FanPost

Let's be REAL and lay EVERYTHING out on the table................

Over the last 2 weeks or so, I've heard some pretty disturbing things from firing Avery to trading Lopez. Here's the thing. We need to come back to REALITY. I know the fantasy we were living at the start of the year and the high hopes is a lot nicer but the SOONER we do this, the BETTER most of us will sleep.



Everyone repeat after me. 'I'm a Net fan and WE SUCK'. Yes. We are fans of the LA Clippers of the East. With that said, we aren't going to get any respect. This team won't be on national TV anytime soon. This team doesn't have a STAR. Lopez, Favors, Morrow, Farmar and TWill all have upside. Even Hump has an upside. He's only 25. I think he still may be able to improve. The rest of this team is expendable. Please don't talk to me about Devin Harris. HE IS WHAT HE IS!!!!!!!!!! Because the rest of the league disregards us, we will either have to overpay to get a free agent here, take back a bad contract or take someone who has 'wore out their welcome' where they are at. Melo's NOT coming here! Let's just drop that now. I took my Alka Seltzer so I can say this............................Look at the Knicks. Amare is AN ALL-STAR! The Nets can't find ONE person to depend on EVERY night. One guy that you can say puts up a certain amount of numbers EVERY night. Hump is the CLOSEST thing we have. He had 7 boards and that's an OFF NIGHT for him! Harris had 5 TO but had 18 point 13 assists and 3 steals. Forget the 18 points. When was the last time he hit anywhere NEAR 13 assists. THAT'S what he has to do if ths team is going to win. Can he give us an average of 8 assists a game? He hasn't so far and he's 27. 'Potential' isn't the word to use anymore. He's grown into certain habits and I don't think he'll be able to get out of them. At this stage, I think he's more of a SG. If you can find a PG (or if you think Farmar is the answer), maybe you can move him there. There are two sides here guys. You can either 'let this team grow' and accept the losing or you can try to make a move to expedite the process. If you are for letting this team develop, you can't complain. We knew this was a young team and there were going to be lapses. I personally am in favor of the latter and 'speeding up' the development of this team. You may not win anything this year but it will help this team grow in more ways than one. I've got a few ideas here including revisiting an old fanpost of mine.

A while back I suggested trying to bring in Steve Nash. I took a lot of hell for that. While everyone is focused on the age factor, a lot of people are ignoring the positives of it. Even though Nash is 10 years older than Harris, he's a better PG IN HIS SLEEP than Harris. Nash is having a 'down' year and he's STILL averaging 18 and 10.5 assists a game. He's been quoted as saying that he's taking more shots than he'd like and he's better when he dishing the ball more. He's been on some successful teams even though he hasn't won a championship. He knows Avery already. He's a legit ALL-STAR. He can be a face on this franchise at least for the IMMEDIATE future to wipe away some of these bad memories. He can bring in players because players WANT to play with him. He can bring in fans (especially the ladies). He's played 74 or more games the last 10 years. He's durable. With him being an all-star, he can restore some credibility to this team. He can get this team POSITIVE exposure on TV. Maybe we'll be on ESPN once or twice. We have our pick this year and the GS pick. Why can't we draft a PG and have him and Farmar learn under someone like Nash? How about calling the T'Wolves and seeing if they're willing to move the rights to Rubio? While Avery may have been a good PG, most of today's players probably don't remember him or have never seen him. Some of you see it as giving up on an All-Star. Harris' 'star' is fading. Numbers wise it's a wash as far as points go almost. To bring in a ball handler that is averaging almost 5 assists a game and can knock down big shots when he has to is immeasurable. Also Harris has 2 more years after this. Nash has one. With Nash being a drawing card, if things go well and people start supporting this team, maybe you give him a year extension which will take him into the first year in Brooklyn. Personally, I think you may have to offer him the year up front to sweeten the pot but I think the reward is worth it. While there seem to be signs that Nash may be open to a trade, you have to AT LEAST look into this.The point is stop thinking about this just strictly as a BASKETBALL decision. This is a BUSINESS decision as well. Especially as we grow closer to Brooklyn. This team has to do something to make it relevant before it gets there. Otherwise NO ONE will care if we're near the Brooklyn Bridge and Proky owns the team. We might as well be owned by Sarah Palin because we'll be near the BRIDGE TO NOWHERE! There are a few other people who are possible who can help this team. Again, some of these names popped up in the last few months.

Being a second class citizen in your own area like the Clippers, the Nets may have to take a chance on someone who's worn out their welcome. Two guys come to mind. Iguodola and Arenas. EVERYONE knows the stories about these guys. To me, the major sticking point is WHAT do you have to give up for them? Both contracts are ridiculous and the teams want out from underneath them. Again, this is what we may have to take back to get a scorer in here. Someone who has something to prove and doesn't care about the history of this franchise. Murphy's contact would probably be a starting point and probably a pick (either our pick this year or the GS pick). They may try to ask for more but it won't cost us Favors or Lopez. I think Iggy's defense, play making ability and the fact that he hasn't been arrested is a DEFINITE plus and makes him the guy I'd target. I think he's a good fit to compliment Harris because they both can get to the hole.

This team needs to get Lopez and Hump (if he's still here) some help on the boards. There are a few guys who should be looked into and we've discussed these guys already. Andrei Kirilenko (I think he'll sign in the off season), Zach Randolph, Tayshaun Prince and Samuel Dalembert (yes I said it). All four are free agents at the end of the year. Randolph has been said to be a bit of a problem but one thing about him is that he is a double double waiting to happen. I don't think Memphis will resign him and they may look to get something for him. Despite what some people may think, I don't think Tayshaun is done. His game fits Avery's style and you can use him with Lopez and your Hump/Favors combo at PF. I know some people are saying Dalembert? ARE YOU NUTS??????????? This guy lost his starting job to Cousins and he also has Landry on the team also. He's STILL averaging 7.7 boards and 1.8 blocks. He's battling some tendinitis so he's probably better served coming off the bench. He also won't get ANYWHERE NEAR the money he's getting this year ($13.4 million). With his defense and inside presence, he's a guy who should be our backup center/power forward instead of Petro. Since he plays inside, he's going to work well with Lopez since Brook wants to take shots from the other side of the GW Bridge. They're not POPULAR choices but they are REALISTIC. If anyone has a REALISTIC player move to improve this team, please feel free to share it.

Here's the bottom line guys. Melo's NOT coming! Until we change the negative perception of this franchise, WE'RE NOT GETTING ANYBODY! No player is coming here to change this place by himself. If we don't have a LEGIT All-Star on this team that people can identify with and can bring it EVERY night, we're not getting the players, the national broadcasts or the positive press. Let's stop talking about the elite players for now and focus on getting a true All-Star. Firing Avery and trading Lopez isn't going to change things.