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| Is D-Will already on his way out of New Jersey? |
New Jersey Nets
2010-11 Record: 24-58
Key Free Agents: Kris Humphries,
Team Needs: perimeter offense and defense, post defender
1. What are your team's biggest needs this offseason?
This team needs to make resigning Kris Humphries a priority. He averaged a double-double last year and proved he is very capable of playing alongside Brook Lopez. Besides that they should look to improve their wings by any means, and provide a serviceable big man of the bench to spell their starting frontcourt on rough nights.
2. What are the team’s biggest strengths & weaknesses? (so far)
Without a doubt, the team’s biggest strength is point guard play. In D-Will, they have a top 5 point guard, and a guy that will keep them in nearly every game. Aside from being a very capable scorer himself, he has shown the ability to run the pick-and-roll perfectly, and find open teammates in a variety of situations.
The team’s glaring weakness is its perimeter play. After drafting Providence guard, Marshon Brooks, New Jersey hopes to improve that area. To compound the lack of scoring punch from their wings, the team doesn’t have a solid defender at those positions either. To make any mark in the Eastern conference, they will need a respectable defender to slow down the talent that the top teams employ (Lebron, Wade, Melo, Pierce, Johnson, etc.).
3. If there is no season in 2011-12, how is your team set up for 2012?
Potentially catastrophic. Deron Williams’ contract will expire after this season, and Brook Lopez will become a restricted free agent. In the worst case scenario, they lose both of their cornerstones with nothing in return. Of course, the Nets wouldn’t mind losing Lopez’s contract to lure Dwight Howard over to Brooklyn. A move like that makes Williams stay, and would likely attract a cast of solid role players to the franchise as well.
4. Will Deron Williams stay or go?
All signs point to him leaving. During the 2010 free agency period, they came away with Anthony Morrow. Many stars visited, but none felt that the trio of Jay-Z, Prokorov, and Brooklyn was enough to become a Net in the near future. It will only become more difficult to convince great players to sign long contracts with this squad.
The Nets face the same problems that are at the heart of the lockout: they are a small market team that lacks appeal. Here lies the issue. Deron Williams is one of the best players in the league, and he’s entering the prime of his career. He wants to play with capable talent, much of which the Nets don’t appear to have already. I view the upcoming season as his last in New Jersey.
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