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July 4, 2012
The Analysis - "Now, It's Our Turn!"
NetsDaily
Yes, the Nets have re-signed the "superstar" who has led them to a 29-72 record in the 101 games he's been with the franchise. Pop the champagne!
Sometime in the next week or so, the pale blue lettering that spells out "Barclays Center" will be affixed to the weathered-steel facade of the arena that will be the first place the Nets can truly call home in their 45-year history. Inside, the scoreboard will be hoisted up at center court.
At the same time, Billy King and Bobby Marks will be filling out the roster of the team that will play the first game in Brooklyn, scouting the Summer League for low-cost gems, tweaking basketball operations and no doubt catching up on the latest episode of The Dwightmare. They and the business side will start thinking about where to site the franchise's next signature element, a new training facility.
But most of all, there will be time spent celebrating the Nets signing, re-signing or trading for real basketball talent to play at Barclays, practice at that facility. Deron Williams, Joe Johnson and Gerald Wallace have ten visits to the NBA All-Star Game between them. Brook Lopez has not yet been chosen for the classic but his point guard thinks he will soon. There may be complaints about size and shape of the Wallace and Johnson's contracts, but there shouldn't be about their play.
Bottom line, D-Will's signing is about getting noticed, showing off. The Nets arrival in Brooklyn --and return to New York-- is no longer a distant dream. What the team and building are saying is, "Now, it's our turn!"
Related coverage...
ProBasketballTalk [NBCSports.com], Williams, bold moves make Nets a fun team… for now
Realists are a bit more sanguine, however...
The Brooklyn Nets are a much better team right now than they were 72 hours ago.
They will walk onto the court at the Barclays Center with an entertaining lineup, a team with offensive firepower, something you couldn’t really say about the squad last seen in New Jersey (they move to Brooklyn this fall). They should be a team on the second tier in the East along with Indy, Boston and the Knicks. They won the battle to keep the face of the franchise in point guard Deron Williams. They should be popping champagne at the Nets headquarters tonight.
But they are not title contenders, not unless guys who have never been good at it suddenly learn to defend and board. And the way this team is built — with massive contracts for some players seeming past their prime — the moves of the last 72 hours will come back to haunt them in a couple years.
...As you read this, the Nets have $54 million committed to six players (via Zach Lowe at Sports Illustrated who did the math). The salary cap is $58 million, and what is more by using the full $5 million mid-level exception on Teletović the Nets have locked themselves in with essentially a hard cap of $74 million they cannot exceed.
Atlantic Yards Report, Huge day for Brooklyn Nets: Williams re-signed after trade for Johnson; Howard remains a possibility; season ticket sales jump
Yesterday was a very big day for the Brooklyn Nets, as they re-signed star guard Deron Williams, a free agent, who would have had to sign for less money with the Dallas Mavericks, but was also inspired to stay by the Nets' bold trade for (overpaid) Atlanta shooting guard Joe Johnson and the re-signing of (overpaid) forward Gerald Wallace, as well as moves for some role players.
...The Daily News reported:
Barclays Center sold roughly 500 new season tickets on Tuesday, turning in a one-day, seven-figure haul, according to Brett Yormark, the CEO of Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment.
NoLandGrab: Now there's a reliable source.
Posted by eric at July 4, 2012 10:40 AM