FanHouse TrentonHassell

PHILADELPHIA -- They just made a stop in Philadelphia, so why not be the first to throw it out. Can the New Jersey Nets make a run at the 1972-73 76ers' all-time futility mark of 9-73?

The Nets are the NBA's only winless team at 0-6 after Friday night's 97-94 loss to the 76ers and every day another player seems to get hurt. Call them the New Jersey Gnats the way they're dropping like flies.

OK, so it's way too early to think these Nets are going to make history for basketball badness. And, besides, Nets guard Rafer Alston gets upset when somebody calls his team the NBA's worse.

"That does (hurt) because you know you have a lot of pride,'' Alston said. "It hurts to be considered the worst ... when you know you have a lot of basketball and life in your game and there's a lot of pride in each man.''

In advance of the Suns' nationally televised game against the Heat, an article appeared on the four-letter's website that basically said that Amare Stoudemire wanted to be the featured player on his team, and that he would explore every opportunity when he too becomes a free agent in the magical summer of 2010.

Despite the weak attempt at over-sensationalizing the obvious (of course every free agent will explore his options), the takeaway was that Amare feels he's ready to make the leap to being a franchise player who can put the team on his back when necessary and carry them to victory. After a couple of performances from him that were just average, Amare finally showed that franchise quality last night against the Nets. At least until his emotional play -- along with a quick whistle from an official -- resulted in two technical fouls, and an automatic ejection.

Amare picked up his first technical three and a half minutes into the fourth, after a stoppage in play where he felt there was some extracurricular activity from the Nets' Devin Harris and Trenton Hassell. It resulted in double technicals, actually (Hassell picked up one as well), but Amare felt that based on how things unfolded, he shouldn't have picked one up at all.

For many NBA fans, Boston's run to the title last season wasn't just about watching the legendary Celtics return to the top of the basketball world. It was more about getting a chance to witness emote-icon Kevin Garnett complete his long journey to an NBA title. KG has long been respected by basketball faithful for being a player who leaves it all on the floor while wearing his heart on his sleeve, and his intense play during the Celtics' championship season only enhanced that reputation.

I was recently fortunate enough to get the chance to sit down with Garnett and talk to him straight-up about everything from what it's like to finally be a champion, to his thoughts on players who only show up during contract years. The candid interview took place over about 30 minutes in a back office of the NBA Store in New York. Hit the jump to read the full thing; and special thanks to NBA 2K9 for hooking me up with KG (who appears as the cover guy for the latest edition of the game).

When Portland acquired the #27 pick, we knew something was about to get cracking. Kevin Pritchard isn't waiting until the last minute either, apparently lobbying New Jersey for its #10 pick so it can snatch away Texas point guard D.J. Augustin. Via The Oregonian, Yahoo!'s Adrian Wojnarowski places in the current talks Portland's #13 and #33 picks and Jarrett Jack, in exchange for New Jersey's #10 and Trenton Hassell. (Portland's recently acquired #27 pick, then, isn't in play. It does allow the Blazers to take a favored foreign player -- like Nicolas Batum? -- in that late spot, though.)

Wojnarowski focuses on what this means for Indiana, who had been thought to have settled on Augustin with #11. But with the T.J. Ford acquisition, how interested in Augustin -- another diminutive fellow, a possible defensive liability -- would the Pacers even be, especially considered the instant dearth of size the parting of Jermaine O'Neal leaves? But Sacramento at #12 -- one spot ahead of Portland currently -- would not have let Augustin remain on the board, especially given renewed concerns about the hardball tactics possible with free agent Beno Udrih.

Also of note: Wojnarowski cites a "Western Conference executive" who warns of Charlotte choosing Augustin at #9. Pardon me for reading too deeply into the bones, but ... might this source be Sacramento's Geoff Petrie, trying to fright Pritchard into backing up the #10 pick by suggesting it'd be a waste for Portland? If so or if not, the gamesmanship is most certainly on.

That's right! The trade "has legs" again, so sayeth Ernie Johnson. Well, the trade initially had about 14 legs, but then appeared to be practically torso-less, following the stubbornness of Devean George and the wordsmithing of Jerry Stackhouse. But things are not completely bleak for Jason Kidd, desperate to get the heck out of Jersey, as it appears that the deal is back on track, albeit with a few different parts.

Sources say Mavs swingman Trenton Hassell and the retired Keith Van Horn will be plugged into the trade in place of Jerry Stackhouse and Devean George. If the newly proposed deal goes through, New Jersey would receive 24-year-old point guard Devin Harris, center DeSagana Diop, guard Maurice Ager, forwards Hassell and Van Horn, two first-round draft picks and $3 million in cash for Kidd and Nets forward Malik Allen.

Reportedly, there is a conference call scheduled with the league for Monday morning, at which time everything will be made formal, although given what happened last time, I would hardly expect Mark Cuban to come out and announce anything until the t's, etc. are crossed. And one would guess to, that he has made sure Donnie Nelson has Van Horn's approval to get traded.

This is basically the same deal for both teams, and there's probably a good chance that Rod Thorn has already spoken to Hassell about a buyout, although I am completely speculating on that issue. Hassell seems relatively unimportant, but he's a good defender, even if his contract is bigger than Stackhouse's long term. Again, we'll have more once the deal is finalized but it is also interesting to note that Kidd's response to David Aldridge's questioning was that his gut feeling had him in Dallas tomorrow morning. You know what my gut feeling says? Devean George is going to be super-popular in the Dallas metro area for the rest of the season.

The man named Devean George may have temporarily ruined Jason Kidd's plans, but there are ways the trade can be salvaged.

Keith Van Horn. Taking George out of the equation leaves roughly a $2 million gap in matching salaries which needs to be made up going from Dallas to New Jersey. Mark Cuban's recently rejected the notion he'd sign Van Horn to make a deal solvent, but I'm guessing Cuban didn't expect Devean Freaking George to muck things up either.

Add Trenton Hassell and Antoine Wright to the deal. If the teams feel they need to get this done now, they could offer NJ Trenton Hassell, who might be a bit overpaid and (unfortunately) has a longer deal. Both Dallas and NJ would prefer to use George -- Dallas because Hassell's more vital, NJ because George's off the books this summer. But barring other avenues, Hassell fits and Wright (reportedly involved in a second deal between the teams) could be rolled into the main event.

Threaten Devean. George's agent says they blocked the trade because Devean's in better position to have a bigger summer payday as a Maverick than a Net. But Cuban (and Donnie Nelson and Avery Johnson) can hold something over Devean's head: Playing time. Tell Mark Bartelstein you'll sit George the remainder of the season if he doesn't accept the trade. Enjoy the vet's minimum next year, buddy. It's hardball, but George and Bartelstein instigated it.

As can be expected, new old Timberwolf Juwan Howard doesn't feel like a rebuilding period right now, thanks. HOOPSWORLD's Stephen Litel says Juwan was professional at Minny media day, but didn't exactly embrace the slew of kids running around.

Howard, who as expected was a professional by sitting down and answering the assembled media's questions for roughly ten minutes, did little else to show he was ready to mentor the Wolf Cubs. He seemed to stay away--either unconsciously or purposefully--from anyone wearing a jersey that was under the age of 30. Throughout the two-hour availability, the only teammates Howard was noticed to be speaking with were Theo Ratliff, Marko Jaric, Mark Blount and Trenton Hassell.

(By the way, Hassell got shipped to Dallas later Friday. Luckily for Juwan, Greg Buckner's older.) You almost understand Howard's misgivings -- he was living large between Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady last season before Daryl Morey swapped him north for Mike James. Now? No fans realistically see the playoffs on the near horizon, and most fans will be actively root for the Wolves to tank much of the season in order to give the kids plenty of burn and the hopper plenty of ping pong balls.

Litel has another scoop: Ricky Davis skipped media day with the flu. Even though he was fine two days previous. Are the veteran Wolves going to go on strike or something? That'd be kind-of awesome.