we should figure out a way to get tyrus thomas now…if bulls decide to trade for tmac maybe we can get involved by offering someone of our expiring contracts for thomas…but without proky who knows.

none of the big men in the draft are catching my attention…one of my favs right now: Wesley johnson.

Interesting. I think Thomas is a real stud, but I am not really sure why the Bulls don’t like him so much.

I think I still keep Yi though, when he is playing like this, his height is a huge asset. Would be great to have Thomas at the 3 spot though.

Ty Thomas would be a good power rotation player- one that provides strong help defense, rebounding, and skills for the uptempo game. He likely can be had this summer for anything above the MLE.

We can sign TT this summer if need be

I wouldn’t mind signing Tyrus next summer. Either him, Udonis Haslem, David Lee or Luis Scola would be solid signing.

Should make you stop and think, real hard, when a “stud” like Thomas is being shopped around.

Yi has his faults, but you got to love his hard work and dedication to his profession.

If Yi continues to improve, the R.J. trade will look like a big time steal.

And if you decide to trade Yi, you have to factor in his huge Chinese Market. That makes him even more attractive to potential suitors.

Money makes the world go round.

I think it was because of Del Harris.

Ty Thomas should be on our list of second tier guys for this coming offseason. I think David Lee is pricing himself out of our range for that second guy. Portland should have extended the same offer they made to Millsap to Lee this past offseason. They would have had Lee for sure because the Knicks do not want to lose any cap space for next year. The Blazers could sure use Lee especially with Oden out. And Andre Miller is not doing much for them. I also like Al Harrington for the second tier guy. He is a shotmaker and you can get by with him defending 3’s or 4’s. I am not sure if I would prefer Harrington or Thomas. It probably depends on Yi’s development on defense and who we are able to get, if anyone, as our top guy in free agency.

By the way, we have to at all costs try to dump Najera on someone. Having him on the cap is going to be the difference in being able to offer a guy like David Lee 9 million per year to start compared to 12 million a year to start. Over the life of the contract, with escalating salaries, it would mean like a 25 million dollar difference, and it absolutley can be the reason why a borderline all star like Lee chooses some other team over us. Najera = worst signing of Thorn era.

Please, just say no to Harrington.

Their are “reasons” talented players like Harrington move from team to team.

If the Knicks don’t want him, why should the Nets?

Players might become available soon, that we didn’t think would be, so let us wait for the “right” player.

I agree about dumping Najera, I think it might be possible but we may have to give up a draft pick which would be fine if as we could give away Dallas’s which is looking like it will near the bottom of the first round.

If Prokhorov demands we trade for AK47 at the February deadline perhaps we can include Najera along with multiple expiring contracts and a swap of picks with them and their Knicks pick. I imagine at the moment the Knicks will pick between 8-14 and it the Jazz could protect it for the top 3.

The Nets didn’t want Thomas last summer. Why would they need to sign him this summer? What has he ever done, other than show potential?

Yi has looked like a potential all-star the last week. That’s not my line. That’s Tim Capstraw’s line. He keeps this up and improves his defense (which he can play), the Nets will have two VERY young seven footers with solid long term prospects. In the last four games, we’ve seen Yi drive the lane…and finish strong, take and make three point shots, hit lefty hook shots in the paint, make a couple of nifty spin moves in the low post and block shots with authority. Tyrus Thomas has never had a four game stretch like Yi has had.

Harrington is a waste of space. The guy wants to be a star yet plays like a second tier player. Do we really want a player like this?

A starting 5 of Harris, CDR, Thomas, Yi and Lopez would be pretty nice right now.

depending on what we get in the draft…i think we should sign thomas. if yi averages 15+ for the season he can stay as a starting pf…tyrus would be a great back up.

@ Andy

agreed, Tyrus could be a solid backup.

I think Haslem would be a great fit here too. Lee may be too pricey. I like Scola, but Rockets can match any offer.

We should get one of those, re-sign Boone and draft a big like Cousins, Varnado, etc with the Mavs pick, and our big man rotation would look great

Yi/FA (Thomas, Haslem, Lee)
Lopez/Boone/Mavs pick

This question should prolly be for “BullsDaily” but why is Chicago ALWAYS trading away young talent?

Remember the Baby Bulls of 4 years ago? Except for Nocioni their top 8 rotation players were all like 24 yrs old, and except for Deng and Hinrich, they’re all gone now.

Hope these Baby Nets get more than 2 yrs together before they’re all traded away. Any of the big name free agents is a MUST next summer but I’d love to see the core of Harris/CDR/TWill/Brook and even Yikes (if he can keep it up for more than 5 games) grow together.

@NetIncome -
The Nets did not want to trade Yi for Thomas last summer. It does not mean that they wouldn’t like to have Thomas, it just means that they didn’t think getting Thomas was worth losing Yi. Smart decision. Thomas is playing a lot better lately, he can rebound the basketball and change shots on defense. He seems like he is starting to mature now. I think he will have his fair share of suitors come this offseason.

@Seeker
While I do not think of Harrington as a great player, he is much more than a waste of space. He is a big matchup problem for a lot of PFs in the league and he can hit shots and stretch a defense. That is important and it would become even more important if we are able to land a true star. I would think of him as a bench player and his minutes could increase if Yi is having an off night shooting the ball. By the way, Thorn has always liked Harrington and has tried to trade for him in the past.

yeah…great idea imo…but it all depends if Yi is consistent with his offense.

Why would the Nets trade for a guy whose attitude has been questioned since he was drafted? Sean Williams is Tyrus Thomas Lite.

I would like evidence that Thorn has tried to trade for Harrington. I would also like evidence Thorn will be the Nets GM next summer.

Noah’s attitude has been questioned since he was drafted too. That said, I still bet Thorn wishes the Nets traded Swat to get him when he had the chance.

I would have made the Thomas-Yikes move in a second BUT I also hafta admit that I NEVER expected these past 5 games out of my favorite Chinese 30 yr old :)

It’s only 5 games but this looks like a great non-move by Thorn. Give me another 40 games of this and that RJ move might even look like a steal. (for the Nets!)

We are approaching silly season where all the struggling teams will look to unload bad contracts, bad attitudes and bad mistakes onto other teams.

This will be followed by the FA silly season where every agent will link their player to the soon to be rich and talent short NETS to try and leverage better contracts with other teams.

We will probably get to discuss half the players in the league as could have should have might be NETS over the coming 7 months. We lack wins, but we definitely will not lack for posting topics!

@NI
I don’t have any proof that Thorn tried to trade for Harrington but I do recall there was a lot of chatter we were making a push for him in our days of the big 3 + Nenad when we had that gaping hole at the 4 spot and Harrington was on the Hawks. I believe it has something to do with a trade exemption we had. In any case, I don’t think of Harrington as an optimal free agent choice, but I do think he would make us better and should be considered an option. I feel the same way about Thomas. As long as Yi continues to show consistency, I would see them both as backups.

@chris2

It would be nice if Harrington accepts his role as a bench player or a 3rd option. Unfortunely he wants to be the number 1 option. He is certainly for the Knicks now and was unhappy with Golden State. The problem with Harrington is he doesn’t accept his role. Where does Lopez, Yi, and Harris if Harrington is here.

@ Brooklyn Johnny,

Yi is making you eat your words that you said a month ago.

It was obvious Yi had skill. All he needed was the right coaching to achieve his potential. Personally, I thought Frank never really understood Yi’s game and that cost Yi development time last year. This year, KIki and Del are showing how good the nets can be with this lineup. It’s unfortunate that the team was injured so much in the beginning of the year.

I wouldn’t mind Thomas as a 3. He can definitely be a good rebounder at the 3. This way, Yi can focus more on the offensive end. Thomas can also sag in the paint and get weak-side rejections. Plus, on the fast-break we can have Yi and Thomas running the floor and getting alley-oops. Both tremendous leapers. Lopez will start the break with his play on the defense, Harris, CDR, Dooling, or Lee will dribble downt he lane and have an option of Yi or Thomas on the wings, or Lopez as a trailer. :D

Jameer Nelson is struggling in Orlando. Orlando is thinking title or bust this year.
  
What combination of players, picks and draft exceptions works to get Rafer back to Orlando and something useful back to the NETS?

@Seeker

Harrington doesn’t think he’s a number one option at all, he’s the frontrunner for sixth man of the year, and he’s putting up 19 a game pretty efficiently..

And let’s not anoint Yi the savior just yet..it’s been only four games guys.

Ty Thomas is like SWat… all potential but will never be able to put it all together.

If the Nets could get Tyrus for next to nothing that would be a good deal. Months ago, I’m sure tons of Nets fans would have yelled and be appalled by the Nets not accepting the deal for Yi.

A lot of teams know that Yi performing well, not only might help the team on the basketball court but it’s going to bring in tons of $$$ in the marking department. This is something fans probably don’t really care about, but let’s all remember that the NBA is also a business.

Yi > thomas

29 teams > Nets team

People like to say Tyrus is just like Swat. Perhaps there are some similarities in terms of not performing up to their potential and maturity issues, but the fact is also that Tyrus is MUCH more productive in the minutes he has received than Swat, and he fouls MUCH less. Tyrus is getting about 24 minutes a game but if you project his numbers over 35 minutes, he is averaging about 14 points, 11 boards, and 3 blocks per game. About 2 fouls per game. Swat would give you about 3 blocks in those minutes, about 10 fouls, and half as many points and boards. So, Tyrus does not equal Swat.

The better comparison for Tyrus Thomas is Stromile Swift.

In any case, why would we want Thomas? He’s going to be looking for, like, $10 million/year+ after the season. I’d rather have Yi for $5 million.

Clutchfans have a Yi thread,interesting.

@NI,

This is the 2nd time I’ve seen you call TT a headcase, yet you have no supporting evidence for this. I’ve never seen him make any sort of waves in Chicago. The only reason Chicago may have been disappointed is because they traded Aldridge for him on draft night, and the fact he’s taken some time to get where he is, but guess what? He’s only 23. He’s started at the 3 and the 4, he’s come of the bench for them (even this season), and yet I’ve never heard him complain about his role.

Instead of bad-mouthing him, why not provide some links to where he has been a “headcase” or at all comparable to Sean Williams? It seems to be me you simply don’t like a certain kind of player (Swat, TT, CDR, T.Will) and tend to generalize.

You didn’t address this “headcase” angle last time I pointed this out, so I don’t expect you to now. You also claimed Chicago would match any TT offer as though he will be a restricted FA. TT’s cap hold would be close to $10m, and the Bulls have bigger and better plans next summer, such as Wade, Amare, Boozer, etc. etc. They have no chance at these guys unless they renounce TT. The chances of Chicago not renouncing the rights to TT, are about the same as us not buying out Dooling for $500k, as you and I both believe will happen. I addressed this last time as well, and you did not address this either.

Tyrus Thomas
-Can play the 3 or 4 offensively and defensively
-Is a great defender
-Is a great shot-blocker
-Is a good rebounder
-Is young and improving
-Could be had for slightly more than the MLE
-Allows Yi to start, and he could be our #1 F off the bench or start at the 3.
-Will cost about 1/3 of what Bosh or Amare would, and maybe half of what Boozer or Lee would

I’m not sure what better options are out there that are realistic, affordable, fit the teams needs and fit the team’s dynamic.

Again, we need to spend our money in 2010, since we lose $10+m in 2011 by simply doing nothing.

This is another angle I have brought up, asked for your input and you never responded.

How does waiting for 2011 help when:

-the 2010 crop of FAs is much much better and much much deeper
-the cap could continue to decrease
-all of our contracts increase annually (other than Najera)
-CDR and Yi would need to be extended
-We have 6 draft picks in 2010 and 2011 that would take up cap space/cap holds

Other than less competition, I see no valid reason.

Yes, I’m a little cranky today, but after a while, it gets frustrating coming to this site and seeing one of it’s administrators seemingly push his own agenda, berate players, fellow Nets fans, and then when asked to explain themselves, they simply ignore.. me at least. And then have my comments sit on hold waiting for moderation for hours at a time.

Something else, I’ve asked you about that you have never addressed. I see several others posters make post after post within minutes of each other, while mine can sit there for a couple of hours. Am I treated different than the other posters, or have I been “red-flagged” for some reason?
I don’t think I’ve ever said anything incorrect or offensive. The only poster I ever had an issue with was Brooklyn Bob, because of his negativity and more specifically calling Kiki’s 16 year old niece hot, when she was playing in the US Open.

BTW, I find it funny that NI, you ask for proof that Thorn tried to trade for Harrington or that Thorn will be back next year, despite your lack of effort to support what you say.

The whole “his attitude has been questioned” is weak.

Has TT ever been kicked off his college team (no he was busy leading them to the final 4 or finals (can’t remember)), has he been arrested, kicked out of the D-league, etc, etc?

Almost every Net has had his “attitude” questioned at one point or another.. Harris, CDR, Lee, Yi, Boone, Alston. About the only ones who haven’t are players that won’t be here much longer (Hassell, Hayes, Dooling).. except for Lopez.

And Chris2 is right, of course NJ didn’t want TyThomas… at the expense of Yi, and of course NY wouldn’t want TyThomas since they would have renounced him anyway next summer to preserve their cap space.

@Jack Handy;
 
 It’s good to know that I’m not alone. The way I figure it, ND and NI love our intelligent, clever and sublime postings so much, they hold them so they won’t miss them, and can devote special attention to our “handy” work. LOL

Why would you want TT at the 3 when u have cdr.

Harris/Dooling
Lee/twill
Cdr/hayes
yi
brook/battie

This nine man rotation should treat us pretty solid the rest of the yr. Battie can play the 4 and hayes can too to give yi a break. TT can stay in chicago. He has had “talent” for yrs yet it has never emerged

I wouldn’t lose any sleep over aquiring TT for the right cost. He is young, hungry and improving. We have a plethera of options with out draft picks and cap space. His skills compliments Lopez’s and can probably bring more out of Yi. We’ll definitely get more out of him than Najara.

@Bruce,

The Nets should pursue TT in the off-season when he is a FA. Hayes will probably not be back.

In a perfect world, we land John Wall, which we should have a 25% chance to do…. much higher than any chance of landing LBJ, Wade, Bosh or Amare.

If we got Wall, maybe we can trade Harris and Najera for an upgrade at the 2/3. I’d love to do some sort of deal with Memphis for Gay, Conley and Haddadi. Conley is a very underrated PG, Gay has great size and shooting, and Haddadi could be a great back-up to Brook, and he gets no burn in Memphis.

So to recap:
Draft Wall if we get #1
Trade Harris, Najera, T.Williams for Conley, Gay (signed for 11m per year), Haddadi
Sign Tyrus Thomas for 4 years, $26m.
We would still have enough for a max FA or pretty close.
We could either sign that player outright, or look for a team desperate to shed salary.

2010-2011 NJ Nets
Wall / Conley / Vet PG
CDR / Lee
Gay / TyThomas
Yi / TyThomas / DAL #1
Lopez / Haddadi / #2
+
$16m in cap space.

HArris is here to stay everyone..his contract is too reasonable and he can ball.

If we land wall they’ll have to learn to play together.

I really like Wesley Johnson right now…my second favorite player other then wall in college.

I fail to understand why whenever the Nets have a good player, rumors instantly surface about trading him. I see no positives in trading away Harris for the hopes of getting a young point guard who has yet to prove himself in the NBA. Pretty soon we’ll be seeing rumors about trading Brook and CDR too…

@Jack Handy
I like your ideas, I think thats a good contingency plan if we strike out on Lebron. I probably would not trade Harris unless its a deal for additional cap space and young talent, and we know that it will lead us to getting two stud max free agents. Also I do think Tyrus Thomas is undervalued and would help us in a number of ways. I think the only reason the Nets may try to save some cap space for 2011 is because they may believe they have a legitimate shot at Carmelo.

If the Nets can get Thomas, they must do it. I wouldn’t trade Yi for him (no one would at this point) but I would explore other options and Free agency in the off season.
Last three games since Thomas has been back
Averages
30 minutes, 16 points, 10 rebounds, 2, blocks, 2 steals.

And developing…he may very well be our target if we can’t secure an A list free agent. I’d take him over Gay, we need defense

Thomas is a main reason for the Chicago turn around, just as Yi/CDR return is the reason for the Nets recent improvement.

Certainly NI should acknowledge this fact.

@Jay
I hope Jameer Nelson has a severe sprain so that Orlando has an excuse to try to get back Alston. I would of course want Brandon Bass back (salaries match) Bass doesn’t have any reputation problems. He isn’t getting PT, yet you don’t hear him complain.

Brandon Bass would be A Keeper. Nets wouldn’t get someone of his level with the Dallas pick. Just buyout Najera’s contract to help pay for his salary for 2010/2011.