the Nets....

Nice post, we had a great off season not the one we were hoping for but this season will be fun.

I’m really happy about our teams recent changes. The Nets, however, spent some of their money unwisely. Although, the Morrow and Farmar signings were great deals, the Nets greatly overpaid for Travis Outlaw and Petro. I would give us a B+ because of our coaching staff, owner, draft, and this trade. Nevertheless, those two signings have the potential to be very big mistakes. Hopefully, we can reach a #7 seed in the playoffs, because I would rather be in the lottery again than have consecutive #8 seed seasons like at the end of the Kidd, Jefferson, and Carter age.

Change Morrow to 95/100
Add Outlaw 65/100
Add Petro 55/100

and you should end up with something around 70 as an average.

Our choice of coaching staff FORCED us to DRASTICALLY overpay for a group of players who will make ABSOLUTELY no difference in our ability to compete with the top teams in the East for the FORESEEABLE future, so that grade should NOT be higher than a 60 under ANY circumstances.

Not to mention irrelevant to the overall goal.

But could use some changes and expansion, if you’re going to grade an off-season, grade all of it, not just the major moves.

1) Drafting Favors – A-/B+

Favors has legitimate star PF potential with his mix of athleticism and size. He actually is more of a refined scorer than I expected after watching his final summer league game but I love this pick on his potential alone. Should contribute immediately. If Cousins becomes a superstar, could be a mistake.

2) Drafting James – A

For the spot the Nets picked him, they could have gotten the steal of the draft. Works hard, is athletic, good rebounder for his size and should provide the Nets bench with energy any time he steps of the floor. Should have been picked 7-8 spots earlier and is a good value pick.

3) Signing Avery Johnson – A-/B+

Coach with the highest winning percentage comes to the Nets. Preaches defense and hard work and should make the Nets more disciplined. Only true concern is how demanding he is of his players and how it destroyed his situation in Dallas. Furthermore, one has to wonder how much control he has over Billy King; if he is Larry Brown 2.0 (Charlotte Bobcats version), we could have problems

4) Signing Sam Mitchell, Larry Krystowiak, Popeye Jones; Retaining John Loyer and Tom Barrise – A

A former coach of the year as lead assistant, former head coach as the number 2, good rebounding big man coach in Jones and two guys who the remaining players are familiar with in Loyer and Barrise. Good moves.

5) Signing Jordan Farmar – A- /B+

Two-time champion PG comes to NJ. Finally, he gets a chance to showcase his skills outside of the triangle offense. Attitude concerns may come to fruition but hopefully AJ will keep him in line. Furthermore, is he that much of an upgrade over Dooling?

6) Signing Anthony Morrow – A

Arguably the best shooter in the NBA comes to the Nets. Should help solve some of the Nets scoring woes and should make them more potent off the bench. Furthermore, his contract is reasonable and he could end up being very underpaid in three years.

7) Signing Travis Outlaw – B-/C+

Question marks come with this move. Very clutch scorer and is extremely athletic. However, was he overpaid? Potentially, even though his contract was essentially the MLE. Considering he has never started previously, expect a spike in his overall numbers. Yet, Outlaw is most definitely replaceable and is probably filling a hole until the Nets look to make a move for an impact swingman.

8) Signing Johan Petro – B-/C+

Good backup center, yet he may have been overpaid. Young and athletic, however, and he could be a very steady backup. Has size and length. Is also replaceable as he is a backup C.

9) Traded Yi Jianlian to Washington for Quinton Ross – B

Yi never really fit in here and was terrible next to Lopez. He has all the skills and should ideally be a legitimate scoring threat. However, he is inconsistent, oft-injured and seems weak mentally. Could he have been a cheap, good backup PF? Maybe, but he would have never really fit in here in the long-run. I had high hopes but I was ultimately disappointed. This a B because his potential could make this look ugly.

10) Signing Ben Uzoh, Sean May, Brian Zoubek – Indifferent

None will get any significant minutes and they may not even make the team. Uzoh has the most potential because of his size and speed at the PG position. Taking a flier on May makes sense and provides competition with Humphries for that final big man spot. Zoubek is nothing besides offensive rebounding, was unhappy with this signing from the beginning. At least has a winning pedigree at Duke

11) Expansion of Nets Management – A+

May have been one of the sole reasons the Nets lost more games than they should have last season. Keeping Roy Rogers as an advance scout and bringing in Bob Ferry makes a lot of sense and should help give the coaches more time to focus on their players. Will most definitely make the Nets better in the long-term. Thank you Prohkorov.

12) Traded Courtney Lee for Troy Murphy – A-/B+

Excellent move for the team in the short and long term. Provides a legitimate starting NBA 4 and provides insurance for Favors (even though I thought he could have started regardless). Losing Lee frees up any sort of potential issue at the 2-3 and moves T. Will into the starting lineup. Furthermore, Murphy has a $12 million expiring contract, is a New Jersey native and an excellent rebounder. Injury concerns hurt this deals rating.

What’s next? I could see the Nets re-signing Jarvis Hayes as an insurance policy at the swingman position. I have always liked Jarvis Hayes, his game and most importantly his professionalism. Provides the Nets with a good veteran presence in the locker room, which is something they desperately need.

Harris/Farmar/Uzoh
Williams/Morrow/Hayes
Outlaw/James
Murphy/Favors/Humphries
Lopez/Petro

That looks like a team right there, at least good enough to compete for a 6-7-8 seed in the Eastern Conference.

Overall Offseason Grade – B+

The Nets lost out on the big name free agents but still walked away with a very good coaching staff, two young prospects in Favors and James, a much improved bench and an overall deeper team. Furthermore, they still have cap flexibility even with the Murphy trade, as next season they could have $20 million in cap room. Also, they did not give up any draft picks and still have them as tradeable assets.

Does going to the playoffs hurt their draft prospects? Definitely, but if they want to make a serious push at someone like Carmelo Anthony or Chris Paul, they have to make the playoffs. Plus, from a morale standpoint, it’s a necessity.

Solid off-season, I’m looking forward to the upcoming season. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the Nets in the press this much in one off-season ever. Especially coming off a 12-win season.