In Tuesday's roll-out event, Billy King met with the media and immediately gave notice that he's moving aggressively to fulfill his promise to put a team on the court at Barclays Center that Brooklyn "can be proud of". Asked what his greatest tool will be in free agency, King replied, "Money."
"We have cap space, we have the potential to create more cap space," King added, noting as well the benefits of Brooklyn and Barclays Center.
In the biggest news, King said he wants to re-sign Gerald Wallace to a multi-year deal. Wallace is expected to opt out of his $9.5 million contract before a June 13 deadline. King said the Nets plan to talk with him as soon as they can and indicated that was always the plan.
He also called Deron Williams, Wallace, Brook Lopez, Kris Humphries and Gerald Green "core pieces" among the team's free agents but wouldn't guess how many of the team's 11 free agents will return. King also reported that he'll meet with Bojan Bogdanovic and his Turkish team, Fenerbahce, next week in Istanbul. The Nets hold Bogdanovic's rights but he doesn't have an "NBA out" in his contract till 2013.
On this year's draft, King said he would be great to get top three pick, but that Wallace can help the team more than any draft pick they give up (#6 through #10). Even if he doesn't get lucky in the lottery, King noted that in 2003, while with the 76ers he didn't have a first round pick, but wound up with Kyle Korver at #51 and Willie Green at #41.
As for Williams, Stefan Bondy tweeted before the King availability that "From everything I've been hearing, Deron Williams is leaning toward re-signing with the Nets. There's still a lot that can happen, though."
- Billy King: Gerald Wallace deserves a multi-year contract - Stefan Bondy - The InterNets
- Nets GM would like Wallace back - Tim Bontemps - New York Post
- Billy King has busy summer ahead - Tim Bontemps - New York Post
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Nets' Billy King mulls several roster decisions - Roderick Boone - New York Newsday
- GM hopes to keep Gerald Wallace - Mike Mazzeo - ESPN New York
- King says Deron Wililams and Gerald Wallace top off-season priorities - Colin Stephenson - Star-Ledger
- Nets GM confident G Deron Williams will stay - Tom Canavan - AP
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NETS: King Confident About Offseason Action - Ben Couch - Brooklyn Nets
- Is Deron Williams leaning toward re-signing with Nets? - Kurt Helin - NBC Sports
- Report: Deron Williams 'leaning' towards re-signing with the Nets - Royce Young - NBC Sports
- Day One of the Brooklyn Nets Went Well - Will Leitch - New York Magazine
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The Nets Need To Be Honest With Themselves - Daniel Marks - DIME