It's Time for Nets To Pull the Trigger on the Big Trade
Jason Kidd is 34. Vince Carter is 30. Richard Jefferson is 27.
In a nutshell, what that should tell you is that it's no time for the Nets to be thinking about the future. With the three best players rapidly approaching their sell-by dates, this team's window is shutting fast.
In turn, those facts should tell you that the Nets' off-season is far from over. Yes, they're pretty much done in free agency, because the signing of Jamaal Magloire (ugh) has put them at the luxury tax limit. In fact, the only move left is to re-sign Eddie House or bring in another combo guard of his ilk, just as soon as they can dispose of Mile Ilic's contract (geez, they sure soured on him fast, huh?).
But the Nets can't possibly bring this group back next year with a straight face … right? Especially after the non-events of last summer led directly to last season's disappointment. Standing pat would pretty much be a one-way street to 43–39, and while that kind of mark would make the Knicks ecstatic, the Nets are at a very different point in their history. With perhaps a two-year opening for the Kidd-Carter-Jefferson combo to re-climb the Eastern Conference mountain, the Nets need to be pulling out all the stops to get them the necessary help.
And pulling out the stops, in this case, means making a trade. If you accept that standing pat is not a realistic option, then team president Rod Thorn should be burning up the phone lines this August trying to get the final piece of the puzzle. Fortunately, he has a few assets to work with. Chief among them is Jefferson, who likely would be the centerpiece of any trade proposal because he's the youngest of the three. He also makes a lot of money, which is actually helpful — it allows the Nets to match contracts in a trade so that it meets the constraints of the salary cap for both sides.
In addition, Thorn has accumulated some interesting complementary pieces in the past few drafts. Promising young players like Nenad Krstic, Marcus Williams, Josh Boone, and Sean Williams are the kind of assets rebuilding clubs crave, so a team trading a star player would expect one or more from that group in return.
I would argue, in fact, that it's the proper move at this point. For instance, whatever the Nets may think of Williams's future, the facts are that he's going to play 10 minutes a game this season. With the team at a point where it needs to play all its chips, it seems almost foolish not to trade him.
The goal here would be to get the one thing the Nets have lacked in recent years — a low-post scorer capable of giving the Nets a halfcourt offense to match their potent running game. Every year, we see opponents cut off the Nets' running game in the postseason, forcing them to repeatedly run isolations for their only decent half-court scorer, Carter. Inevitably, the other team sends multiple defenders at Carter, repeatedly forcing him to kick the ball to secondary players, and we end up watching somebody like Boki Nachbar take the most important shots of the season.
Fortunately for New Jersey, the trade market is unusually heavy with power forwards. Four standouts have been particularly prominent on the rumor mill of late, each of which offer potential solutions. Here's a quick look at the menu and pricing:
LAMAR ODOM: The Nets supposedly had a three-way deal on the table that would have essentially swapped Jefferson for Odom, but the Bobcats put the kibosh on it because they wouldn't get rid of Gerald Wallace. Odom would be an odd fit anyway — his best skill is as a point forward, but the Nets already have a pretty decent point guard if I recall. Plus, Odom has no post game — he's more a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none type. He's a slight improvement on Jefferson, mainly due to durability, but this doesn't move my pulse much.
JERMAINE O'NEAL: The Nets and Pacers already talked about this deal once and are likely to revisit it if nothing else can be found. Reportedly, Indiana asked for a king's ransom — Jefferson, Krstic, Jason Collins, and Williams — while the Nets would only do the deal without Williams in it. Given O'Neal's injury proneness and erratic offensive output the past two years, I'm not sure he's worth the price. However, he's become a monster on D and would fit well in Jersey's system.
PAU GASOL: Now we're talking. This is easily the best post player available, though I use that term loosely — Memphis seems to have cooled on the idea of dealing him. Though prying him away from the Griz would be expensive — Jefferson, Krstic, and a first-rounder would be the minimum ante — this is the one player who fits in the best. He can run the floor with Kidd and Carter, he can score in the post, and he's a great passer. Plus, he's still in his prime at 27. Of course, those all are reasons the Grizzlies probably will relent and keep him.
KEVIN GARNETT: Ah, dare to dream, people. The Nets can't realistically absorb his salary and he's not really a post scorer, but he's far and away the best player out there. That's why the Nets — like nearly every other team — are trying in vain to find a way to make this work. Don't hold your breath.
