FanPost

Billy King Appreciation


Everyone knows I have been a big supporter of Billy King throughout this whole process. He's been getting a lot of heat recently although it seems to have turned for the better today. I would just like to thank BK for turning the Nets into a good watchable team again. Ever since the Dwill trade I have liked his acquisitions. I was a big fan of the Wallace trade and even wrote a post defending it while most users thought it was the apocalypse. I like the Joe deal and like the Teletovic deal even more. Not bragging but I did say the best team we could field would have him starting at PF on a post about a week before free agency. But back to BK I just want to walk through what exactly he did for the franchise.

This is the roster BK had when he assumed the General manager position before the 2010 season.

Harris/Farmar/Uzoh

Morrow/Vujacic

Outlaw/Graham

Murphy/Favors/ Hump

Lopez/ Petro

This team was/is/ and would be awful. Their isn't one player on this list who is better than what we have now. They were hard to watch and Outlaw Graham and Vujacic are at best role players. Murphy was horrible and there isn't a word that can effectively describe Petros atrociousness(that word may fit but I made it up). Keep in mind BK didn't sign any of these guys , they were gift wrapped as a partng present by Rod Thorn. I can't even keep degrading this roster as it would take too much time but for all BK detractors I just want y'all to look at the roster for a while, then maybe you will appreciate what he's done.

The Deron Williams trade

This is BKs greatest accomplishment so far. We stole arguably the best pg in the game away without anybody knowing. As a fan base we had taken a kick in face by Melo refusing to be traded here. We had the trade set up but he refused to sign an extension with New Jersey. We were on national television for all the wrong reasons. We had been publicly humiliated and it seemed as if the superstar model we tried to follow wouldn't work for us. Then Billy does the unthinkable and acquires Deron Williams for Devin Harris Derrick Favors and 3 draft picks. In an instant our whole future changed. Although he did have a player option, we still got a top 3 pg for a year and a half. We had a year and a half to get some talent to help Dwill out so that we could finally become relevant again. It was a gamble but it looks like now it's paid off. I wasn't of a member of Netsdaily at the the time but I thnk that the site was probably all for the trade. And even though we had got Deron at that time it was still up to BK to convince Deron to stay.

The Wallace trade

This trade if not for the Johnson deal would be the most heavily scrutinized deal BK has made. Just to remind everyone of the setting I'll try to revisit it. We were struggling as a team but not at the bottom of the barrel. Dwill was visibly unhappy and we had the worst SF rotation in the history of the NBA. The trade deadline was coming up and Howard had just waived his right of free agency. Losing Dwill n the offseason seemed almost assured. Lopez had a broken foot, the exact injury the killed Yao career, and we needed some talent that maybe could HELP convince Deron to stay. I'm sure BK talked with Deron and Deron thought it was a good move so we traded Shawne Williams, Mehmet Okur, and a top 3 protected pick. The outrage on this site was insane. Everybody was jumping off the deep end. Saying Billy had doomed us for all eternity. In reality though if you looked at the trade level headed it seemed like an alright move for both teams. Portland had a SF they liked in Batum and wanted to get rid of Wallace. The Nets desperately needed another quality player with Lopez out. We also were still fighting for a playoff spot. You can say what you want but we were 4.5 games back at that time. At the time it wasn't impossible for us to make it. But this trade was really made to appease Dwill and to show him we were serious about winning. Dwill had publicly stated that he wanted vets not potential. BK felt like everyone outside the top 3 wasn't ready to immediately be a major contributor. I have heard on the site "why not sign Wallace in free agency ?". People said just offer him a lot of money and he will comeWell that hadn't worked the past 2 years. We offered Lebron Wade Bosh Gay and Boozer the most money and they declined. We offered Butler and Chandler the most money and they declined. The definition of insanity is to keep doing something and expecting different results. Well by definition the users who thought that are insane. Instead BK tried something we hadn't done and what do you know it worked. Maybe Gerald would have resigned with us but I think playing with us those last 22 games and meeting with the FO helped out a lot.

The Joe Johnson trade

This was supposed to be the icing on the cake according to Chad Ford and 85% of this site. Joe had an awful huge cap killing contract. He was an overpaid player but he was still very good. People somehow thought this was the worst trade in history. We would be paying a 31 year old 90 mil over 4 years. Yeah that's bad no way around it. But Joe fills a huge hole n our team, scoring. We were the 24th worst scoring team in the league last year. Everyone saw how awful our offense looked. Joe hasn't averaged less than 18 since his 3rd year in the league and he's 2 years removed from averaging 25 a game. Joe also will thrive with a playmaking guard like Dwill. He will be one of the best second options in the league. He will get open looks and he will prevent Lopez from being doubled. In addition to this Joe is on of the most clutch players in the NBA and can make any shot on the floor. We also gave up nothing but cap space for him. We got rid of Farmar and Petro. I'm sorry to see Morrow go but it had to happen. I'll say it again but WE GOT RID OF PETRO. We finally have a legit playoff team and to me this team could contend in a weak east. Before you go crazy remember Dwill took Utah to the West finals with a team that is about even to the team we have now. BK made a trade that made us a playoff team at least for years to come. I saw a lot of "Bk needs to be fired he killed our championship dreams". What are y'all talking about ? Championship dreams ? WE ARE 3 YEARS REMOVED FROM 12-70. Le me repeat that 12-70. And we are worried about championships ? Let's take it one step at a time. BK traded scrubs and a lottery protected pick for a all star, whose been an all star 6 years in a row.

I applaud what BK has done. This is the roster we will be going into Brooklyn with.

Dwill/Kidd

Joe/MarShon

Gwallace/ GGreen???

Teletovic/ Evans

Lopez/ Foote

Thats way better than the 12-70 roster. I'm excited for the upcoming season and I am more than satisfied with the job BK has done.

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