Empty the Bench

As the season winds down, ETB will be taking a look at the state of a number of non-contenders. We’ll talk about what’s going right, what’s not, discuss their key personnel, look at team needs and size up their future.

Today: The New Jersey Nets

Forget “The Big Three.” Their time has come and gone. For the Brooklyn-bound Nets to climb back into a real discussion of Eastern Conference contenders, any and all personnel moves over these next two seasons should be made with an eye towards landing “The Big One,” Mr. LeBron James.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, though when looking at the Nets as currently constituted it’s certainly easy to glaze over their working parts and stop-gaps and to salivate over the potential of James being freed from the gloom of Ohio and one day taking a bite out of the Big Apple. The earliest that could happen — unless Cavaliers GM Danny Ferry flashes big brass balls by trading him, which won’t happen in a million years — is the summer of 2010, when James will likely opt out of his contract, become an unrestricted free agent, and be the most sought-after basketball player on earth. But more on that later.

We’re here to talk about the New Jersey Nets, not the Brooklyn Nets. The New Jersey Nets that came into the season fresh off a summer that saw them re-up Vince Carter to a deal that could pay him upwards of $80 million over five years. With their “Big Three” of Carter, Jason Kidd, and Richard Jefferson locked up and healthy, there was serious talk coming out of the desolate Jersey swamplands of competing alongside the Pistons, Celtics, and Cavaliers for Eastern supremecy given the middling overall state of the rest of the conference. But that didn’t happen.

Last season’s starting center, Nenad Krstic, wasn’t ready after coming back from knee surgery. Carter missed five of the team’s first ten games. There were more questions than answers in the frontcourt. Their best player and floor general, Jason Kidd, was unhappy and quietly (at first) requested a trade. And before head coach Lawrence Frank and his squad knew it, they headed into 2008 with a disappointing 14-16 record.

Major changes were on the horizon. Jason Kidd’s wishes were finally granted in a deal that took forever to be completed with Dallas, with the Nets ultimately landing draft picks, a new point guard, and some depth players. It was the right move, and one that will pay off in the coming seasons. But they’re not done yet.

A look at the Nets’ roster, at who should be on the trading block next, and more after the jump…

The Building Blocks

It’s never easy moving a name like Jason Kidd, regardless of the situation. He’s still one of the best pure passers and set-up men in the NBA and the league’s biggest triple-double threat (he has 12 on the season, and nearly had another eight more). But he’ll also turn 35-years-old later this month and is scheduled to make over $21 million next season, the last one on his current contract. Given the booty Dallas was offering for him, trading Kidd could be considered the biggest bright spot in the Nets’ 2007/08 season.

It certainly signaled GM Rod Thorn’s willingness to acknowledge it was time to rethink their philosophy, to re-adjust their expectations, and to move on. The team now has a new point guard, 25-year-old Devin Harris, who doesn’t necessarily make the Nets better this season, but will in the coming years. Now free to play his game and make some youthful mistakes without perhaps jeopardizing precious wins (and crucial spots in the Western playoff seeding race), Harris is already averaging more minutes, 31/per, in his first three games with the Nets than he ever did over his four seasons in Dallas. His shooting percentage is way down (from 48% to 39%) and his three-point attempts are way up (from 1.8/per to 6.7), but these early returns shouldn’t be considered indicative of what Nets fans should necessarily expect from Harris in the future.

Harris is a better, quicker perimeter defender than Kidd who’s capable of pushing his per-game steal averages up to around 2 as soon as next season. His jumper still needs some work, but once it comes around — along with his long-range shooting — there’s no reason he can’t average 20 points a night along with 7 - 8 assists. Paired with second-year PG Marcus Williams, the Nets have one of the most promising young PG tandems in the NBA. And it helps that both are signed to very reasonable contracts (Harris will make $7.8 million next season, Williams about $6.3 million over the next three). It’s imperative for Thorn to sign Harris to a long-term extension this summer or early next season before Harris becomes an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2009.

While early on it looked like Frank would have very little to work with in the frontcourt, a few young bigs have emerged this season that look like keepers. The team’s first-round pick in ‘06, 6-10 Josh Boone has made big strides in his second professional season, locking up a spot in the starting lineup in averaging 8 points, 7 boards, 54% FG, and nearly 1 block/per. Those aren’t exactly top-tier starting center stats, and something has to be done about his dreadful free-throw shooting (41% on the year), but he’s a major upgrade over the since-traded Jason Collins, who for reasons unknown was a stalwart in NJ’s starting lineup for damn near 7 years. In time, Boone could be low double-double guy who can be counted on to clean the glass and tip in wayward shots.

We’re more excited about first-year F/C Sean Williams, who in his rookie season has shown signs of becoming a major shot-blocking force in this league. At 6-10, the 17th-overall pick in the 2007 draft can jump out of the gym and already has 14 games under his belt in which he’s recorded 3+ blocks; that includes an 8-block effort on December 18 against the Kings and a 6-block party on January 19 against the Clippers. His offensive game is still raw and for now predicated on dunks and putbacks, but he’s a high-energy guy who clearly has a lot of talent. Check out this highlight from All-Star Weekend’s Rookie/Sophomore Challenge. Sick.

Outside of Harris, Williams (Marcus and Sean), and Boone, the Nets have a few other guys that could be keepers, if in just reserve roles. Second-year swingman Maurice Ager, drafted late in the first round back in ‘06, came over in the Kidd deal and was once highly thought of as a skilled scorer who can get to the hole, but hasn’t yet translated his game and talents to the professional level. He’s under contract at a low number through the 2010/11 season. Desagna Diop, still only 26-years-old, will be an unrestricted free agent this summer; if he comes back, Diop would give the Nets solid depth in the middle as a solid rebounder and shot-blocker. The mercurial Stromile Swift, who has a lot of talent but has never played a full season because of injury or struck a level of consistency, has a $6.2 million player option next season. With that kind of money on the line, he’ll likely exercise it and return next year. Beyond that, who knows. The Nets will have two first-round and one second-round pick this June, so more young talent is on the way.

The Dead Weight

And now, the not so good. One third of New Jersey’s old “Big Three” has been eradicated, and now it’s on GM Thorn to finish the job and figure out a way to move Richard Jefferson and Vince Carter. It’ll be no easy task, however, given the mammoth contracts both were puzzlingly awarded with. We already mentioned VC’s number — up to $80 million over five seasons — while “Peanut” Jefferson is in line to make a tidy $42.4 million over the next three campaigns. Those contracts are simply unacceptable for these two one-dimensional players: employing one volume scorer maybe makes some sense — maybe — but not two.

Carter gets more than his fair share of criticism, and while some of it is perhaps unfair, a lot of it isn’t. He’s injury prone, often plays like he’s taking the night off or is simply disinterested, is pretty bad from beyond the arc (33% this year on 3.5 attempts/per), doesn’t play especially good defense, and comes up small in the postseason. His days as a perennial All-Star are simply over, as are the days when his star power alone was enough to put butts in the seats. Come hell or high water, this guy needs to go.

The same goes with Jefferson. Currently 9th overall in the NBA in scoring at 23.8 points/per, RJ’s game is pretty easy to figure out: shoot, shoot, and shoot some more, and when that fails go the hole, flail around, and hope to get the foul call. And he’s getting the whistles, too, averaging just over 9 free-throw attempts/per this season; the only problem is that he shoots under 80% from the line. Again, as with Carter there’s no denying that when he’s hot, Jefferson can score with the best of them. But, like Carter, he’s also injury-prone, a sub-par defender, making a boatload of money, and should be traded while his value is still high.

It remains to be seen if Nenad Krstic ever regains the promise he showed during his first three seasons, when he was averaging about 12 points and over 6 rebounds/per. The Nets have stated they’re committed to Krstic, who will be a restricted free agent this summer, but anything’s possible at this point. His recovery from a devastating knee injury has been a slow, tedious one. Rotation and end-of-the-bench players Trenton Hassell, Boki Nachbar, and Darrell Armstrong are all expendable; we’ve already said that Keith Van Horn’s temporary status as a Net is a joke.

The Future Would Be Brighter with LeBron (Obviously)

The Nets are moving to Brooklyn, eventually (the exact moving date continues to change). They’ll want to make a splash in their new New York home. And they’ll have more than a sporting chance to land the best prize of all, LeBron James, who could very well say he’s seen enough of dreary Cleveland and pack his bags for the biggest market in the world. Ridding themselves of VC and RJ’s albatross contracts will do wonders in freeing up the necessary cap space it’ll take.

Yahoo!’s fantastic NBA writer Adrian Wojnarowski wrote a great piece about James, his business relationship and friendship with Nets’ part-owner Jay-Z, and the chances the two will unite in Brooklyn. It’s a must-read and addresses this scenario in more detail than I will here. Read the whole thing, but here’s just an excerpt:

Cleveland officials won’t talk about James and Jay-Z, but if you were wondering about the franchise’s fear of losing him to the brighter lights and bigger city, understand that the trade owner Dan Gilbert and general manager Danny Ferry made had everything to do with winning now and crushing James’ concerns that Cleveland is unable to surround him with a championship cast.

LeBron doesn’t want to just win titles. His stated wants include becoming sport’s first billionaire athlete. Among his advisors, he counts Warren Buffet. Jay-Z has helped James focus his mind on chasing something bigger than basketball. The question will be this: For the kid out of Akron, will his hometown – will even winning – be enough to hold onto LeBron James?

“I think that LeBron will have to look long and hard about leaving Cleveland,” Sonny Vaccaro said. “Dan Gilbert and the city have embraced him. They’ve done everything they can to make a championship-type trade. Danny Ferry did a good job with that. But knowing LeBron and knowing the world as I see it, the most appetizing thing would not be the New York Knicks for him, but the Nets with Jay-Z.

“Jay-Z is the one person that I can put in a parallel universe with LeBron from where they started and where they are now. If LeBron has a role model in life, it’s Jay-Z. I’ve never been around a more perfect match of young genius. What would be better than these two kids in New York?

“Maybe this is only able to happen once, when the money is there in New Jersey, and his contract is up in Cleveland. When you think of the marketing roll that LeBron could be on after winning gold in Beijing, wow. …I’m not sure the sun and moon have ever aligned like this.”

Nets fans would surely agree. The days of “The Big Three” leading the New Jersey Nets franchise are over. Sure, the two that are left could still pair with the Building Blocks and get this team into the playoffs this year, but it’d be a short run. As these next few seasons unfold, developing their current building blocks, adding a few more through the draft, and clearing the cap space in an effort to land “The Big One” are the goals of the Brooklyn Nets franchise.

For looks at other NBA teams and the state of their franchise, click on over to read ETB’s takes on:

- The Minnesota Timberwolves
- The Memphis Grizzlies
- The Philadelphia 76ers
- The Portland Trail Blazers

Tags: New Jersey Nets, Richard Jefferson, Vince Carter, Devin Harris