t play with Jason Kidd, they’re drunk,” James told the paper. ”They’ve been drinking all day and all night. It’d be great for our team if you could land a guy like Jason Kidd, but you don’t want to harp on it because you don’t know if it could happen or not.”

No word from Cavs second year point guard Daniel Gibson, who is scoring more points per game than Kidd currently, but isn’t even close to being the passer and rebounder Kidd is. On pace to triple his playing time from last season [he only played  988 minutes last season and already has 788] it would nice to see how Gibson feels about this entire situation.

I mean it would put a nice spin on things, especially considering that everyone knows how Jason Kidd feels about playing for the Nets right now.

The Palm Beach Post’s Chris Perkins wrote an interesting column on Sunday, talking about how the “big three” experiment of Vince Carter, Jason Kidd and Richard Jefferson has failed and the team should part ways with Jefferson and his huge contract. He said that Kidd and Carter could bring back big returns via a trade to the team, but since Kidd is averaging a triple double and he believes Carter is still an offensive force, Jefferson is the one that needs to go.

While I believe that Perkins has a great point, I don’t think the Nets, even at 10-15, can afford to get rid of their leading scorer. Giving players like Josh Boone and Sean Williams will take some of the pressure off of Kidd and company [Williams had 11 points and seven rebounds. Not great numbers, put better than what Jason Collins was putting up], but will it be enough? I really don’t think so.

With Collins lackluster play and another injury to Nenad Krstic, the Nets bench and starting lineup needs a sparkplug. For too long have the Nets gotten away with not having the necessary toughness up the middle and in the post in the Eastern Conference. I mean seriously, when was the last time this team had a gritty power forward or a center? [Damn, I miss Kenyon Martin.] Exactly.

The bottom line is this team needs to be revamped and soon.

I keep hearing all this nonsense about Allan Houston joining the Nets lately.

First I saw something in the Star-Ledger, then I saw something on the Pennsylvania Sports Ticker and now today on Yahoo Sports.

While his chronic knees have probably healed up since he hasn’t played a game in three seasons, is he really worth a guaranteed contract?

I don’t think so.

Even if the Nets manage to sign him for a relatively safe sum, there are still several problems with the former Olympian’s game that need to be addressed however.

Always a defensive liability, even when healthy, Houston’s presence in the Nets lineup won’t be able to help them nearly as much as some hardcore fans think. I mean, it’s obvious that he may be able to provide solid secondary scoring and everyone knows that the Nets could use a guy with a good jumper off the bench since Mikki Moore is gone, but how many minutes is this guy going to be able to get with Vince Carter playing 38 minutes a game?

Not the toughest player on the court either, Houston isn’t going to slotted at small forward anytime soon, meaning that all of his minutes would have to be out of the shooting guard position.

Just because the guy has a name that people remember doesn’t mean that he’ll be able to help this team.

The area where the Nets needed the most help this offseason was getting bigger and by picking up Jamaal Magloire and getting Nenad Krstic back healthy, they’ve successfully done that. Add in a supporting role for guys like Josh Boone, Jason Collins and Sean Williams and it’s easy to see that the Nets will be better on defense and much more aggressive in the paint.

Williams may be more trouble than he’s worth however, failing numerous drug tests in College with barely any offensive game to speak of. However, he’s more athletic than Collins, who is a waste of space at this point in his career. If given a chance, Williams could develop a solid post game in a few years.

Now, notice how I didn’t mention Houston in the last few paragraphs?

Carter, Jefferson and Kidd will provide the Nets with plenty of offense and a 36-year old Houston isn’t really needed.

Stay at ESPN and continue to provide commentary my friend. Your knees feel better lately because you’ve been playing NBA Live for the past three years. Once you start running around again, you’ll have shin splints faster than Antoine Walker and you’ll become an even bigger problem on defense.

It doesn’t matter that you had a great workout last Tuesday workout at the New York Athletic Club in Manhattan. A workout is a horse of another color compared to a real NBA game.

Your presence would be great for the fans, but how much  you could actually help the team in limited playing time remains to be scene in my mind.