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.

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.