Fantasy GM Joe?
State of the Union
Joe views the offseason landscape, and doesn't like what he sees.
Are you enjoying the off-season as much as I am? Yup, nothing but a great, exciting NBA finals to watch, which has exceeded my expectations (and no cracks about Joe declaring the Spurs/Lakers conference final as being "the real NBA finals"). Iverson's proving to the world that his talent is supreme above all the noise he brings. Shaq showing how BIG he really plays. Kobe well, he's being Kobe. Anyway, no Nets, no Fox Sports, no Bird or Raf to pay attention to. But as Nets fans, we don't miss anything that goes on, even in the off-season. So let's review what we know so far, since the end of the season:
1) Kenyon Martin finishes 2nd in Rookie of the Year voting.
2) Keith Van Horn appears to be actively shopped - latest has him going to Utah along with Aaron Williams for Bryon Russell, Donyell Marshall and Utah's first round pick in the upcoming draft (#24).
3) Jamie Feick is not recovering from his achilles injury, and may in fact miss the entire 2001 - 2002 season.
4) In fact, every Net could be considered to be on the block - even Stephon, for the right deal.
5) Still no word on Kerry Kittles' recovery.
6) The Nets, picking 7th in the draft, have been rumored to be picking either a) Loren Woods; b) Jason Richardson, or c) trading the pick for veterans.
7) The plans for a new arena in Newark for the team seem to be picking up steam. It damned near sounds like a reality to me.
There's probably more, but that's enough for now. Not exactly inspiring thus far, now, is it?
What Rod Thorn and Byron Scott's master plan is remains unclear at this point. The draft is June 27; free agency signings begin in July. The Nets are over the cap, undertalented and worst of all, looking like they may be thinking of dumping Van Horn and his salary for two veterans who can become free agents after next season. Free, Free, Set My Salary Cap Free? This is not an encouraging sign toward the level of performance that may occur next season.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. Perhaps we Nets fans need to swallow some pride, bite the bullet, become the league's doormat for one more season before we can truly clean house and retool (Uh, earth to Joe, come in Joe - isn't that what we've been doing more or less for 25 years?). The Nets need to get bigger, faster and more athletic - gee, that's not asking for much, is it? They need a center, a shooting guard (I know, Kittles' is going to return healthy - but I'm not believing it until I see it) and bench strength. They'll be fishing in a weak draft, and unless they do something radical, may be looking at many of the same players next year as they had this year.
But, on a positive note, the Nets will not be raising ticket prices this season, for the second year in a row. So, lucky break there. And they haven't actually moved to Newark yet. Marbury's still with the team. And Power N Motion is holding tryouts for new members in August. See, the news isn't all bad.
I just want to see what kind of moves the Nets can actually make to improve next season. Luckily for us, there is still time to make things better, to win us over with bold moves, new players and a shiny new season, which by the way is still four months away. I know my cynicism is sneaking out, but for now I have to remain positive.
Because, isn't that what being a Netsfan is all about?
