Game 30 - Rockets @ Nets - Saturday, December 26, 7:30

Prediction: Nets win a close game.

The Cavs easy win over the Lakers may be significant to Nets fans.

Leon Powe may be the secret spark for the Cavs down the stretch. The announcers are saying that the Lakers bench may not be as strong as last year. Fat-Shaq is saving himself for the playoffs.

If LeBron should achieve his immediate goal of winning a championship this season, Newark may be his next stop – very likely if Nets could get say John Wall and David Lee before having to make a decision.

I would bet LeBron would take less than the Maximum, if necessary, just to become the future King of Brooklyn.
However, all is dependent on his winning a championship.

Imagine:
BLopez
DLee
LJames
GreatWall
DHarris
(basically an All-Star level starting team)

How come a great number of Nets fans posting, believe the Nets are entiltled to go from “rags to riches”?

Lets just try to be a playoff team first.

All this talk about LeBron and Wade and Wall is hysterical…

Small steps, small steps, small steps… Lead to big things.

I waitd this long, what’s another year or five…

Bleh. The Nets always get blown away by the Rockets.

What? Yi is going to start after 22 points and 8 rebounds effort?…Good call!!!

jerry25,

Where is the logic in Lebron James leaving a championship team for the worst team in the league?

Seriously, what??

Well either start Boon or Yi. Genius call.

It would have been nice if the Nets had traded Twill which is the 1 round pick for Landry. And take Arzia in the FA market.

We would be a much better team now.

I don’t mind Hassell starting with CDR and Hayes injured. However, if Nets are going to lose (and they will lose to Houston), they should start getting big minutes out of TWill. After CDR and Hayes return, TWill’s opportunities will be limited.

I hope that Alston and Simmons are out of the rotation for good.

@Mr. Dollar Bills
It is 1,000,000% logical that LeBron would consider leaving Cavs for a losing team like the Nets ONLY if he wins a Championship this year.

LeBron WANTS to be King of Brooklyn, and only winning a Championship would allow that dream to come true.
Otherwise, come July 1, the only thing on his mind is winning his 1st championship. No way he would expect to win a championship in his first year with the Nets (though the above lineup could make a run for it).

Besides it would be very likely that Shaq would retire if he was fortunate to win his 6th championship. There is no replacing Shaq.

Does the common phrase of ‘’Complete loss’’ tell us something here?

Ravaged & Hammered hard by the rockets

Tmac will drop +20 on us, even behing injured!!!

Brandon Bass has played only 6 minutes in past 4 games for Orlando. Orlando is just too deep. Bass is only owed 4 million next year.

It sure would be nice if say JNelson happened to be injured again and Nets could give back Alston, in return for Bass.
Orlando looks to be deep in luxury tax next year. Bass would be one of the pieces Nets should have taken in off season had Ratner not been in such debt.

A loss

How many of the most loyal fans in all of the NBA turn out for this one? And that would be the NEW JERSEY Nets fans for those wondering. The owner tells the fans that the team is now all but gone and 10,000 still show up for a TWO-WIN team in late December. MOST LOYAL FANS in the NBA are in New Jersey not that Stern or Ratner care.

@jerry25

There is not way that Lebron is coming to the Nets. Lets face it, the best player in the world is not coming to perhaps one of the worst franchises in sports. As much as i love the Nets, and I even belived the 2010 dream at one time, but there is no reason why any free agent would ever come here. Tell me the last free agent that has come to the Nets.

what jason said.

@Jason
Read what I said:
If, that is IF and only IF
LeBron were to win a Championship this year (which is still possible after watching Cavs trounce the Lakers at LA)

And

If Nets were an improved team through trades / draft / free agency (eg. Wall and DLee or Boozer for example)

Then and only Then

You Betcha;

LeBron would very possibly come to be the next King of Brooklyn. Nets would certainly be his #1 destination outside of Cleveland trying hard to get him to stay.

Since the odds are against that happening, Nets management should be prepared with other plans.

I have been the biggest supporter of the Nets improving the club before the trade deadline and trying to finish the season strong, since that is all free agents will remember. Having a horrific record up until that point is fine (guarantees a top pick in a good FA class), as long as they finish the year strong and do well with the draft/early free agency.

@Jason
@jerry25
@Mr. Dollar bill

No free agent has come to the NETS….but these are the new Brooklyn, best arena, NYC buzz, global marketing setup, good core with picks and cap space, billionaire basketball junkie committed to winning owned NETS. History is no indicator of the future when it comes to FAs picking the NETS.

I do not think Lebron leaves Cleveland if they win – he will think that with Shaq (who will not leave the limelight and retire) he can win again next year and maybe build a dynasty. However Cleveland is not a “championship team” yet and if they do not win this year, I think Lebron could/would leave – unless he wants to keep going one more year and then leave in 2011 which is an option I believe he has. Then he give Cleveland one more chance while waiting to see where the other FAs land and how the Knicks and Nets develop before he commits.

Do not underestimate the power of creating/doing something that no one else has done when you want to be a global icon – bigger than DWade, bigger than Shaq, bigger than Magic, bigger then MJ…more than just a basketball player. Brooklyn from the ashes to world prominence (and this is not a pipe dream for the reasons noted above) is a powerful attraction.

You guys are too funny. Wait till july and all will be revealed. In the meantime no ticket money for Ratner.

@Jay
I definitely can’t see Shaq returning if he won this season. He is old, slow and FAT. He will get even fatter than Barkley after he retires. I think Shaq knows he will be lucky if he can finish the season strong. Shaq would retire as a winner.

However, I have often wondered why the media has not suggested that LeBron stay one extra year in Cleveland if he Didn’t win this year. He would have just as much chance of winning in 2010-2011 with Cleveland as with most of the teams he could realistically go to (he’s not going to the Lakers of Miami).

By staying in Cleveland an extra year, would give LeBron a chance to wait and see how the Nets and Barclay’s were doing.

All of this could be considered by Thorn and Proky when they refer to the 2010/2011 free agency class.

One thing I AM sure of: the Knicks aren’t getting LeBron without another Max Level FA. And even then, it means losing David Lee (hopefully to Nets). Not sure if Bosh would be much better than DLee for the Knicks.

@NetRick
Actually it may not be revealed in July. I doubt very much if LeBron knows where he is playing next year. The only thing I know is he likes winning a championship this year and he would also like being the King of Brooklyn.

I bet DWade is pretty confident that he remains in Miami. Bosh’s future depends on how well Toronto does and if doing poorly by trade deadline, he might get traded.

@jerry25

Shaq will definitely be getting bigger and slower. I just think he will keep doing it on TV in the NBA. As long as he has a superstar to play alongside and a reasonable shot at winning another title he is not leaving the “stage”. To much fun. To much money. To messy of a divorce.

Bosh is almost certain to leave Toronto. I suspect he would rather be the fun loving #2 rather then the in the spotlight #1. Miami too team with superstar DWade seems logical unless Cuban and Dallas can convince him to come home to Texas. I would put money on Bosh in Miami 2010.

The NETS need a #1 guy and there are only a few available in the coming years. Duncan/KG/Shaq on last contracts. Howard/Roy/CP3 locked up. Kobe/Wade not leaving. Joe Johnson/Amare are these guys really a #1? Lebron/Melo = possibly willing to leave for the bright lights and big city.

Agree about Bosh going to join DWade, but then won’t Toronto trade him before deadline?

Nets need to hope LeBron doesn’t take the bait of Knicks this year. Would rather he stay on ice in Cleveland for 1 more year – and if no Cavs championship this season, then Shaq might return with Lebron for his final year.

Under this reasonable scenario, if Nets made attractive offer to David Lee in early July (say 70 million for 5 years) and Lee was agreeable, could Knicks do anything to get David Lee to re-sign? Wouldn’t Lee prefer being a true PF next to BLopez, than a small Center?

@Jerry25

If Toronto is certain Bosh is leaving, they can try a trade or sign and trade, but I think the power is all Bosh’s if he knows Miami (or someone else) is prepared to pay max dollars.

I like David Lee, but I think we need a mean nasty high energy defensive beast PF. BLopez is an offensive center (opposite of DHoward). If Yi shows he can be a consistent scorer and respectable rebounder through the balance of the season, then I think the hole we need to fill in our primary big man rotation is a Defense first PF (who can at least be a threat to make a free throw). Lee is all offense – square peg in NETS round hole.

David Lee is not worth anything more than 5-6 mil a year. If he wants a lot of money, we should take the chance with Yi. It’s doubtful that our nets will be able to attract any top notch free agents. Instead, the nets should invest money in top notch coaches and work harder for the draft. Didn’t we get rid of some scouts because we wanted to save a few dimes?

The Nets cannot win unless the other team plays poorly. So, if the Rockets are tired and shoot crooked, we have a chance, but our best effort will not win 9 out of 10 times. If you look at every team we play, they have players that have to be watched and slowed down. They have strengths. We don’t. Even Minn. has a strong front court. We have one strong front court player, but, of course, he was erased by Minn’s strong front court. So what do we have: potential? A bright future? Don’t believe it. Maybe in 5 years.

Battie, S. Williams and Simmons for McGrady and Dorsey. If TMac works out, Nets have his Bird Rights. If he doesn’t, who cares. Send the Rockets a pick, if you want. McGrady is 30, not much older than Joe Johnson.

Of course, you couldnt do that until after Prokhorov takes over since the Nets would have to take on $4.25 million in extra salary.

The Nets main problem this year, due mostly to injuries and very young players, is that starters minutes are going to players who were supposed to be backups, at best. Boone, Hassel, Alston, Simmons, T-Will etc. have played to many minutes, and their weaknesses have been exposed.

You see it all the time in baseball, when a good bench/role player becomes a starter, and his game goes south.

If we can keep Lopez, Harris, Yi, Lee, CDR, Dooling, all healthy for a stretch, maybe we can see what we really got and more importantly, what we really need.

What I like with David Lee is he has some offense and doesn’t get injured easily. All our PFs like Boone, Yi, Battie and Sean are all injury prone. If we can get him with same amount we paid Collins then he is worthed.
  But for me David West or Anthony is the ideal PF. Added to this is we need a good PG, I am hoping Wall is the man if we get him.

I wouldn’t give up on a pick for TMac… no way. I wouldn’t mind doing a deal like the one NI proposes (withouth a pick, of course). I hate TMac and think he’s absolutely done, this loser wouldn’t make us win more games (could he play 25+ minutes a night? LOL), but at least we would be getting rid of B. Simmons, hahahaha!

“Under this reasonable scenario, if Nets made attractive offer to David Lee in early July (say 70 million for 5 years)…”

Nobody in his right mind would give Lee that much money. That’s $14M a year. He’s barely worth half that money.

Agreed with NetIncome to trade for T-Mac. At the very least he’s an upgrade from Carter.

I agree with Jerry25 re Brandon Bass. I would trade Battie back to Orlando for him. It works out well for Orlando as Battie is an expiring contract. In general, the Nets should use their expiring contracts in trades this year because no one among the top tier FAs will come to NJ next year.

Outrebounded 17 straight games. As you watch the Rockets tonight, remember that the Nets could have acquired Carl Landry for their 1st round pick, the one that turned into TWill.

@Jerry25
You made a mistake way above. If Cavs win championship it would be Shaq’s 5th (not 6th) championship.

@NI
Regarding McGrady: too soon to comment, but hopefully management is preparing a long list of very tentative possibilities. Is Dorsey a PF who could fit the role that Brandon Bass would already do at this time? He is already 26 and getting SWat-like minutes. Maybe I’d rather re-sign SWat for minimum, at end of free agency.
McGrady was too embarrassed to be a Net last February. He might be a distraction and take away time from others, although he could be used as SF.

Would rather look at deals like getting a keeper (eventual MLE) like Kirilenko (assuming big FA are out for 2010) provided Utah gives very nice concessions for saving them 18 million in cap space for 2010 (their Knicks pick and Dallas pick are getting closer as Knicks could be 8th seed).

So is it “understood” that it is ONLY deals where Nets would take on significant extra salary that could be rejected by NBA as long as Ratner is in charge? Is there any precedence?

Regarding David Lee and free agency:
Assuming Nets have idea that top FAs aren’t coming, then David Lee is minimum FA Nets must get in offseason.

However, Knicks don’t want the situation where they don’t get either LeBron, Bosh, Amare or DWade and also can’t even hold onto DLee.

DLee will have many suitors – the media is already saying that. He is playing better than ever lately, as is Boozer. I see no way NOT to overpay for him. Question is how does the process work? I thought its NOT like an auction. I thought you only get one chance to make an official offer. Will the Knicks have chance to outbid any offer? That is why I suspect Prokhorov may have to make a very high offer initially.

I suppose Knicks could always take Boozer, but then who would play center for them?
If Nets took Boozer instead, then Yi’s minutes would be very limited.

If not DLee, then please tell me Who is best person to step in at PF and maybe fill in at Center as needed?? All I read is NO, NO and NO or not worth the price!

The only difference between McGrady and Joe Johnson is that McGrady is done while Johnson is a borderline franchise player. Get real, NI. First Kirilenko and now another ridiculous contract. Sure they are both available, but so is Eddie Curry. While you’re at it, what’s Steve Francis up to? None of them would help much on the court and they would only be distractions.

As far as tonight’s game, I am hoping that Devin won’t get demolished by Aaron Brooks. If Flynn was a problem, Brooks could really light it up with his speed and aggressiveness. It will also be interesting to see how Brook does against the talent-limited but fundamentally sound Rocket front court. It would be a great win for us to take out this deceptively tough and well-coached opponent.

I don’t see how McGrady is done. Sure a couple off seasons due to injury but from what I see it’s pretty much fixed now. And I’m sure T-Mac is eager to ‘prove all them haters wrong’.

Landry is a beast.