« As Nets finally trade Kidd, Carter steps in spotlight | Main | Goodbye for the "longevity" »
February 20, 2008
Kidd traded: Done deal is done
The NJ Nets' marquee player, star point guard Jason Kidd, has finally gotten what he wanted, a chance to play on a team with a shot at an NBA championship. Since developer Bruce Ratner bought the team, the Nets' playoff fortunes have been flagging.
Here are the articles that finger Ratner in the blame game:
NY Daily News, As Jason Kidd exits Nets, there's plenty of blame to pass around
Daily News columnist Filip Bondy serves up the blame, and has a special helping of harsh words for the Brucester:
Most of all, we can blame the owner, Bruce Ratner, who has sentenced this franchise to limbo, facing untold years in a swamp that has become more a metaphor than a home.
Ratner should be very thankful these days for James Dolan, who has stolen all of the owner's bad thunder. Without the Knicks to kick around, area fans might notice that Ratner's plans for Brooklyn continue to stall, that he has turned his back on Newark and that he has locked himself into a morgue-like location where no self-respecting superstar would ever want to dunk basketballs for long.
Newsday, Swap a good start
This is what the Nets should have done after last season - blown it up and started over.
NoLandGrab: Hey, that's how many Brooklynites feel about Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards plan!
Instead, Rod Thorn was tempted by the possibility that his Big Aging Three had enough left to make another run at the Eastern Conference finals or beyond. And to be fair, Thorn also was influenced by Nets owner Bruce Ratner, who wanted to save face with the New Jersey fans he's abandoning for the cement pastures in Brooklyn - in 2010 or 2011 or sometime in the future. (Maybe.)
NY Sun, With Kidd Now Gone, Is Carter Next?
Why should Ratner care that he's standing in the way of a complete engine rebuild, when the team is just an excuse for an historic real estate deal:
It would be a lot easier to move Carter if he'd signed a shorter deal or, indeed, if he'd been allowed to walk. There are whispers that owner Bruce Ratner's fondness for Carter had as much to do with this decision as any input from the general manager, Rod Thorn, incidentally.
ESPN.com, Trade Vinsanity? That's the next big idea in Jersey
The rumor that Bruce-hearts-Vince and might not approve of any trade isn't something that we made up. Here it is again:
Sources who spoke to Thorn in New Orleans said he is committed to the idea of moving Carter, although the remaining three-plus years of Carter's four-year, $62 million contract is a significant obstacle. And there are questions about whether owner Bruce Ratner's approval would be guaranteed if Thorn were able to work out a trade.
Posted by lumi at February 20, 2008 5:00 AM