Carter for O’Neal? What it Could Mean in 2010
January 21st, 2008, 12:53 am by NetsDailyTrading Vince Carter, Marcus Williams and Jamaal Magloire for a declining Jermaine O’Neal may not make a lot of sense at first glance, but could it pay off down the line? The guys behind NetsDaily talk it out.
This conversation took place before O’Neal revealed that he might miss the rest of the season.
NETSDAILY: Carter’s new contract is looking like a mistake these days. You’re not going to get much value in return, but if you can get out from under one or two of those years, you’ve got to think hard about it.
NET INCOME: I would not trade him for either O’Neal, both of whom are physically impaired and with worse contracts.
NETSDAILY: If you don’t count the ‘11-12 team option on Carter, both contracts are a year shorter. Not ideal, but it could pay off when O’Neal’s (your choice) contract expires in the summer of 2010.
When does LeBron James become a free agent (if he declines his player option)?
The summer of 2010.
When does Dwyane Wade become a free agent (if he declines his player option)?
The summer of 2010.
When will the Nets (possibly) be moving to Brooklyn?
The summer of 2010.
Vince is not a good fit with either Kidd or Jefferson. And if you deal him, you free up cap space in 2010 while still keeping Kidd as bait for James or Wade. In the meantime, you lose Carter’s scoring and playmaking, but you replace him with someone who’s more willing to defend and run the floor. I don’t think the dropoff in the standings would be that drastic. Heck, it couldn’t get much worse than it already is.
NET INCOME: How many season tickets will the Nets sell in 2008-09, 2009-10? That is a factor. Why would anyone buy a season ticket in a rebuilding season or two? The lesson Ratner learned in 2004 was not about winning. It was about marketing stars.
NETSDAILY: Do you really think Carter would sell that many more season tickets than Jermaine O’Neal? C’mon.
Carter’s ability to draw has passed. Check the decline in his All-Star votes, Jersey sales or the fact that Nike no longer promotes him or gives him a signature shoe.
Kidd is their biggest star and he would still be here.
NET INCOME: Jermaine O’Neal cannot practice and play games this season. He needs to rest his knee. He said that two days ago when he announced he would be out at least two weeks with a knee bruise. He said he did not anticipate being able to do both for the rest of the year either. He is owed $44 million after this season. He could easily be done, permanently, and certainly isn’t worth that much money. This wasn’t ACL surgery or microfracture. This was supposedly minor surgery on this knee.
The Nets sell very well away from the IZOD Center. Last time I checked they were sixth in road attendance. Too bad the Nets don’t get any of that revenue. Jersey fans are leaving them in droves. Telling Jersey fans “We are rebuilding for Brooklyn and you can watch us develop young talent for the Brooklyn Non-Nets” is hardly a way to market the team. They are in a real quandary. Over the next two years, once the construction starts, there will be a cash draw down in Ratnerville until they can get some revenue from Atlantic Yards. They can’t afford catastrophic losses. Ratner’s corporate parent agreed to lend the team $13 million last year to cover a percentage of the losses, according to company filings. The company was eating most of the losses until last year under their original deal with Ratner. The Nets have the highest debt to equity ratio of any NBA team, says Forbes.
As for Kidd, he couldn’t draw flies in 2004-05. And his marketability has devalued by his divorce and subsequent and various other issues. He’s a great player but has increasingly limited marketability.
I am not saying don’t trade Carter—I don’t care… I will still be a fan, but trading him for either O’Neal to get cap space to possibly sign Lebron James in 2010 is not a smart thing. Besides, I doubt we will see any major trades until the deadline.
And the EASY solution, one I don’t agree with, is… Fire Frank!
NETSDAILY: But the point is that you’re not going anywhere (in the standings or in filling the building) anyway. Might as well free yourself up of a year of paying someone who’s not getting you any closer to where you want to be.
With that contract, you’re not going to find many takers for Vince (Have we seen any proof that there were any this summer?). Expecting to get anything more than a guy with suspect knees in return is unrealistic. On the court, it may be a lateral move at best, but as I said above, it may pay off a little more than two years from now (though the chances of James or Wade leaving their current team are probably less than 50/50).
Of course, giving up on Marcus at this point is another question.
January 21st, 2008 at 7:51 am
you hear that netsdaily–its not smart.
you’re talking about a contract that is 13 million dollars this year. with carter’s numbers that salary amt is a bargain.
if the nets want to make things better and contend, its simple, there are two possible solutions.
the first one is get rif of rj’s contract with a package, which is dollar for talent much, much worse than carter’s and use it to either get an allstar pf, like oneill(if he stays healthy). that move could put them over the top. carter and kidd give the nets what rj cant give and thats develop the surrounding talent as well as compete. we saw carter and kidd bring along kristic in his rookie year, nachbar and moore last year, and boone and swill this year. with that continuing and a healthy player like oneill the nets will have the balanced talent level to contend. its for sure that if rj is not on the team carter will score over 25pts a game along with his rebounds and assist, and that 265 pts a game by carter somehow has a much stronger impact to the game than rj’s 24 pts a game as the nets are proving this year. the nets can also use rj’s contract to create more depth at the wing and forward postion. getting watson and wilcox for rj would fit the nets much better. wilcox is a beast who is athletic and runs with a post game. he would certainly fill kmart’s void with the nets. he is more skilled than kmart and his athleticism would be perfect with kidd and his pick n roll game would definitly suit carter. then yo get a shooter like watson who is a knock down shooter that the nets desperatly need. nachbar has suffered this year cause the offense isnt running through carter like it used too. if they trade rj carter will get most of the touches gatting nachbar back too his old self and in his comfort zone which is playing for carter.
the other solution is fire frank. listen folks its been how many years now since frank has coached and the nets have gotten nowhere except downwards in a spirral. all netfans, pundits, and analysts are shocked that the nest have underachieved mightely this year with all the talent they posess. its either the players arnt responding anymore or he simply isnt a championiship caliber coach. if the nets are thiniking along the lines of a championiship, then they got to take a hard look at frank. his substituion patterns have come to question, and lets not forget it took him over 20 games to figure out allen and collins in the starting lineup was suicidal. maybe this team needs a new voice a new leadership. it looks like they dont belive anymore. kidd says they are at best mediocre during the season and they can win games when they have to. that is basically another way of saying that they dont have a coach who can stay the course of the elite. i mean jkidd himself did say this is by far the most talent he’s ver played with. look at eddie jordan who has his team minus their best player play at a very high level. they beat the celts back to back and it isnt a flihe. they are something like 19-9 without arenas. now r you saying the wizards minus arenas are better than the nets as they are now? i dont think so. thron keeps on saying to wait and give frank time to have his team adjust. what about eddie, it took no time to adjust with inferior players. coaching is what usually takes a team over the top. look at the lakers, when they went and got phil, they won 3 straight.
anyways that trade doesnt make sense. the nets give 2 out of their 3 backcourt players away. vc is the sg the nets have, and dont say wright is he’s a sf, and give their future pg away. doesnt make sense at all. anyways when you have players like kidd and carter who create shots of double teams, the team needs shooters. besides carter is the nets only serious shooter. kidd is streaky who shoots at .366 % and most of his shots come off carter making plays for him. thats another reason why kidd isnt shooting as well or isnt getting many wide open shoots this year, carter isnt getting the ball at a consistant basis where the nets cant create any sort of identity or rythim all year offensively.
January 21st, 2008 at 9:12 am
Although I respect both your opinions. Those of us that are calling for a change are more on point. True you dont want to totally devalue the product by trading away everything before you get to Brroklyn and suffer through an abysmal arena and fan base for the next 2-4 years. Those of you who really believe that the Nets will be playing in Brooklyn by 2010-11 are smoking some good stuff. You cant fix apeice of cement in front of your home in Brooklyn in 2years how are you going to do a 4.2 billion complex in the heart of downtown Brooklyn. We are talking 4 years at least. What the Nets need is a slight tweak even if it means taking a small cap hit i.e. S, O Neal, Gasol and Artest. Try a push for Brand or Maybe even kaman. We did shoot our selves in the foot with Carter
(he a poster child for why you cant give out these long term contracts). Shaq would put more setas in the arena instantly!!! And Kidd owuld make it so much easier for him to do things around the basket. Keep Sean Williams, Boki for range and Jefferson if possible or you couyld trade Jefferson for Artest. Now you have a lineup of Kidd, Artest, Sean, Boki, Shaq and Curly still coming back.