BKN Nets ~ Billy King's Deals Left Brooklyn Quiet in the Night

From the desk of:   THE HOOPS OF FLATBUSH

BROOKLYN NETS:  Borough of Kings Wanders Silently  Through The NBA Draft.


Dwight Howard Demands a Trade to Brooklyn Nets Before the Draft

Sources: Deron Williams Only Interested in Signing With Brooklyn Nets or Dallas Mavericks


It doesn't really hit home, until it hits home.  And I'm not talking about the Barclays Center either.  Lack of a number one pick in Thursday's NBA Draft left a major void in the Brooklyn night.  It's a predicament I wasn't at all pleased the team created for themselves upon consummating that foolish deal for Gerald Wallace which eventually came back to kick Billy King in the ass.  I guess you can tell I'm no fan of that deal.  Nor am I big fan of GM Billy King.  I think I made that clear on day one.  I rue the day Rod Thorne ceased being this organization's overseer.  Worse, is the taste left in my mouth over Billy King and Thorne effectively flip-flopping positions and cities.  But I digress.


The Nets didn't pick until the second round, and number fifty-seven overall, because Billy King traded away what would have been the sixth overall pick to Portland.  Their number thirty-five overall pick was surrendered in 2010 to Golden State in the Troy Murphy deal.  Don't even talk to me about picking at number forty one either, or whatever.  And just for effect, don't forget the pick involved in the Derrick Favors deal.  Finally, with Brooklyn's first ever NBA draft opportunity, at 11:48pm they selected a Turkish forward named Ilkan Karaman.  There ya go.  Pop open the champagne and insert cheers here.  The Nets followed a rush on overseas players late in the second round.  And what else could they do?


I remember not too long ago, the Nets had a plethora of high picks, and vast amounts of salary cap space to work with.  So far, in the hands of Billy King, things go Poof!  He made a basket of picks disappear.  Now it's look out budget time.  With just five players under contract, Billy King needs to give Deron Williams his, should he decide to stay, then figure out the rest.  That now includes having to bring Gerald Wallace back at a higher price which is ponderous!  Jordan Farmar hasn't committed on his option yet, and Kris Humphries will also become a free agent.


Upon final agreement, the Nets will have Brook Lopez under contract.  He will join Marshon Brooks, Anthony Morrow, Jordan Williams, and Johan Petro.


The fact is, nothing in Brooklyn comes easy.  And I guess that goes for building NBA franchises now as well.  The trade Dwight Howard was demanding, then not demanding, then demanding again prior to the draft, never happened.  But the Magic are still in a bind, and are probably better served trading their center.  But what good is having Dwight Howard in a Nets uniform if Deron Williams isn't here to orchestrate the offense?  Deron has already exercised his right to opt out of his contract and  become a free agent.  That time is finally upon the Nets.  Their grace time is over.  Deron Williams, in a very quiet yet firm sort of way, has made it unofficially clear, Brooklyn will be where he stays, or Dallas will be where he goes.  Where that leaves Brooklyn right now, only D-Will knows.


To be fair, everything still lies ahead for Billy King.  His record here, is yet to be written.


And no, I'm not entertaining any Jason Kidd talk.

Barclays Center ~ June 2012

Mike.BTB

Knicks vs. Nets ~ Clash of the Tired

From the desks of:   DUTCH PANTS CAN'T JUMP  and  THE HOOPS OF FLATBUSH

SATURDAY NIGHT

NJ/BROOKLYN NETS

vs.

NEW YORK KNICKS

From,

33rd Street at 7th Avenue

NYC

The official end to the New Jersey Nets - New York Knicks slightly neighborly border war commences tonight in Madison Square Garden.  Because after June of this year, New Jersey will never visit the corner building at 33rd Street and 7th Avenue as the Nets ever again.  So take in what you can of it, because unfortunately tonight's game is shaping up to be more like a Battle of the Beaten and Battered than a prelude to a hot inner city rivalry.  No; instead these two teams are currently generating as much heat as the bottom side of a pillow.

But if you're one for living in the moment, then the Battle for Third Place is ON!  Enticing - isn't it?  The Knicks and Nets will be meeting for the third time this season.  The only difference this time is this game counts.  Both teams spent what the NBA called a pre-season playing two games against each other, in which the Knickerbockers took both.  But right about now, the Knicks might be wishing this game wouldn't count either.  They're the team with high expectations who aren't living up to them while the Nets are still trying to piece things together.

After two tough, tightly contested losses to the Bulls and then the Celtics last night, Saturday's game will be the Knicks' third game in three nights.  They lost by three points to Chicago and by two points to Boston.  What will they have left in the tank for tonight?  Good question.  Meanwhile, last night Shumpert and Tyson Chandler may have established a nice connection together and might be on to something moving forward.  Or maybe the aging Kevin Garnett just kept getting caught out of position?

Is there any good news in the Dutch Pants section of town?  I don't know.  Without a point guard, Don Nelson's old system of running the offense a-la through Anthony Mason; that is, through Carmelo Anthony isn't going very well for Coach D'Antoni.  Because he has a roster of round pegs he's trying to fit in square holes, I think we're finally starting the witness Coach get sweaty under the collar.  There's a smoldering fire building under his already hot seat.  A normally confident and sharp Coach D'Antoni sounds a little despondent lately.  When coaches start eluding to things in the abstract and saying things like - I don't know, -  that can't be good.


You know what else isn't too good?  Ending last night's game against the Celtics by launching two bricks.  They couldn't even negotiate a creative-to-decent in-bounds pass.  Little things like that to me wreak of apathy.  It didn't seem like the Knicks had a plan for their last two plays.  It looked more school yard to me.

The Nets will be playing their third game in four nights, and at least have a win over the Pistons to show for their efforts lately.  For the Nets, Deron Williams is Deron Williams, but now he's rolling with Anthony Morrow who's fresh of a forty-two point game against the T-Wolves.  While Coach D'Antoni has a bunch of mismatched players, Coach Avery is not sitting on any kind of hot seat.  He just wishes he had enough players.  Due to a couple of injuries, the Nets were only able to dress eight players a couple of nights ago.

Is there any good news for the future Hoops of Flatbush?  Well, Deron Williams has given his strongest indication to date that he will stay on with the Nets and move with the team to Brooklyn.  And word around the way is that Dwight Howard still views the Nets as his first option.  In more immediate matters, Brook Lopez is progressing well after his foot surgery.

So maybe there's actually something to this game tonight.  It's not exactly the Battle for the City yet.  One team has the gas pedal floored in their Honda Accord but isn't getting very far, while the other team can't understand why it's Benz is a lemon.  So yeah, games like this usually turn out to be rather fun to watch.  Let the Battle for Third Place...begin.

ATLANTIC DIVISION

3rd  -  New York Knickerbockers   8-15

4th -  New Jersey-Brooklyn Nets     8-16

Previous Posts:

 

Knicks:  Blame Dolan.  I Do.

Nets:  Team Lacks a Head of State.

Mike.BTB