“The draft is an interesting thing because sometimes you know right away we got a guy who is going to have a long career,” explained general manager Kiki Vandeweghe to Yahoo Sports. “But lots of times you’re not going to know for a couple years what these guys are going to be.”

I don’t know what the following quote does to some of you, but it confuses the crap out me. I wish for the record someone in the Nets organization would come out and say one of two things:

1- We plan to draft the best players we can with our three picks, yes three, in the top 40 selections and build a team that will make the playoffs for years to come. How do you like that, Eastern Conference?

Or

2- We plan to trade our picks for players that can help us kick major amounts of tail this season. Because simply put, that’s how we roll here in New Jersey.

Instead however, I am forced to read quotes like this:

“It’s a deep draft and I think you’ll see good players at all those picks,” said Vandeweghe to Yahoo Sports. “Right now, we intend to keep our picks because we think they’ll be good people there but if somebody comes with an offer that is interesting, we’re open for business.”

Did Vandeweghe watch Bull Durham before getting quoted, or is it just me?

All jokes aside though, stuff like this is commonplace in all sports. I do wish though that team’s would be more open to the media and let a card in their hand slip out from time to time. Instead, fans and reporters are forced to speculate and wait for the team’s to show their hands. As I have said in previous posts, the Nets are a team that need serious help on the bench and could use another veteran to help the youngsters develop.

With that being said, draft day can’t come quick enough for me. I know it’s only June, but it would be great to see this team get the help it needs and give the hardcore fans something to cheer about.

They haven’t had much to in quite some time.

Links:

This article lists the needs of every NBA team going into the draft.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=Aiun49H5jbzLoaXLJv.IAaG8vLYF?slug=ys-atlanticdraftneeds060208&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

This piece talks about a few local products working out with the team. A bit dated, but a good read nonetheless.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/nets/2008/06/03/2008-06-03_local_products_to_workout_with_nets.html

With the draft a few weeks away and the Nets having three picks in the top 40, I thought it was quite interesting to see this quote online today:

“We’re starting to get calls on the No. 10 pick and 21. I think later in the first round is getting very popular,” Vandeweghe theorized to Yahoo Sports. “People are seeing this is a deep draft. They’re going to find somebody they like there. The discussions are starting. What that tells you is we have the opportunity or the chance to get somebody pretty good there.”

The only question, which was also raised on Yahoo Sports, is will the Nets wait and develop talent, or will they trade for an established player?

For my taste, I’d like to see an injection of youth join the team. Jason Kidd and a slew of other veterans couldn’t get this team a championship, so I think it’s time this team starts to develop players. I’ve already stated that I feel that Devin Harris can be a much more productive player if given a real opportunity and everyone has seen first hand the development of Richard Jefferson. If the Nets are patient, I think Sean Williams and Josh Boone can also develop into a solid duo at center and if Marcus Williams can get his head screwed on right, he can be a more than solid option off the bench. That will ultimately prove to be a huge step in the right direction for this team.

If the Nets can also add a veteran via free agency that can help lead this youngsters and draft a boards banger or another shooter [maybe even both] this team will be headed in the right direction in my opinion. However, we’ll have to wait and see what the organization has up their sleeves.

Boki wants to stay-

Considering what I posted on this site last week, it’s obvious that I would love to see Boki Nachbar off the bench next season with the Nets. From the looks of it, he wants to come back as well. Again, as I said last week, plenty of teams will be interested in him and the faster the Nets can get a deal done, the better. Having a solid bench in the NBA is pivotal to having a quality team today. Having Nachbar around will give New Jersey one less thing to worry about and will help them build a winner.

“Come July 1 when we can talk, they will be the first team. I like New Jersey and appreciate what the Nets have done for me,” Nachbar told Yahoo Sports.

Along with DeSagana Diop, Nenad Krstic, Darrell Armstrong and Boki Nachbar, the Nets have four players that will all be valuable to other teams this offseason. Diop is a great second option off the bench for rebound and blocks. Armstrong is a good leader and can be a great teacher for a young point guard. Krstic, despite injuries, still has a ton of potential and can still be a dependable starter in this league. However, I think Nachbar is someone the Nets can’t afford to part ways with. The development of Sean Williams and Josh Boone will limit the playing time of a guy like Diop and there’s no telling of Krstic will ever be the same player again. With Devin Harris continuing to prove he’s capable of being the newest member of the “Big Three” and Marcus Williams eager to put last season behind him, Armstrong may find himself the odd man out as well.

Nachbar on the other hand, is a dependable scorer off the bench who can and will produce if given more of an opportunity. He plays with his heart on his sleeve every night and while he is an extremely streaky shooter, he’s someone that every team in the NBA would want to have and a player that the Nets need coming off the bench.

“When you’re trying to assess players, the ones who care and the ones who give you all they have are valuable,” Thorn told the Star Ledger during the trading deadline, when some people expected Nachbar to be dealt. “Certainly you take that into consideration. It says a lot about him that he’s still out there playing. Even though our chances don’t look very good right now, he’s still out there competing. But that’s the kind of guy Boki is.”

Injured during the playoff stretch, Nachbar continued to play the same way he played all season and while the Nets didn’t make the playoffs, I don’t think Nachbar has anything to be ashamed of.

“If it were a December thing, I’d take off. But now is not the time to do it, so I’m willing to suck it up a little bit and hope for the best,” Nachbar said. “This team has given me so much, it would be unfair for me to shut it down right now when it’s the most important part of the season.”

Hopefully the Nets can give Nachbar another contract so he can prove how good he can be when he’s healthy.

As you guys already know, the Nets have three picks in the first 40 in this year’s draft. That opens up a wide array of possibilities.

“Given we stay at those positions and keep the picks, we’ll see good players,” Vandeweghe stressed to Yahoo Sports. “Now the choices are, are you going to get somebody to help immediately? Or are you going to get somebody who has potential for the future?”

At this point, who knows what the Nets are going to do come draft time, but at least there are possibilities. I personally would like to see them develop some young talent. A quick fix isn’t coming to change this team for long and making the playoffs for a few seasons isn’t the same as developing a winner.

Diop Interviewed on Nets.com- While it was an overall bland piece, I did seeone answer worth paying attention to:

“I love it here. I love the guys, I love the team. I think we could have made the playoffs but we were in a tough position with a trade in the middle of the year and having to make a run. We didn’t really gel together like that but I could see myself coming back here next year.”

Boone Bulking Up- According to Yahoo Sports, Nets forward/center Josh Boone is hitting the weight room, in preparation for his first healthy training camp as a pro. Scoring 8.2 points and pulling down 7.3 boards a game last season, Boone has continued to improve every season he’s been in the NBA. Coming into next season in the best shape of his career, Boone can be in a situation to take sole possession of the center spot, depending on how prepared Sean Williams is. Regardless, the tandem can and will give the Nets two young, athletic and hungry options at the center spot.

Speaking of Sean Williams, he is another player that will be looking for increased production this season. Starting off strong, Williams cooled off immensely as the season wore on, as he failed to reach double digits in points for the last two months of the seasons. His ability to move laterally and guard effectively also became a huge problem, as his minutes were cut down the stretch. For a guy drafted in the first round, hitting the bench when you’re team is in the midst of a playoff run isn’t a great sign. To make sure that never happens again, Williams will have some serious work ahead of him this offseason.

Jefferson in danger of being dealt?- It looks like Richard Jefferson is out of hot water. Cleared of assault charges from an incident earlier in the year, Jefferson can now continue to focus on developing as a player. However, he may be forced to continue that development elsewhere.

On Wednesday, the New York Daily News reported that Jefferson could be traded to the Denver Nuggets as part of a deal for Carmelo Anthony. However, Jefferson’s agent was quick to say that he doesn’t see anything going down as of yet.

Thorn and Vandeweghe confident in turn around- Yahoo Sports had an interesting update today with some pretty choice quotes from Rod Thorn and Kiki Vandeweghe regarding the team’s direction next season:

“I think we have a real good chance to get a player who can help us at 10,” said Thorn. “And in this draft, we should get a good player at 21 and even 40.”

With the returns of DeSagana Diop, Boki Nachbar and Nenad Krstic unknown and an apparent need for another quality shooter and rebounder, the Nets may have their hands full at the draft. However, with three picks in the first 40, the Nets may be in a situation to trade up or get three quality players who can fill voids. As I’ve stated in previous entries, the continued development of players like Sean and Marcus Williams in addition to Josh Boone may help solve this problem, but that doesn’t seem likely for next season. Right now, the Nets need another player who can help lead this team on the floor, either on the boards or on the perimeter. It’ll be interesting to see what they do come draft time.

From the way Thorn and Vandeweghe are talking, you think that they’re in this for the long haul as well. While they have consistently said that they will be going for the best players they can, they understand they can’t just bring in anyone and need to play this situation very carefully.

“When I got here, I was very excited to work with somebody like Rod Thorn, who I’ve been an admirer of for a long time. I sat across the table from him and knew I had a lot to learn from him and know I know I have a lot more to learn,” Vandeweghe said. “I hope that I’ve had some input and some positive input as to the roster and the direction. I think both of us really believe you have to pick a direction, you have to know where you stand and do things that fit that direction. Neither one of us likes Band-Aid solutions.”

Not a lot of Nets-related stuff going on this week, however, I’ll share a few clippings I came across.

“The calls haven’t really started yet. I guarantee you we’ll have calls,” the new GM said. “Having two picks in the first round, I think you have some very good players potentially in this draft. You never know until a couple of years down the road. But I do like this draft. Our picks will be valuable.”

I took this from the team report on Yahoo Sports. It’s basically in reference to what the team will do this year in the draft and how the Nets have both hit and missed in the first round over the past few years. At any rate, the Nets have two picks and should be able to find someone with some potential to help on the bounds and give them more speed or size, depending on how they want to build the team. I personally would like this team to continue to run the floor they were when they first traded for Devin Harris. If guys like Josh Boone and Sean Williams continue to develop as feel, I think this team could be in good hands. The draft can only help them get deeper and that I believe is the thing the Nets need the most right now.

Carmelo to Nets not likely- http://www.sportsnet.ca/thewire/basketball/2008/05/16/anthony_to_nets_not_seen/

Came across this the other day and it didn’t really make sense to me. For my taste, Carmelo Anthony is someone the Nets don’t need. Sure, he’s a great ballplayer who makes the players around him better, but the Nets have enough star power. Like I said earlier, this team needs depth. They need Marcus Williams to become a better option off the bench and they need Nenad Krstic to turn back the clock a season and a half. Bringing in big names doesn’t turn a team that won 34 games this season into a contender. Developing what you have and trimming the fat however, does.

Appeals court to consider slur in Jayson Williams case-http://www.centredaily.com/sports/basketball/story/592628.html

It’s hard to believe that Jayson Williams is 40 years old now. For me, seeing him at center and power forward for the Nets in the late 90s was a complete blast. What a good rebounder he was. He was so much fun to watch and knowing that he could be depended on made those young Nets teams very confident and a pleasure to watch. It’s a shame to see this guy going through all these problems off the court. I could have totally seen him on television if things would have worked out differently. I mean c’mon, he’s cooler than John Salley, was a much better player and look at how many things he’s gotten himself involved with since he retired. He could totally have had his own basketball show or even a radio show if he would have played his cards right.

What a shame.

In the era of guys like Pacman Jones and Terrell Owens, big name athletes often get the short end of the stick. While some of them are arrogant and self-obsessed individuals, a guy like Richard Jefferson is not one of them.

Awaiting a June 18 court date where he is alleged to have beaten a drunken fan at a Minneapolis hotel, Jefferson is one of the last people in the NBA, who I’d ever expect to get himself in a situation like this. Nonetheless, he now finds himself having to tell his side of the story in an effort to protect himself.

“You know, it is unfortunate,” Jefferson told the Associated Press. “I’ve never been involved in an incident in my life. I don’t even think I’ve ever been thrown out of a basketball game. But some drunk individual wants to come up and, you know, then, of course, when they start telling their side of the story we’re the big bad athletes that think they can get away with everything and then they’re some innocent individual that has never made a mistake in their life.”

The incident, which occurred in late January, is alleged to have been a byproduct of an altercation between Jefferson and someone who asked him to leave. What then happens here is kind of fuzzy. The victim alleges that Jefferson choked him, while Jefferson says that no punches where thrown and the person doesn’t have a scratch on him. I personally don’t know if Jefferson would pull a Latrell Sprewell and treat this guy like PJ Carlesimo, but he never exactly said there was no choking involved.

For instance:

“They were saying there was choking. It was more of a getting your space,” he told the AP. “This individual doesn’t have a scratch on him. There was no mark. There was no blood. There was no anything.”

On another note:

Kiki Vandeweghe was recently promoted to the General Manager position. Well, after Ed Stefanski boogied over to Philly midway through the season, you knew a replacement was in the wings for a while.

From what Rod Thorn had to say about the appointment, the team seems pretty happy with the choice:

“We are very pleased that Kiki will continue his relationship with the Nets’ organization,” Thorn told the AP. “When Kiki joined us in December, I felt that his experience as both an All-Star player and front office executive would be an invaluable asset to both myself and the franchise, and his work in the ensuing months has reinforced that belief.”

I don’t know how you guys feel, but watching a team like the Hawks have their way with the Celtics really makes me wonder what could have been with the Nets this season. We all know that it’s a completely different ballgame once the playoffs start and it doesn’t matter if you have Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce or Ray Allen in your lineup, if you don’t out work your team for four quarters and limit your mistakes, you’re going to be in trouble.

Watching this series between Atlanta and Boston is living proof of that.

For that reason, it makes me wonder if the Nets were playing the Celtics right now, would they have exited early or would they be where the Hawks are right now? Nothing Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Marvin Williams or Mike Bibby, have played with reckless abandon for the Hawks in this series, but how would Richard Jefferson, Vince Carter and Devin Harris fare if they really played the way they are capable of? Would they be able to hold their own, or would it not matter?

I don’t know, I’m just throwing the question out there guys.

Right now, I’m feeling like I’m reading an issue of the old Marvel Comics series “What If?” What if Sean Williams could move laterally and shoot a little more efficiently? What if Jefferson and Carter shot efficiently the entire season? What if Marcus Williams found a way to be more consistent? What if Boki Nachbar doesn’t get injured down the stretch? What if Nenad Krstic too wasn’t dealing with injuries all year?

I thinking we know all the answers to those questions. The Nets would have made the playoffs, to only lose to a team with more size and consistency. Interesting little plot twist there, eh? My whole point of this diatribe this week is to point out that teams that are missing pieces that just barely make the playoffs need to play the best basketball of their lives to hang with greatness. That’s exactly what’s happening now with the Hawks. The Nets however, are missing a few big pieces right now and even if they found a way to get into the playoffs, it wouldn’t have been long before they would have been eliminated.

After the summer is over and the pieces begin to come together a little more, this team is still a few pieces away from being more than a mediocre team with promise. Rather than dream, like it’s easy to do, fans need to simply wait and see where the chips fall. Once they do, then this team can have some kind of expectations put on them.

“We want to be as good as we can be all the time. We think it’s important,” Thorn recently told the New Jersey Star Ledger. “We still think we have a pretty good nucleus of players here, that we can be pretty good. I can’t say we want to take a massive step back, no.

“If you have the opportunity to get a core of younger players — (such as) with the addition of Harris — and get some guys around that age group that can be really good, then you always look at that. But those opportunities don’t come up very often. But we want to be good. We want to do as well as we can do.”

When I read this quote on Tuesday, I basically thought to myself, “Does this mean that Thorn is saying that he wants to build through the draft and get two solid additions to the team this year? Or is he saying that he’s going to trade up and get one solid, young perimeter shooter to complement the new big three? Or is he looking to get a big man to help the youngsters like Josh Boone and Sean Williams develop?

Star Ledger Dave D’Allesandro does a great job in this article [and he usually does] showing how unsure Thorn is in what the Nets approach will be next season. He also goes on to call him a riddler of sorts and I’d have to totally agree with him.

This team’s bench is probably going to be the thing that changes the most this offseason, with DeSagana Diop, Darnell Armstrong and Boki Nachbar all free agents. The Nenad Krstic situation may become and interesting one, but I really see him staying with the Nets. I don’t think too many teams would be willing to take a change on him just yet. Nachbar on the other hand, may be looking at a healthy raise this offseason and I doubt the Nets will be offering to go as high as he would like. Playing injured the last quarter and change of the season, Nachbar showed a lot of intestinal fortitude and GM’s that already love the guy when he’s shooting well are probably salivating like Pavlovian dogs right now.

While it’s still way too early to see where some of the Nets free agents are going, it will be interesting to see who Thorn decides to keep and why.

There aren’t many positive things one can say about a team that misses the playoffs for the first time in seven years. At least they aren’t the Knicks. All jokes aside however, New Jersey had three of the biggest stars in the league on their roster for two thirds of the season, but still couldn’t find a way to play consistent basketball. That goes to show you that names on a lineup card don’t mean nearly as much as the sweat that is expended on the court.

I know I’m not speaking for the entire Nets community when I say that this team has a lot of promise, but needs something else before they can get to where they were just a few years ago. It could just be the revival of Nenad Krstic and the acquisition of another big body or a veteran point guard that can be more competent on defense than Marcus Williams. I don’t know. What I do know is that they’re missing something.

With the Mavericks pick and their pick in the first round this year, the Nets have a choice, they can either trade up or trade for already developed players. Personally, I’d like to see the Nets build through the draft, but considering how badly the Nets have drafted over the past five years [Antoine Wright and a host of other flubs, cough, cough] it’s risky business. Add in the four free-agents this team has and it’s obvious the Nets could be an entirely different team next season.

However, while many fans of the team are still peeved that this team is playing golf right now, there are plenty of reasons to smile as well. For one, the new big three know they can’t get by on their names anymore. Jefferson made significant strides this season and is ready to be a leader. The same can be said for Vince Carter, who despite playing on a bad ankle wasn’t shooting bad at all down the stretch. As far as Devin Harris goes, I think we haven’t even come close yet to seeing what he’s capable of doing. There are trades that go down in the books for being total flops and I think the Mavericks will rue the day they got rid of him.

On another note, just like the veterans, the youngsters like Sean Williams and Josh Boone know that they too have to step it up. Otherwise, this team will be destined to revel in mediocrity.

No negative thoughts right now though. Just contemplation of what this team does come draft time. It should be fun, right?