Posts tagged ‘NBA Draft’

As the Nets embark on an important off-season for the franchise, here’s a list of links to pertinent player information for potential roster moves.

Complete List of Early Entrants for the NBA Draft:
http://www.draftexpress.com/article/2008-Official-NBA-Draft-Early-Entry-List-/

2008 NBA Free Agent List:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?page=2008freeagents

Nets Current Salary Situation:
http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-player-salaries/team/Nets/

ESPN NBA Trade Machine (if you’re feeling creative):
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/features/trademachine

Monday night’s exciting college basketball season finale in the rear view mirror, full attention shifts to the draft this week. Underclassmen have until April 27^th to declare for the draft, June 16^th is the last day underclassmen who choose not to hire an agent can withdraw and preserve eligibility.

Barring a lottery miracle, the Nets will land a pick on the fringe of the Top 10 to address their two biggest needs – perimeter shooting and post scoring. Arizona’s Chase Budinger, Nevada’s Javale McGee, Texas A&M’s DeAndre Jordan, Florida’s Marreese Speights, and LSU’s Anthony Randolph all declared for the draft, expect to be available around the Nets selection, and project to address a need area. Only McGee hired an agent.

Rod Thorn decided to let Eddie House walk, and the Nets paid for it all season without a legitimate long distance threat to stretch defenses or combat zone defenses. The Nets toyed with Mike Miller at the trade deadline before standing pat, leaving the perimeter shooting hole. Budinger, the lanky 6’7” shooting guard, possesses the outside stroke to make teams pay from behind the arc the next time the Nets see a 2-3 zone. His defense remains a question, but Budinger is a legitimate perimeter scorer with a shot and the size to create mismatches.

Recent Net draft picks Sean Williams and Josh Boone pleasantly surprised this season stepping into prominent rotation roles most of the season, Boone elevated to the starting lineup. Questions remain on the offensively challenged Boone, who relied on transition and high percentage shots to score. Williams sporadically displayed flashes of a post game and the potential to bury the 10-foot shot, but is still extremely raw and inconsistent. Lacking a go-to post presence, the Nets became jump shot happy too often when they needed a basket. Arthur showed an array of post moves in Monday nights title game, though he’s undersized for a center. Randolph and Jordan are both long-term projects with immense talent and many questions. McGee does not have the upside of the other’s, but is a safer option that could contribute immediately.

The next few months leaves plenty of time to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of each player, and detail the Nets need areas this offseason. By late April, the Nets will know who their options are with the two first round picks. Check out www.njnetscast.com for a full potential wish list when the underclassmen dust settles.

Vince Carter could hang up his number 15 Nets jersey and called it a season last week with the Nets playoff hopes on life support. Other teams would almost force Carter to do so, not risking the team superstar and its biggest investment, trying to improve draft position by not fielding the best team possible. Miami threw the towel in weeks ago, Boston and Memphis were accused of throwing games last season, its an almost annual occurrence.

After sitting out Friday, watching a listless Nets loss to a Detroit team with nothing more to play for, Carter had even more reason to sit out. Not only did he play on an injured ankle Saturday, Carter starred with 32 points, including 21 in the second half when he carried New Jersey past Toronto for an otherwise meaningless win. Carter played 45 minutes, but showed so much more than you can see in a boxscore. After the game Carter said, “I refuse to quit on the season, or quit on this team.” Coach Lawrence Frank acknowledged the effort “says a lot about him,” playing on a swollen ankle likely to require offseason surgery.

Frank alluded to “professional responsibility” in a pre-game interview with YES Saturday, a responsibility to the league, the team, and the fans. Toronto is still fighting for playoff position, the Nets owe it the competition and integrity of the league to play hard. As Frank said, its about the name on the front of the jersey too, not just the back. Carter mentioned how important it was for the young guys – Sean Williams, Marcus Williams – to see him and Jefferson finish strong, even with nothing at stake, to set the right example, the lunch pail mentality. In a season where Jason Kidd deserted these same teammates, Carter has stepped into that leadership role by example.

Sadly, NBA players get commended for just doing what they are paid an obscene amount of money to do. But look at Miami, Dwayne Wade and Shawn Marion took an early vacation, even the head coach sits out games, a first in my memory. Pat Riley subscribes to theory that racking up losses by playing with an NBA D-League team will earn the Heat a top draft pick, leading to a quick turnaround.

He should know better. Boston and Memphis pulled the plug early last season, deciding to battle for Greg Oden and Kevin Durant rather than play Detroit or Chicago. Neither team received a top 3 pick, the only selections determined by the lottery. Boston still managed to turnaround, but not through the draft lottery. A year earlier, Portland finished with the worst record, yet finished out of the Top 3. Back to 2005, Atlanta, Charlotte, and New Orleans all finished with under 20 wins, yet only Atlanta picked in the Top 3. 2004 is the last time the worst record won the lottery, yielding Dwight Howard for Orlando – sometimes losing does help.

Go a step further, evaluate the past three drafts, last year’s prize sat out the entire season with injury, the two best players from the 2006 draft were selected sixth and eighth (Rudy Gay and Brandon Roy), and while Milwaukee struck gold in the lottery in 2005, Utah and New Orleans have Deron Williams and Chris Paul. If fate holds, the lottery will not reward Miami for the tank job, and Memphis will not benefit from fielding a terrible team.

Back to Carter, his turnaround dates back to the Kidd trade. Widely criticized throughout his career, fairly and unfairly, for being soft, and getting comfortable after signing long term contracts, Carter has elevated his all-around game. Compared to the first half of the season, in 23 games since the All-Star break Carter increased his scoring by over 3 points per game, plays 2 more minutes, and grabs about 1.5 more rebounds a night. Carter has truly tried to fill every void left by Kidd. Rebounding, often overlooked for big scorers, proves the point. Thanks to a big second half on the glass, when the team needed help to replace its leading rebounder, Carter has elevated his season average to 6.1, on pace for a career high.

Perhaps the NBA draft gods will reward the Nets for playing hard – Gay, Amare Stoudemire, Andrew Bynum, and Andre Igoudala all fell between 8^th and 10^th in the draft, where the Nets will likely pick, unless the ping-pong balls bounce the right way.