Nets Agree to Deal With Abdur-Rahim
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
NEWARK, N.J. – Free agent forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim has agreed to play for the Nets, a person familiar with the negotiations said yesterday. The Nets also have reached an agreement with forward Clifford Robinson, the person within the league said on condition of anonymity. Contract terms were not available.
Free agent deals cannot be officially announced until the league’s new collective bargaining agreement is signed, something expected to occur within the next week.
The 6-foot-9-inch Abdur-Rahim played in 54 games last season for Portland, averaging 16.8 points and 7.3 rebounds. In a nine-year career with Vancouver, Atlanta, and the Trail Blazers, he has averaged 19.8 points and 8.1 rebounds.
The Nets acquired the 6-foot-10-inch Robinson from Golden State in February for two second-round draft picks, and he averaged six points and 3.3 rebounds in 29 games.
The addition of Abdur-Rahim, a 2002 All-Star, to a team that already includes Jason Kidd, Vince Carter, and Richard Jefferson should give the Nets one of the stronger offensive lineups in the Eastern Conference.
The Nets also worked out Atlanta Hawks forward Chris Crawford this week, team president Rod Thorn said yesterday.
New Jersey finished third in the Atlantic Division with a 42-40 record in 2004-2005 and was swept in four games by Miami in the first round of the playoffs
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Speeding up his courtship of Larry Brown, New York Knicks president Isiah Thomas met last night with the 64-year-old unemployed coach.
The meeting began in the evening near Brown’s summer home in East Hampton, N.Y., and a Knicks spokesman said the only two participants were Thomas and Brown.
It was unclear whether the Knicks already were prepared to offer a contract to Brown, who reached a severance agreement with the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday.
Thomas has made no secret of his desire to hire Brown, who would be coaching his eighth different NBA team if he accepts the job. Brown has expressed reservations in recent days about possibly nudging New York interim coach Herb Williams out of a job, and one of the challenges for Thomas will be to address Brown’s concerns on that matter.
