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May 31, 2012
As Nets don't get lucky in lottery, warnings about a gloomy season (though much maneuvering to come)
Atlantic Yards Report
More proof that karma is for real. Tough break, Nets!
"Could be a big night for brooklyn nets," tweeted Nets/Barclays Center CEO Brett Yormark yesterday before the NBA Draft Lottery. But it wasn't--the Nets wound up sixth, just about where the percentages would have put them, and thus lost the pick to Portland.
"Disasterous for Nets," tweeted CNBC's Darren Rovell. "Lose pick. No hype into offseason." (He had previously suggested that, among all the teams, the Nets needed the top pick the most for business reasons.)
Well, they don't gain the hype from the number one pick. And the inability to draft Kentucky's Anthony Davis sets them back. But the Nets didn't so much "lose" the pick as not be lucky enough to get it.
No was there any intervention, as (admitted conspiracy theorist) Charles Barkley predicted--unless you count Rovell's tweet, "Conspiracy theorists have a new one tonight: The NBA sold Tom Benson the [New Orleans] Hornets w/the promise of the #1 pick."
Related coverage...
SportsIllustrated.com, Hornets strike it rich, plus more lottery observations
That other sound you heard was Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov cursing the basketball gods when he should have been yelling at himself. When Nets general manager Billy King proposed a deal to acquire small forward Gerald Wallace in March in exchange for a package that included the team's first-round pick (top 3 protected), someone should have asked the question of whether or not the 29-year-old -- whose nickname ("Crash") likely means he has 35 years of mileage on his legs -- was truly the sort of player who could inspire point guard/free-agent-to-be Deron Williams to stick around.
NY Post, Stern wants 'sparks' in Knicks-Nets rivalry
“I am hoping, for more sparks, a few verbal, some build up,” Stern said before the NBA lottery in Midtown Wednesday night. “We are going to have two spectacular new buildings in New York City and we are going to have two very aggressively managed teams.”
Maybe, the league now will have two crowds that actually cheer for their home teams. Whenever the Knicks came into a Nets building, whether the Meadowlands or the Prudential Center, the crowd was typically pro-Knicks. The Nets hope all that will change when they go into the Barclays Center. Of course, a winning team sort of helps.
Posted by eric at May 31, 2012 7:34 AM