New Jersey Nets:
Where did all the Nets go?

The New Jersey Nets have a long storied tradition in professional dating back to the old American Basketball Association days. During their eight years of playing in the ABA the team won two ABA championships. Those teams were led by guys like “Dr. J” Julius Erving, Brian Taylor and John Williamson. The Nets played the type of basketball that was associated with the ABA. They played at break neck speed with out any regard for the shot clock or things of that nature. The game was played to have fun and that was it. The Nets enjoyed a great deal of success in the early days of the franchise and then hit a rough spot after that. It wasn’t until recently that the team started going deep into the playoffs in the National Basketball Association playoffs.

Everything changed before the 2001-’02 season when the Nets management traded Stephon Marbury to the Phoenix Suns for point guard Jason Kidd. The Nets had success on impact when Kidd came on to the team. Kidd is one of the few players in the league that can dominate an entire game without taking a single shot. His passing, decision making, and defense make him the best point guard in the NBA when healthy. Kidd brought back a feel to the Nets that hadn’t graced New Jersey since Dr. J was still curing people of boring basketball. Kidd finished second in the MVP ballot behind San Antonio’s Tim Duncan by only eight first place votes and 60 points. Kidd then led the Nets through the Eastern conference in a very big way. Kidd averaged 19.6 points, 9.6 assists and 8.2 rebounds as the Nets ran over the Indiana Pacers, the Charlotte Hornets and the Boston Celtics and into the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history. The team matched up with the Los Angeles Lakers and, in one of the most lopsided series ever, the Lakers swept the Nets. The Nets weren’t going to give up though. The next year the Nets got the number one seed in the East and this time only lost two games in defeating Milwaukee, Boston and Detroit on their way to their second straight NBA Finals. This was the year that the Nets had a chance to win it all due to the improvements the team had made playing together. To start the series they had to travel out to San Antonio where they would lose the first game but win the second game. The Nets had life in the Finals for the first time ever and they came out firing back in New Jersey. The team fought hard and ended up losing the three of the next four games to send off David Robinson the way that the Atlanta Falcons sent off John Elway, a champion.

Last year the team finished with the number two seed in the East and swept the Knicks in the first round in a heated series. In the second round the Nets faced off against the Detroit Pistons and lost 4-3 in a very weird series in which the Nets lost and won a game by 22 points.

In the off-season the Nets got a new owner and the fire sale started up. The Nets traded away arguably their second best player Kenyon Martin in return for three future first round picks and then traded their starting shooting guard Kerry Kittles for a second round pick. The team was slashing payroll and didn’t hide it at all. In a strange turn though, the team turned around and signed small forward Richard Jefferson for six years and $78 million. The team is now rebuilding around Jefferson with Kidd still around and that leaves the team president Rod Thorn with little space to work with to make the team better.

In the draft the Nets drafted Russian small forward Viktor Khrypa with the number 22 pick. They then turned around and traded Khrypa to the Portland Trailblazers for backup point guard Eddie Gill. With their second round pick the Nets snatched up Christian Drejer out of Barcelona. Drejer is a Toni Kukoc type player that has a great deal of upside. Some have labeled him as mentally and physically soft but the Nets are hoping he’s neither.

The starting five of the Nets had a facelift over the summer. At point guard will be Jason Kidd, at shooting guard will be Olympian Richard Jefferson, at small forward will be Eric Williams, at power forward will be Aaron Williams and Jason Collins will fill the center position. The team could take the East by storm since it’s so weak, but could just as easily be a cellar dweller.

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