The Nets brass – with GM Billy King and assistant GM Bobby Marks taking over this year for Rod Thorn and Kiki Vandeweghe – held the annual breakfast sit down with the writers this morning at a Lyndhurst restaurant where the pancakes were roughly the size of Jupiter’s moons and the discussion touched virtually every topic from Pennsylvania/New Jersey politics to MLB playoff rotations.
Including the current state of the Nets.
Call it cautious optimism. King admitted of the current roster “I like it” but quickly noted he was talking about what he sees on paper. There were no predications and King declined to divulge any expectations other than to acknowledge he believes better times are ahead.
They have to be. A 12-70 record isn’t all that hard to improve upon.
“We’ll be a better team than we were last year. I can’t sit here and say this team is going to win whatever,” King said.
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And there are reasons for the guarded but undisguised optimism. Legitimate reasons.
Start with Avery Johnson. The coach will have a defensive system that prioritizes protecting the paint.
“We had a meeting yesterday (and) he was explaining his philosophy, keeping guys out of the paint, have a good defensive field goal percentage, things you have to have – your opponents can’t shoot 48 percent and you expect to win in this league,” King said.
There’s youth – which usually means mistakes – but youth can also mean energy and enthusiasm. And King stressed that although young, the team is not inexperienced. He pinpointed Brook Lopez and Devin Harris.
“If you look at a lot of the positions, like Brook has played a lot of minutes, a lot of games. So I don’t look at him as young,” King said. “Devin is not (inexperienced).”
And there is veteran leadership in the form of Troy Murphy and recently-signed Joe Smith to give “a nice mix,” as King called it.
Another reason to smile is Lopez. Although he passed on the recently concluded World Championships because of his conditioning, Lopez is close to being in the form he was near season’s end.
“He’s almost at where he was at the end of the year, pretty much has most of his weight back. He should be in pretty good shape when we get going in 10 days,” said Marks who eyeballed Lopez during the team’s voluntary workouts that have been on-going – everyone except Kris Humphries and Quinton Ross has reported.
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Johnson will be utilizing and stressing a post-oriented offense. He has Lopez. He wants to exploit him to the max.
“What Avery’s going to do is make sure Brook gets the ball. Avery said he’s going to get Brook post-ups right on the block,” said King stressing the work assistant Popeye Jones has put in already with Lopez. “When you have a 7-footer you get him the ball because eventually they’re going to double and now you got guys who can shoot.”
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Yup, everything sounds peachy but – surprise — there are concerns. Start with two guard were Courtney Lee was traded in order to acquire Murphy for the four spot. Terrence Williams and Anthony Morrow are the leading candidates. And King loves the fact that there is legitimate competition for starting berths.
“The two-guard spot is going to be interesting,” King offered. “Terrence played well late. Is he going to continue that progression? Anthony now has a chance to play more minutes. What does he do with that? There’s a little question there because neither one (has played) a lot of minutes.”
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And then there’s next summer. The Nets should have around $22-23 million, presumably, to spend on the free agent market. And, unless there is a blockbuster trade which has been a recent NBA storyline, Carmelo Anthony will be the marquee name.
“We’ll still have enough to get a max player if there’s one that’s worthy of that. If there’s one,” King said, quickly adding, “I will not comment because the commissioner (pays attention).”
King has not, cannot and will not offer any comment on the Anthony matter. Of course, every team by now has looked into what it will take and has mapped plans and routes that lead to Anthony who sounds, acts and appears as pleased with the Nuggets as LeBron James was with the Cavs. The Nets have the resources for a trade but dealing Lopez is the one element that appears out of the question.
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And Derrick Favors remains on course to be a stud. The coaches’ report, King said, is “from summer league to now the progression has been incredible.”
