That must have been some knee problem.

The Nets, who two days ago looked like an Eastern Conference contender, today look like much less of a threat after rescinding a trade for Portland’s Shareef Abdur-Rahim yesterday. New Jersey became skittish after Abdur-Rahim’s physical turned up scar tissue in his knee and pulled the plug on the deal after consulting with several doctors.

The Nets had agreed to send a first round pick and a $4.9 million trade exception to the Blazers for the high-scoring forward, who would have signed a six-year, $38 million deal with Portland and then immediately been dealt to the Nets. Not only would Abdur-Rahim have filled the void at power forward left by the Kenyon Martin trade last year, but he would have allowed the franchise to keep their mid-level exception to sign other players.

Now all of that is in shambles. The Nets’ original Plan B, Stromile Swift, signed with Houston days ago. Ditto for the other high-scoring forwards while the Nets were pursuing Abdur-Rahim. Additionally, the Nets’ trade exception was due to expire at midnight yesterday, leaving New Jersey scrambling to find a team willing to make a deal.

The Nets ultimately traded their exception to Philadelphia yesterday for big man Marc Jackson, a stunningly good trade in light of the late hour. The big man can score, especially on jump shots from the foul line area, but he doesn’t have much of a post game and can be a defensive liability. Nonetheless, he averaged more points per minutes than Abdur-Rahim did last year, and nearly as many rebounds. He also has a friendly contract – there are two years left at roughly $5 million a year.

Nets general manager Rod Thorn deserves credit for salvaging a quality player from his trade exception on such short notice.

And, by the way, how does it feel to be a Sixers fan right now? It’s bad enough that they just spent half the money in the free world on mediocrities like Kyle Korver and Willie Green. Now they give away their best frontcourt reserve for peanuts (reports said only “cash and future considerations”) to a division rival. Somebody explain to me again why Billy King still has a job?

Let’s not kid ourselves, though. Losing Abdur-Rahim takes a great deal of wind from New Jersey’s sails. With Abdur-Rahim, New Jersey had its first reliable post scorer in eons (K-Mart was many things, but a post scorer he wasn’t), and he represented a monumental offensive upgrade over Jason Collins. The Nets also got a steal on his contract. While teams flung $70 million deals at lesser players like Joe Johnson, Abdur-Rahim’s deal was for a very reasonable $38 million.

All of which brings up the question: has been a picture of health in his nine-year career, with his only extended absence being the result of an elbow injury last season. How badly did the Nets expect his performance to suffer that they would deep-six a trade so late in the process? Keep in mind, this is the same team that signed a sickly Alonzo Mourning to a four-year, $22 million deal two years ago and didn’t think twice about it. Has getting burned by ‘Zo made Rod Thorn gun shy, or is Shareef’s knee really hanging by a thread?

While the Nets are probably disheartened by the turn of events, Abdur- Rahim must feel twice as bad. He turned down a $47 million offer from the Bucks so he could come to New Jersey, and now he’s been cast out as damaged goods.

The Blazers have to be annoyed as well. Portland was due to get a first round pick from the Nets in return for conveying Abdur-Rahim to New Jersey, but now has nothing to show for it. Since Abdur-Rahim is a free agent again, it’s conceivable the Blazers could sign-and-trade him to a different team, but few teams have the assets that the Nets did to put such a deal together.

One intriguing option is Phoenix – if the Joe Johnson trade ever goes through. Atlanta had reached an agreement to trade two no. 1 picks and guard Boris Diaw to Phoenix in a sign-and-trade for Johnson. That deal would produce a trade exception worth roughly $5 million for the Suns, enabling them to obtain Abdur-Rahim in a deal similar to the one the Nets made.

But the trade is on hold right now because a member of the Hawks’ ownership group, Boston businessman Steve Belkin, won’t approve it. As a result, there’s a huge internal squabble within Atlanta’s convoluted ownership structure, with the other owners trying to oust Belkin. Yesterday, a judge in Boston stepped into the feud and blocked the removal of Belkin, saying a contract signed by all the owners last year prevents the group from voting him out.

But that’s par for the course this week – nixing sign-and-trade deals has become all the rage in the NBA. For the Nets, the Abdur-Rahim deal is an unfortunate setback that crimps their hopes of being legitimate Eastern Conference contenders this season. But give Thorn credit for landing a productive big man like Jackson at the last minute. New Jersey’s hopes may not be as high as they were a few days ago, but Thorn’s quick move keeps their status as heavy Atlantic Division favorites intact.

Mr. Hollinger is the author of “2005–06 Pro Basketball Forecast.”