Over the span of 3 days, the Nets have been involved in trade rumors with the hawks involving Joe Johnson. While I like Johnson as a player, adding him gives our roster another aging veteran, in addition to Gerald Wallace, shortening our competetive window. Plus, his contract is the biggest in the league. If the Nets are looking to upgrade at the 2 guard position, i think they should take a look at Kevin Martin. While he may be overpaid as well, its not nearly the extent that Johnson is. He is also in the final year of his contract, so he would be able to resign for less.

The Nets have already been in trade talks with the Rockets this offseason, except that these talks have been centered around Luis Scola. The Rockets are actively shopping both Martin and Scola, so the Nets could grab both of them in the the same trade. K-Mart's production isn't a significant drop-off from Johnson's and he's paid 8 mil less. Luis Scola gets paid a little more than 8 mil, so the nets would get two players for the price of one. I'm not sure what the rockets are looking for, but it's most likely draft picks. It was reported that the Rockets wanted to trade Scola to make room for their young forwards, so I doubt they would want Humphries in a S&T. The Nets would probably need to send Petro, Morrow, Gains/ Farmar, and a combination of draft picks to get this deal done.

The Nets Roster

( and don't complain to me about the cap, because this salary addition is the equivalent of JJ's.)

PG: Deron Williams - $18 mil

SG: Kevin Martin - $11 mil

SF: Gerald Wallace - $8.5 mil (yes that's correct)

PF: Luis Scola - $8.2 mil

C: Brook Lopez - $7.5 - 8 mil

Total = $53.7 mil

That leaves the nets with 5 mil left to spend on role players.

While that looks like a lot, it's only for this year, because K-mart's contract is coming off the books next summer and he will probably resign for significantly less. (Plus we have a billionaire owner, so who give a crap about the salary cap anyway?) I know this is a bad defensive team, but if you substitute Johnson for Martin and Humphries for Scola, it's not any better. Tell me what you think in the comments below.

EDIT: i don't know what kind of exceptions the Nets have, but they might have the MLE or something of that nature to sign more role players.