BKN Nets ~ Billy King Taking a Bullish Approach

From the desk of:   THE HOOPS OF FLATBUSH

 

BROOKLYN NETS:  Billy King Bringing Moxy Back to Flatbush Avenue.


2012 NBA Draft - Billy King's Deals Left Brooklyn Quiet in the Night


My first impression of Billy King's recent transactions - The Nets are taking on an onerous $90 million dollars.  So let it be written.  So let it be done.  I told you Billy King makes Nets' draft picks disappear, and that the salary cap would be next.  And sure enough... POOF!  Bye-bye draft picks from now till 2050, and so long salary cap flexibility.


Boy am I in trouble.  I'm not a big Billy King fan to begin with, and now, unfortunately, I'm forced to reveal I'm not a big Joe Johnson fan either.  And with Dwight Howard being so wishy-washy, the Nets perhaps feel obliged to put a representative product on the court this Fall.  So decisions like this get made.  And well, the bodies leaving the Nets in the deal to acquire Johnson are inconsequential.  Jordan Farmar, Anthony Morrow, Jordan Williams, Johan Petro, DeShawn Stevenson, and a lottery protected 2013 first round pick.  But more importantly to me, we can kiss all those expiring contracts good-bye.  That's what the Nets are really losing.


Are they better for making this deal?  That remains to be seen.  This much is certain, Joe Johnson can score.  But as far as I'm concerned, he does little else.  And I really can't see Coach Avery being demanding of him, and Joe Johnson responding.  At first, the Johnson deal was contingent on Deron Williams staying with the Nets.  But later Monday evening, that changed, and it was reported the Nets were going through with the trade regardless of Deron Williams' decision to stay with Brooklyn or move on to Dallas.  Should Deron elect to resign with Brooklyn, the Nets' back court of Williams, Johnson, and MarShon Brooks coming off the bench, seems pretty damn formidable though...doesn't it?


Dwight Howard is responsible for Billy King initiating this trade, and creating this quasi-mess, as much as anyone.  If he wasn't so damn non-committal about his own situation in Orlando, this episode might have been resolved already.  Now with the acquisition of Joe Johnson, there's no chance in hell of fitting Howard under the cap.


Or at least that's what we thought until today.  The Dwight Howard trade apparently can still happen.  The Nets would be giving up every player they have left from last season to get him.  But the trade still seems to have legs.  Involved in a still rumored possibility would be Brook Lopez, Kris Humphries, and even more future draft picks.


Should all these moves, and/or proposed moves, pan out, the Nets indeed would be a vastly improved, if not contenting team, post-haste.  There is still small forward Gerald Wallace to consider, and the recent acquisition of Tyshawn Taylor.  Otherwise, Billy King is taking an awful lot of risks for a GM who doesn't have Deron Williams under contract yet.  And should his plan crumble, this organization is in deep trouble.  The Nets' General Manager is already facing salary cap hell, with only half his roster filled...., if that.

Mike.BTB