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Brooklyn Nets General Manager Billy King took some time on Wednesday to answer questions from Nets fans about the team, their new head coach and give injury updates on Deron Williams who had multiple ankle surgeries in May.
The questions were submitted by fans and then picked by the team for King to answer.
Here are a few of the highlights from the conversation, which were relayed to fans who were not able to attend the conference call via the Brooklyn Nets Twitter account.
.@bkdefend Nets GM Billy King says Brook and Deron have both seen the Dr. recently..Deron is out of the boot #Nets -LR
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) July 23, 2014
Specifically, King said both are on target, "Brook is doing great, has good balance, his pictures look good." D-Will, he said, should be able to resume basketball-related activities in early September which was the original plan.
.@bkdefend Nets GM Billy King says going against Lionel Hollins' Memphis teams was a dogfight every nigh.that's what #Nets fans will see -LR
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) July 23, 2014
Hollins, he said, "Lionel is gonna push them probably like they've never been pushed since they've been in the league."
.@bkdefend Nets GM Billy King says Alan Anderson is one player he thinks will be more of a leader with the loss of Paul Pierce #Nets - LR
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) July 23, 2014
King added that even though Pierce is gone, "the intangibles he left behind, the instensity and toughness" remain with the team.
.@bkdefend #Nets GM Billy King says this team will surprise people because they will play w an edge. "People aren't looking at us.'' -LR
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) July 23, 2014
"We will be good," said King, adding that a number of Eastern Conference teams will need time to adjust to off-season player movements both in terms of subtractions and additions.
.@bkdefend #Nets GM Billy King says Miami is not the favorite in the Eastern Conference without LeBron. East is better overall - LR
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) July 23, 2014
Miami, Chicago, Charlotte and Indiana all have to adapt, singling out Lance Stephenson's departure from Indiana as a particularly big loss. New York, he said, has to adapt to a new coach and the triangle and that "will take some time." Toronto, on the other hand, is likely to be better because "everyone is back."
.@bkdefend #Nets GM Billy King says the big challenge for Mason Plumlee is not to be satisfied with his rookie season. -LR
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) July 23, 2014
Plumlee, he added, needs to develop and offense and "rebound the basketball." If he can rebound consistently, he will have a "great great future" said King.
.@bkdefend says he has spoken to Lionel Hollins about Markel Brown..they want him to be more aggressive #Nets - LR
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) July 23, 2014
On another young player, Sergey Karasev, King said the Nets interest goes back before last year's draft, saying the young Russian is "excited" about playing in Brooklyn and has "great upside." The Nets know that, he added, because "we did a lot of homework on him."
.@bkdefend Nets G Billy King says he'd like to get a lot of 6-8 players that can play multiple positions #Nets - LR
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) July 23, 2014
So, the good news is that Lopez and Williams are on track and that the Nets feel as if they're being overlooked this season, which is a much different place from where they were this time last year. No longer are people predicting 60 wins for the Nets, which is probably for the best, especially if it can take the pressure off the team in the early months of the season.