The 2009 New Jersey Nets were one of the all-time examples of basketball futility in NBA history. They had a .146 winning percentage with their 12-70 record, good for 5th worst in NBA history. They kicked off the season with an NBA record 18 straight losses before notching their first win of the year over the Bobcats. The Nets as a team shot a league worst 42.9% from the field and opponents shot 48.1% against the Nets, 4th highest in basketball. Basically, the Nets were terrible. If this were the 2000 Slam Dunk Contest, the Nets are Larry Hughes to the Lakers' Vince Carter. They were that bad.
The offseason continued the disappointments in the Swamps of Jersey. Despite being the worst team in the league by a sizable margin, they failed to secure the #1 pick in the Draft Lottery and potential franchise point guard John Wall, who went to Washington. The Nets wound up with the #3 pick, taking the super athletic but super raw 18 year old power forward Derrick Favors. Favors has a bright future, and if he fulfills his potential he may very well be the best player in the class longterm, but not getting Wall was a huge let down. The hits continued, as the Nets completely struck out on the huge free agent class, seeing targets LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, Amare Stoudemire, Carlos Boozer, and David Lee all go to different teams. This left the Nets scrambling to fill cap space, giving a 5 year deal to SF Travis Outlaw and 3 year deals to Jordan Farmar, Johan Petro, and Anthony Morrow. The Nets then traded young guard Courtney Lee in exchange for PF Troy Murphy in a 4 way deal that put the Nets near the edge of the salary cap... though, with about 17 million in expiring contracts leaving them with plenty to spend in the next free agent period.
Despite the downfalls taken by the Nets, there is reason for optimism. This is a team primed to take a big step forward, to the point where the Nets could easily double and possibly triple their win total from last year. Here's why:
The Coaching
After starting 0-16, the Nets canned incumbent coach Lawrence Frank, often the target of scorn for many Nets fans for 7 years of underachieving. The Nets named general manager Kiki Vandeweghe the interim coach for the year, and he was the worst coach in the league. This isn't just me saying this... Vandeweghe HIMSELF admitted he was the worst coach in the league. Vandeweghe's experience is in the front office, not on the sideline, and he was clearly out of his element. The Nets went out and hired Avery Johnson, former NBA coach of the year and the fastest coach to 50 wins in history. Johnson was very successful in Dallas, having led the Mavericks to their first ever NBA Finals appearance before losing to the lethal Dwyane Wade/referees combo. Johnson was shown the door after 2 straight first round playoff losses in a somewhat raw deal, and has been itching to get back on the sidelines ever since. He's a fundamentalist coach, stresses defensive basketball, and likes to play uptempo ball with athletes who can run the floor... all areas where the Nets can excel with guidance. Johnson's staff also contains another former coach of the year, Sam Mitchell. The upgrade from Vandeweghe's apathy and lack of knowledge to Johnson's energy and past success may be worth 10-15 wins alone.
Devin Harris Returning To Form?
In 2008, Devin Harris was a 21 PPG/7 APG All-Star who looked like a guy capable of scoring in bunches. Last season, Harris's field goal percentage dropped by 3.5 points, and his numbers fell to 17 PPG/6.6 APG. He suffered an ankle and a groin injury early in the year and didn't look like the same explosive player he was in the past until February, then promptly hurt himself again. In the offseason, he worked with Tim Grover, said to be one of the best in the fitness industry. Harris claims to have gained 15 pounds to better survive the hits he takes on his reckless drives to the hole and Grover's clients tend to stay healthier. Harris should also benefit from more space to get to the bucket due to...
Shooters
2 years ago, the Nets were 6th in 3 point shooting. Last year, they fell to 29th. The Nets had 1 player last year who shot better than 37.5% from behind the arc last year: Keyon Dooling. This season, they'll have several who hit that mark last year: Troy Murphy (38.4%), Anthony Morrow (45.6%), Jordan Farmar (37.6%), Travis Outlaw (38.1%), and rookie Damion James shot 38.3% last year for University of Texas. The abundance of shooters to space out the floor will give Devin Harris more room to get to the bucket and give Brook Lopez more space to work with underneath, because if defenses sag on Lopez or pack the paint they will be hurt by the 3 point bombers. The Nets didn't have this threat offensively last year, allowing teams to collapse on Brook Lopez and keep Harris from penetrating. The Nets will be more potent on offense due to the spacing they can create.
Rebounding
Brook Lopez was a bit of a disappointment on the boards, grabbing only 8.4 per game, and having very little help from his front court mate Yi Jianlian who didn't have the body or the toughness to box out. No one else on the team was even a threat to rebound. Adding Troy Murphy will help immensely, as he was a very effective rebounder in Indiana, grabbing 11.8 and 10.2 boards a game in the past 2 seasons. Uber athlete rookie Derrick Favors can also help in this regard as well, he grabbed 8 rebounds a game in college where the games are traditionally lower scoring and have much less total rebounds than the pro game. Damion James as well grabbed 10 per game at Texas last season, and Travis Outlaw has the size and ability to be a much better rebounder than last year's SF rotation of Bobby Simmons, Trenton Hassell, and Jarvis Hayes.
Carmelo Anthony?
Reports say that the Nuggets are now listening to offers for Carmelo Anthony... and the Nets are front runners. They have the tradeable assets to give: young players like Damion James, Terrence Williams, and Derrick Favors; expiring contracts that offer cap relief like Troy Murphy's 12 million coming off the books after the year; and a boatload of draft picks, 10 over the next 3 years, most in the NBA. Carmelo paired with Lopez (who I assume is untouchable in any trade talks) would make the Nets immediately relevant. Melo is a legitimate star, and the NBA is a star driven league. Along with borderline star Brook Lopez, the Nets can compete for the playoffs yearly while building the role players around the base of Melo and Lopez... and perhaps lure another big fish to New Jersey/Brooklyn to build a rival "Big 3" to the Miami Heat's trio.
Whether the Nets wind up with Carmelo or not, the simple fact is that the Nets will be better this season... a lot better. Things are trending upwards for the Brooklyn bound boys.
No comments:
Post a Comment