Billy King was making the rounds again Monday, talking to Stephen A. Smith about the Nets prospects both for the rest of this season and next summer when the Nets will be able to re-sign Deron Williams and Brook Lopez and keep Gerald Wallace, who has a player option.
King again expressed confidence in hanging on to Williams ("I feel pretty comfortable with Deron, but I still have work to do to continue to build this roster") and defending the Wallace trade ("If you're building a team, you've got to get building blocks...We needed a small forward") He also talked about adding more veterans in the summer.
On Gerald Wallace:
"If you're building a team, you've got to get building blocks...We needed a small forward."
On relations with Deron Williams:
"We talk ... I feel pretty comfortable with Deron, but I still have work to do to continue to build this roster, so that that next year, we're not sitting in this position where we are now."
"I don't think we've got to show Deron. I think Deron knows what we're doing. There's no surprises here that he's waking up one day and, 'Wow, I didn't know we were doing that.' He's not surprised by anything we've done."
"He doesn't come in and say, 'Hey, go get me this guy or that guy.' We talk about players."
"I like to talk to players and find out what they think about guys."
"I think if you look at the big picture, which he does, he knows what we're trying to accomplish. And I'm pretty comfortable, pretty confident, but still got work to do."
On showing improvement the rest of this season:
"That's our goal. We want to improve."
"If we can get [Brook Lopez] back on the court so he finishes on a positive note and the team finishes on a positive note, and with our cap space, we'll be OK."
On possible moves this summer:
"We could use that [Houston] pick to add another young player to the roster, but the $16 million [in cap space] will allow us to go out and fill in some holes now that we have, and some areas where I think we need to get stronger. And that's what we're going to look to do. We're going to look to add some more experience to the roster. You win in this league with experience. And that's the goal."