Posts tagged RodThorn at FanHouse

The afternoon news cycle places Nets power forward Nenad Krstic in Moscow negotiating a contract with Triumph Lyubertsy of the Russian Super League (the third best team based in Moscow last season). NetsDaily has the best status summary: in short, Krstic left the Serbian national team (on its way to Beijing for The Games) to negotiate his deal with Triumph. It seems (based on translations) the national team preferred Nenad to sort this contract stuff out before competing, lest Krstic re-injure himself and lose money on the market.

The idea of international players turning to Europe these days is not nearly as attention-grabbing as seeing a domestic-bred baller move east. But Krstic, like Andris Biedrins, is a strong NBA player (when healthy), someone who had once been called New Jersey's "power forward of the future." Nenad's a good scorer in the post and on set shots from the elbows, and has a good feel for the game. His rebounding is anemic and his defense unspectacular, and he just turned 25.

This is not a player who'd be expected to receive so much as $6 million a year in the NBA, so I'm eager to see what Triumph will pay out. (The New York Post's Fred Kerber says it will be $10 million over two years, and these figures are typically net instead of gross, so let's call it the equivalent of $7-8 million per year in the NBA. That seems more than any NBA GM would be willing to pay.)

Krstic's basically the only draft success for Rod Thorn since Kenyon Martin. It has been said, but needs to be reinforced: the worst part of this restricted free agent struggle is that teams can end up getting nothing for their prized prospects. It's definitely a swig of power juice for the players and agents, which is a monumental step considering how bleak things looked for RFAs a year ago.

This little tidbit comes from the New York Post, so by all means, take it with a grain of salt. But the word on the street is that Richard Jefferson isn't very happy about being traded from the Nets -- a hop-skip from possibly the most happening city in the entire country, NYC -- to the frozen tundra of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Behold:

"He didn't seem very happy," said [Nets team president Rod] Thorn, who emphasized yesterday he had not yet spoken to Jefferson. "I spoke to his agent, I called him, texted him. I like Richard. He was here for a long time and I'm sure he still expected to be here. Unless you are the one pushing for it, it's always difficult when you are traded. You are going to a new place, have new teammates. It's hard at first."

So, Rod Thorn didn't speak to RJ, yet through his telepathic connection with him just knows that he doesn't seem happy. That's fine I guess, because the Post isn't exactly making a huge leap here. To say that Jefferson -- who, after the Kidd trade, was basically the face of the franchise -- wouldn't be pleased to pack up and start things over again in freaking Milwaukee of all places, is really just common sense, isn't it?

I don't think any All-Star caliber player would be happy about leaving the New York area for Wisconsin. But if there's a bright side for RJ, it's of the basketball variety: the Bucks might be pretty decent next season, and if healthy, should contend for a playoff spot. Michael Redd, Mo WIlliams, Andrew Bogut, and (possibly) rookie Joe Alexander could be rounding out the Bucks' opening day starting five. Looks pretty good to me, although I said that last season too. Maybe you should take what I say with a grain of salt as well.

Crystal Ballin' takes a team-by-team look at what should, could, and probably will happen in the June 26th NBA Draft.

Rod Thorn's rebuild officially started when he hijacked traded for Devin Harris and the 21st pick from the Mavericks for Jason Kidd, but this draft, with two first rounders, has the potential to be a tremendous springboard for any improvement the Nets make in the immediate and longterm future.

Picks: #10, #21, #40

Needs: The Nets have Harris, Richard Jefferson and Vince Carter as their core. So, the big three, only a little younger. Josh Boone has flashed low post potential, but you have to think they're looking a big man that can provide them with a consistent offensive threat in the post, although a scoring point guard or combo wouldn't be a bad fit here either.

Best case scenario: Brook Lopez or Anthony Randolph falls in their lap. Unfortunately, that's probably not going to happen. Charlotte will likely snag Lopez if he drops and Randolph is primarily projected as a top 7 pick. So instead, they decide to take one of the better players in the draft, and scoop up Randolph to run/gun with their squad at the four.

Every May-June-July-August, there are somewhere between 15 and 29 NBA teams who seek significant improvement. Most lottery teams qualify as candidates, traditionally joined by first-round flame-outs (Dallas, Toronto) and soon-to-be has-beens (Phoenix, Cleveland).

Unsurprisingly, the Nets -- wildly uneven in the roster, wildly uneven in the win-loss ledger -- seek significant improvement. How are they going about it? Sending Jigga to Secaucus is part of the plan; apparently, trading for someone/everyone completes the manual. Bravado beat writer Dave D'Alessandro of the Newark Star-Ledger passes on these rumors.

They have made some cursory inquiries with Phoenix (about Boris Diaw and Leandro Barbosa), more substantive discussions with Toronto (about Andrea Bargnani), and there has been some dialogue with Denver about Carmelo Anthony.

M. Moore discussed the wild 'Melo rumor Monday when it broke by the hand of The Bergen Record's Al Iannazzone (who insisted NJ was near a deal for Andres Nocioni in January). That a second reporter on the ground confirms the existence of two-party talks bolsters the imagination. The inclusion of other wildly disparate talents (Barbosa? Il Mago? whaa?) sets the ray to WTF.

A blockbuster return seems to depend wholly on a top-3 victory in tonight's draft lottery, a victory NJ is quite unlikely to actually receive. Bargnani, Diaw -- this tier of players, still confounding, seems more in line with reality for Rod Thorn.

The days following a trade deadline typically come with all sorts of big fish stories. Whether GMs want to give the appearance of effort, or honest rumors finally reach mainstream ears, it's a cornucopia of could-have-beens. The best one so far? According to the Newark Star-Ledger's Dave D'Alessandro, Portland was close to acquiring Jason Kidd in January, before Kidd's trade demand killed the Blazers' interest.

According to those league officials, who chose to remain anonymous in order to avoid meddling in Portland's affairs, the Blazers never wanted to assist Dallas in obtaining Kidd; they wanted the 34-year-old point guard for themselves to help raise a team of promising kids in the midst of a 3-5 slide.

But as soon as Kidd announced that he could no longer play in New Jersey, Blazers officials concluded that he wouldn't be content playing for an up-and-coming team in Portland, either.

Wouldn't that be something, Kidd running with Brandon Roy, Lamarcus Aldridge, Travis Outlaw and (eventually) Greg Oden? I'm not the biggest Kidd '08 fan, but settling the team's PG issues with a player of his stature and caliber ... that'd be amazing.

New Jersey did better in the long run -- I don't care what Rod Thorn says, Jarrett Jack is not a better prospect than Devin Harris. But we could've had a 10th elite team in Portland. As it is, the Blazers have slipped back and shouldn't be considered a viable threat for the postseason (given the innumerable strong teams in their way). With Kidd? Houston, Denver and Golden State -- they'd be sweating.

In the end, something convinced Keith Van Horn to take the four million dollars to come out of retirement and "play" for the New Jersey Nets. Whether it was his love for the Mavs and Nets and Mark Cuban and Rod Thorn, respectively, or whether it was the four million dollars ... well, who can really say? Either way, it appears that the deal is [finally, almost!] sealed and Jason Kidd, who did not practice with New Jersey on Monday, will be heading to Dallas.

The Nets and Mavericks had to pass an unprecedented series of challenges by the NBA, but the final hurdle was cleared tonight, when Keith Van Horn consented to sign a $4 million contract that makes the trade work financially and report to New Jersey for what is estimated to be 30 days of work.

All that's left now is an official rubber stamp from the league.

The Nets will send Kidd and Malik Allen to the Mavericks for Devin Harris, DeSagana Diop, Maurice Ager, Trenton Hassell and Van Horn.

In a separate deal, the Nets will dispatch Antoine Wright to Dallas for a $1.6 million trade exception to create the necessary roster spot for Van Horn.

So, in the end, Cubes gets the point guard that he thinks will put the Mavericks over the top. He also grabs, in what I think could end up being a sneaky steal, Wright from the Nets. The Nets get to reload on their point guard situation with the youthful Harris and pick up some cap flexibility. And Kidd doesn't have to remember 2008 as the most awkward year of his life. Is it a good deal? Well, the Nets got a good deal because Kidd wasn't taking them anywhere. As has been commonly observed over the last few days, though, the deal only works for the Mavericks if they win a title.

You know, in simpler times, before players had these "rights", owners would just ship them to and fro, doing whatever they wanted. Now, things are different, as evidenced by Devean George's behavior and the inability of the Mavericks and Nets to close this Jason Kidd deal (which we thought was locked down). And in theory, it will still go through. But as Dave D'Alessandro points out via his conversation with David Falk, Keith Van Horn is no lock to fall in line with the business of getting paid to take a physical.

And suddenly, that seems to be the important factor in this trade: Keith either has cold feet, or feels that a $2M payday for taking a physical is shameless and needs time to think it through, or he just doesn't want any part of it.

Falk won't say which is closest to the truth.

"I really can't say," the agent said. "He wants some quiet time to reflect on it. And that's what he should be doing.

"He'll make a decision, but it's not going to be 'maybe,' or 70-30. Either he'll do it or he won't do it. And we'll all know in the next 48 to 72 hours."

Ouch, for Mavs fans and the slew of players involved who are awkwardly returning to their original teams following this ridiculously over-dramatized deal (and yes, guilty). Falk essentially insinuates (via D'Alessandro's article) in the conversation that Van Horn thinks his involvement in the trade is either a pain or just flat out shameless, although he has deep seeded respect for both Rod Thorn and Mark Cuban in possibly wanting to get this deal done. Will it happen? My personal gut would say yes, but then again, I never thought George would demand to use his Bird Rights either.

As assumed since Devean George got his monkey wrench on, the heart of the Jason Kidd trade still beats (pending all that sure-to-be-whitewashed Jerry Stackhouse stuff). Marc Stein of ESPN (who has owned this story, by the way) quotes Nets exec Rod Thorn about the likelihood of eventual consummation, with or without Devean.

"There are a lot of different scenarios that might be feasible," Thorn told reporters Friday.

We laid those out Wednesday night; it appears convincing George to relent is the preferred option, with a golden handshake for Keith Van Horn as the firewall. Stein reports George and agent Mark Bartelstein spoke with NJ officials at length, though nothing seems to have come from that yet.

One other nibble: We mentioned yesterday that Devean was delusional if he thought keeping his Bird rights would actually help his fortunes this summer. Stein got an anonymous team exec to agree, saying his Bird rights are "worthless" without Dallas' cooperation. Something tells me the Mavericks aren't going to be in a cooperating mood if George ends up staying in Dallas this year.

Jason Kidd was the topic du jour for most New York-area NBA rumor mongers columnists Sunday morning (it was a nice break for Isiah Thomas), as everyone in the known world is starting to realize this New Jersey team isn't going to work out this year. The Newark Star-Ledger's Dave D'Alessandro -- who's been on Kidd Watch since November -- has the meatiest plate.

[Kidd's] agent, Jeff Schwartz, recently asked Nets president Rod Thorn to move his client to a contender before next month's trade deadline, according to several league officials who cannot be identified without betraying confidences.

Thorn would not comment when asked about the request, but it is becoming increasingly clear he may not be able to grant it even if he wanted to.

D'Alessandro goes on to quote Thorn in general, philosophical terms about trading from a position of weakness. And Thorn's absolutely right -- the offers for Kidd, whose team with two other occasional All-Star level players, can't even sneak into the playoff picture in the East, have to be getting tighter. Kidd's had a rather underwhelming season statistically; his offense is severely overrated due to the novelty of his style.

Fortunately, the known world's still enamored with Kidd. Thorn may not get the bounty he wants, but he won't have to take undesirables or sheer nothingness back. I mean, Kidd's current station could be compared to that of Allen Iverson a year ago. Philadelphia did alright for itself, and that was Billy King at the controls! Kidd should be able to draw at least a couple sane offers for the Nets.

UPDATE: Kidd told ESPN's Ric Bucher he has, in fact, asked for a trade. It's on like Diddy Kong.

New Jersey has issues, as no one will argue. Jason Kidd has gotten into the habit of blaming everyone, and that's likely the proper stance. If he pays attention to West Coast press, maybe he'll add another reason to place fault in Rod Thorn's lap.

Sam Amick of the Sacramento Bee reports the Nets personnel boss made only a nominal attempt to re-sign Mikki Moore, the big man who filled in for Nenad Krstic and performed admirably well.

Moore said Chicago offered him three years for $12 million, while Thorn called with a three-year, $10 million offer that was contingent on a quick response – "like 30 minutes," Moore said – that came before the Kings' proposal.

This isn't to say signing Mikki to a three-year, $13 million deal would have made things perfect in Jersey. But you know, Malik Allen and Jason Collins are combining for 36 minutes a night. Allen and Collins are combining to give Kidd and Friends 6.2 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. Moore's dropping about 8/6 in 27 minutes for Sacramento -- not tremendous numbers, but consider how good he was when running with Kidd (he led the league in both FG% and post-dunk screams)... you can imagine the upgrade over the current scenario. (He's also hilarious entertainment on the court, which the Nets could probably use.)

It seems Lawrence Frank is coming around to realize how terrible his frontcourt has become, as Sean Williams and Josh Boone seem to be getting longer looks. But it's going to take a lot more than that to make Kidd happy again.