What are the Brooklyn Nets right now, other than a pathetic underachieving ballclub? Brook Lopez is not coming back this season after breaking his foot, and the Nets dropped to 2-8 without him after Monday’s 103-86 loss to Indiana. Brooklyn is 9-18, a .333 winning percentage. “It’s certainly a big setback, he’s a great player,” Indiana coach Frank Vogel said. “One of the best centers in the league, so it’s obviously very difficult to replace what he gives on both ends.” What’s worse
In his stated effort to upstage Knicks owner James Dolan, Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov has become him. Like Dolan, Prokhorov desperately wants an NBA championship. Like Dolan, he has pursued that desperation with financial abandon, giving his GM an open checkbook. Like Dolan, he has overspent on overvalued big names. Like Dolan, he has mortgaged his team’s future by giving away multiple draft picks. And like Dolan, he appears headed down the abyss. In two months, the Nets have gone from contenders with
With the New York Knicks struggling to find any sort of consistency at the point guard position this season, they have reportedly been looking to trade for Toronto Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry. That would be a fantastic addition, as his presence would provide some toughness and generate some easier baskets for a team that relies so much on isolation plays. But what is the price of acquiring a guard of his caliber? Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports has the details
The big news of today is that Derrick Rose has another knee injury. This time, it’s not an ACL tear, but it is a meniscus tear, which obviously isn’t a good thing. This is terrible news for the Bulls, of course, but it could be good news for any team shopping a point guard. Orlando and Jameer Nelson, I’m looking at you. Also, do the Suns really need Goran Dragic right now? There’s not many prospective playoff teams in the market for
It’s now or never for Deron Williams to prove he is worthy of being the $100 million face of the Brooklyn Nets. Is Williams still an elite point guard? Is he a winner? Or is he the reason his coaches are sent packing and his teams don’t quite measure up? Despite a blockbuster trade to acquire Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, who have championship rings and 25 combined All-Star selections, it is Williams who holds the key to Brooklyn’s title hopes. Consider this: Brooklyn
I’m a diehard Baltimore Orioles fan. Before the last two years, we got about one week of the season to ponder contention before all speculation turned to who would be traded, what for, and when. For several NBA teams, it’s almost that time already. [Read more…]
BROOKLYN — The Nets’ blockbuster move to acquire Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry stole headlines, but it says here the bench unit will be the steal of the summer at the season’s conclusion. Garnett is the team’s elder statesman, ranking sixth all-time with 47,801 minutes played over 19 seasons. Paul Pierce, Garnett’s counterpart, will be 36 when the season starts. However, Brooklyn boasts the league’s only bench unit with four double-digit scorers and one double-digit rebounder from last season. [Read
This summer, the Brooklyn Nets transformed themselves from pretenders to contenders. However, the transformation came at a steep price. Owner Mikhail Prokhorov has the NBA’s only nine-figure team payroll, which translates to an $87 million luxury tax bill. (He can afford it. He is the NBA’s George Steinbrenner). Nets GM Billy King also mortgaged the future by trading first-round draft picks in 2014, 2016 and 2018 with the right to swap first-round picks in 2017 as part of a trade with Boston