Nets’ Off-Season Leaves Much To Be Desired

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.

The New York Sun

So that’s it?

That’s all we get from the Nets’ offseason, a little tinkering around the edges?

Remember after the Heat dismissed them in five games, how Nets observers talked about the team needing to make one more big-picture move? Perhaps trading Richard Jefferson for a big man, or making a splash with the team’s midlevel exception, or being a mover and shaker on draft day?

Well, none of that happened. The Nets are returning basically the same tired seven-man rotation, with Eddie House replacing Jacque Vaughn. In the words of former Net great Derrick Coleman, woop-de-damn-do.

All of which has me wondering about the man running things in the swamp, Rod Thorn. It’s not that Thorn’s moves have been brazenly idiotic — we have the Knicks for that. It’s just that there’s something missing here. He’s been great on the big-picture stuff — trading for Vince Carter and Jason Kidd, swinging the multi-player deal that brought in Richard Jefferson, and promoting a young hard-working assistant named Lawrence Frank.

But on the little stuff, he’s completely misfired. The Nets’ big three is as good as any in basketball, but the team as a whole isn’t. That’s because the GM has failed to fill out the rest of the roster with quality players, instead displaying a debilitating weakness for 32-year-old veteran role players on their way out of the league.

Here’s a quick quiz if you don’t believe me … name the last decent young player the Nets acquired outside the draft. Well, I’m waiting….There was Anthony Johnson in 2002, but even he was a 28-year-old CBA refugee. If you’re looking for as the under-27s that smart teams typically target, I believe you’d have to go back to the Stephon Marbury trade in 1999.

Additionally, I’m worried that the Nets have become way too complacent. An article in the Daily News this week said, “The Nets believe they can maintain Eastern elite-team status.”

News flash to the Nets: You’re not an elite team.You’re not even a particularly good one. Last year your four best players were healthy all season and you went 49–33. That’s not what I call elite. It’s what I call “Thank God we’re in the East and nobody got hurt.” In the other conference that kind of season gets you swept in the first round. Just ask Memphis.

In fact, let’s break things down a little further. The Nets’ average victory margin was only +1.4 points a game, which usually only yields a team 46 wins, so New Jersey was actually lucky to win as many as they did. Additionally, the almost laughable ease of the Eastern Conference adds another two wins that they don’t deserve to their bottom line.

As I mentioned, the Nets were fortunate in another way. Jason Kidd, Vince Carter, Richard Jefferson, and Nenad Krstic missed a combined nine games last season. Anyone want to bet that happens again? Carter has missed more games than that on his own in three different seasons; it’s happened to Kidd five times, including the two seasons before last.

So if the Nets are taking a good, hard look at themselves in the mirror, what they should be seeing is a team that was extremely lucky to win as many games as it did — one that, if it returned with the same roster intact, was likely only a .500 team.

A great many people can offer prescriptions for such a club, but few would suggest,”Hey, let’s stand pat!” as the central plank in the program. Yet that’s essentially what the Nets did. New Jersey upgraded the backcourt by replacing the offensively challenged Vaughn with sharpshooter House, but otherwise their biggest move was resigning Spliff Robinson. The team needed size and still does, but the only move in that direction was adding railthin journeyman Mikki Moore.

As a result, New Jersey finds itself in an odd position. In order to contend in the East, they’ll need major contributions from four young players who will fill out the second unit — none of whom comes in particularly highly touted. Three of them are rookies — Marcus Williams, Josh Boone, and Mile Ilic — while a fourth, Antoine Wright, hardly played last year.

Ilic, a second-round pick in 2005, is thought of as the one with the most longterm potential. The Serbian 7-footer will have a compatriot in Krstic to help his adjustment, but based on what the Nets are saying he’s unlikely to play heavy minutes this year. Still, he’s a useful insurance policy considering the Nets’ top frontcourt reserve is 40 years old and spends most of his spare time Just Saying Yes.

Boone and Williams were both first-round picks — but don’t get your hopes up.Neither went in the first 20 picks, and this year’s draft was regarded as the weakest in years.Williams will play right away — he’s a heady, Mark Jackson type who will be Kidd’s backup at the point — but he needs to get in better shape and prove he can guard faster players. Boone hurt his shoulder in summer league and will miss the first month or two, and slipped in the draft because of questions about his intensity. Nobody doubts he has NBA talent though.

Then there’s Wright. A bust as a first-round pick a year ago, he showed some potential as a defensive player but offensively he made Jacque Vaughn look like Bernard King — not a good sign since Thorn drafted him as a scorer.

So let’s take a step back and look at the big picture. The Nets probably are going to be a .500 team, and that’s going to be a huge disappointment since they imagine themselves to be a contender. The only way for that to change that is if four players, all of whom have major red flags, end up performing much better than anyone has a right to expect.

After another amazingly unproductive summer from Rod Thorn, those four kids may end up defining his Carter-era legacy. If they outperform, he looks like a genius for holding his cards this summer. If they don’t, it means the Nets will have gone three straight years without a bench … and the questioning from this and other corners will get much, much louder.


The New York Sun

© 2024 The New York Sun Company, LLC. All rights reserved.

Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. The material on this site is protected by copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used.

The New York Sun

Sign in or  Create a free account

By continuing you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use