Billy King on lost draft picks, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett

In an interview with WIP Radio in Philadelphia Friday, Billy King talked about a lot of things --Lewis Katz, LeBron James and who might fit Philly's draft needs-- before Mike Barkann asked him if he's "concerned" that he doesn't have any picks in this year's draft or first round picks in the 2016 and 2018 drafts. Both of course were sent to Boston for Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett.

"It does a little bit," said the Nets GM, "But we'll be looking to acquire other assets down the road to replace some of those. Right now, in those years you say [we] dont pick especially 16, 17, we're  looking at a lot of cap space.

"So that point in time, you want to maximize cap space so you try to project out and when you get to '18, you can make deals to get picks going forward," King added.

The Nets of course want to preserve cap space for the 2016 free agency when players like Kevin Durant will be available. They've deliberately avoided trading for players with big contracts that year, as they did with Jarret Jack last season. King has also said the Nets will be looking for diamonds in the rough along the way, in places like this week's free agent camp. But at least for this year will be missing a D-League affiliate which most NBA teams see as a development tool.

Moreover, he believes the combination of New York, Jason Kidd as coach and Mikhail Prokhorov as owner will make the Nets increasingly attractive to free agents.

King also spoke again about the guys he got for those picks, saying as he did Wednesday, "Garnett is under contract and until something changes." Asked about how much more he thinks he can get out of Pierce, King echoed to a degree what Pierce after Game 5 in Miami.

"You know Paul is a free agent," he answered. "So we'll see what comes about July 1. But as Paul said ... I think Paul had a good year for us and I think he has at least two more good years, as Paul said." (Pierce's direct quote was, "Maybe one or two (years) at the most." Hey, a year could matter in contract talks.)

In talking about James's cramping at the end of Game 1 Thursday, King dismissed any concerns.  "I don't question anything that guy does.  Without him, they're not there.  I would never question LeBron James."

• Nets GM Billy King (Audio) - Michael Barkann & Ike Reese - WIP
• Billy King talks LeBron's cramps, Nets future - Devin Kharpertian - The Brooklyn Game