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It's draft night, with Trader Billy in the war room

By Net Income
Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images

Here are some fun facts about the Nets and Billy King's record on Draft Nights past, courtesy of Fred Kerber and Andy Vasquez:

--This is the first Draft Night since 2011 that the Nets have a first and second rounder going into the Draft.

--The last Draft Night where the Nets went without a transaction --a trade, the purchase of a pick, etc.-- was 2007. Among those who moved since: Richard Jefferson, Vince Carter and Ryan Anderson, outbound; Bojan Bogdanovic, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett inbound.

--As Philadelphia GM, King made 14 draft-night trades or purchases from 1998 to 2007. As Brooklyn GM, he's made another eight since 2011. That's 22 in 13 years as GM.

"I’ve been very aggressive in the past," King said last week in an understatement. "Come draft time it’s pretty systematic, so we know who we’re going to take when the time comes. So we’re constantly focusing on trying to move up and buy picks and do other things, to try and attack the talent that we’ve targeted."

King said he's not about moving up to a place, only about getting a player the Nets want.

"Generally, when you’re trying to move up, you’re only moving up for a certain guy," King said. "So you tell [another] team, ‘We’ll trade that pick if our guy’s still there.’ "

So it's opportunistic.  What's he looking for?

"And then we’re going to look for guys who are going to fit with Lionel and the way he wants to play," King said. "Tough-minded, try to get some guys that can move the ball around a little bit. Shooting is always at a premium, if you can get that."

Lionel Hollins told beat writers at the HSS Training Center Tuesday that he's leaving the nitty-gritty to King and the scouting staff.  But he knows what he likes.

"[Y]ou want a culture made of guys that are passionate about playing and have a good feel for playing. They go out and they play with intensity and they are hard-nosed, don't back down. They don't quit. Because ultimately that's what you win with,' Hollins said. "What position they are, we are seeing, has little bearing."

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