That's six guys, three of whom are considered vital components of the young and struggling team, leaving the squad eight players available for practice. And practice they did. Fortunately, one of Yi Jianlian's old nemeses was available to fill in and help out.
The NBA FanHouse team is in the midst of previewing each squad prior to the start of the 2009-10 season. Tom Ziller spices things up a little by examining Yi Jianlian as a player to watch. In keeping with the theme I decided to highlight a New Jersey swingman who has more value than his current ADP would indicate.
Out with the old, in with the new. In order to free up some more cap space for the summer of 2010, the Nets shipped Vince Carter to Orlando in exchange for Courtney Lee and and a few other pieces (yes, Rafer Alston has officially become a "piece"). The new guard in New Jersey consists of two fantasy super-talents and a number of late-round value picks.
The Nets finished last season with a 34-48 record, and then went ahead and traded their second-leading scorer, Vince Carter, to Orlando. Yet they head into the 2009-10 season with more optimism than a team in their position should rightfully have.
Hey, that's the wonder of cap space. Virtually all of what New Jersey had done over the past two or three seasons has been leading to the summer of free agency in 2010.
The Nets are not expected to do particularly well in the win-loss ledger this season. The squad missed the playoffs in the East last season, and has since swapped All-Star caliber Vince Carter for Courtney Lee and a few role players, and while Terrence Williams is expected to be a solid rookie he's not exactly superstar material. This is a rebuilding year.
But the work personnel boss Rod Thorn did to clear the books for the Summer of 2010 has been admirable, the Carter trade in particular opening up a gaping payroll hole just when a gaping payroll hole will be a good thing. As of today, the Nets can expect to have upwards of $30 million of cap space next summer, as much as any other team in the league.
If new Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov -- a Russian billionaire who by no account will be shy about spending his fortune stateside -- wants to make a big splash in his first summer in the NBA, he will certainly have the opportunity.
One positive ramification of Jason Kidd ditching Dallas after 1-1/2 years in Maverick blue would have been that Mark Cuban and team management could finally have admitted that the Kidd-Devin Harris trade was an absolute mistake. But no, we're due three more years of Cuban barking in a hurricane, as Kidd has re-signed with Dallas through 2011-12. The Dallas Morning News reports the deal will pay Kidd $25 million over that span.
The Knicks had allegedly been offering $18 million over three years (the mid-level exception), which means the Mavericks paid an extra $2.3 million per season than anyone else realistically could for the 36-year-old guard. And, if you're keeping track, Harris, the now 26-year-old point guard Kidd replaced, the kid who is by most objective standards a superior player to Kidd, will be paid over the next three years a total of ... $25.3 million. Well done, Mavericks.
New Jersey will only save about $1 million in payroll for the 2009-10 season. But Carter is the only player in the deal with a contract extending into the 2010-11. (There are cheap team options on both Anderson and Lee. Cheap, as in $1.3 million.) With this trade, the Nets now have less than $20 million committed for the 2010-11, giving the team some $40 million to offer up to multiple free agents, or to use in trades. Yes, the Nets can pull two max players in the vaunted summer of 2010.
The 2004 NBA Draft marked the biggest influx of high school entries in league history, which resulted in a series of busts, unexpected gems and troublesome stories. Five years ago, the Orlando Magic agonized over the No. 1 pick with high school product Dwight Howard competing with UConn's Emeka Okafor over Orlando's affections. Howard was a rather unknown entity with an amazing body while Okafor just led the Huskies to the NCAA title and had established himself as the most dominant force in college basketball.
Whomever the Magic passed up would land in the lap of a new NBA team, the Charlotte Bobcats. Those two players appeared to be the only sure things in this draft. It was littered with early entries, unproven players and talented youngsters who might have bolted college a year too early. And making decisions more difficult was a slew of high school players who were years away from making an impact.
All NBA awards are completely subjective and usually debatable. None registers moreso (on both counts) than the Most Improved Player award. There are a million arbitrary, unwritten rules about who can be eligible for consideration. Some voters reject all All-Stars, others think second- or third-year players shouldn't be valid. It's a mess, really.
Never mind the lame duck status -- Thorn rightfully dismisses that potential issue, which always hovers in the NBA but rarely bites. (Coaches get canned in the middle of a contract just as frequently as in the final year of the contract.) But there is a problem here: Thorn's declarations last week that the players might have tuned out Frank. Admission is the first step to acceptance. Does this mean the Nets accept that Frank's voice isn't getting through to everyone?
Every night there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the "lig." Doing Lines lets you know which one tops the list.
Suddenly, Dallas' offense is clicking like a metronome. That bountiful output to (virtually) eliminate Phoenix on Sunday hardly shocked -- it was Phoenix -- but pitching two 60-point halves on Utah ... even away from Salt Lake ... name me impressed. The Mavs racked up 130 points. The Jazz, only 101.
Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry did the damage, with 31 and 21 points respectively. Deron Williams tried to shoot the Jazz back into it, but 5-14 from the field didn't quite cut it. Josh Howard is still struggling with consistency on offense, but seven steals always help. Always!
Monday, the Nets faced practice without Devin Harris (groin), Courtney Lee (groin), Chris Douglas-Roberts (swine flu), Jarvis Hayes (hamstring), Tony Battie (knee), and Yi Jianlian (knee). 
The 
FanHouse 
The Nets are not expected to do particularly well in the win-loss ledger this season. The squad missed the playoffs in the East last season, and has since swapped All-Star caliber 
One positive ramification of 
Orlando certainly got the best player (
FanHouse fixes a decade of draft-day blunders in 
All NBA awards are completely subjective and usually debatable. None registers moreso (on both counts) than the Most Improved Player award. There are a million arbitrary, unwritten rules about who can be eligible for consideration. Some voters reject all All-Stars, others think second- or third-year players shouldn't be valid. It's a mess, really.
In an announcement overshadowed by the playoffs on Wednesday, Nets boss 
Every night there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the "lig." 
