<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Jizzy @ Jan 25 2008, 10:43 AM)
<{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>like matt barnes or azuibuike, guys with skills and not scrubs. its amazing how the nets are totally inept to signing good players, like seriously. teams like GS and the spurs find these gems while the nets are stuck with the collins, bokis and wrights of this world</div>
You're totally mixing fruits and vegetables here. Collins was a decent rotation-strength big man whose offensive skills eventually deteriorated as time passed, but he was a legitimate contributor for four years or so (and still plays solid defense). Part of Collins' problem right now is that the game has passed him by--now every team has shooters at all five positions and centers are quick and nimble (the same things that are keeping Magoire from playing, which is why I kind of wonder why Collins still gets to play but Magloire not, but whatever). Boki was acquired in a salary dump and the Nets never really expected anything out of him. As for Wright: During the past few years, without a single lottery pick, the Nets have drafted Krstic, Boone, and Sean Williams--probably the best they could possibly have done (although everyone questioned Boone at the time and the jury is still out on Williams); their "failures" have been Zoran, Wright, and Marcus (to the extent he can be considered a failure at this point). That's not a bad success rate for a non-lottery team. Compare their drafts to teams that have been consistently above average recently like Phoenix, Detroit, San Antonio, Miami, maybe Washington, Dallas, etc., and they do pretty good in comparison.
The FAILURE has been in an inability to find and develop young, unsigned free agents, and instead opting to sign middling, end-of-career veterans to one-year deals. That has been a policy call on the part of the front office which I don't agree with, but it is the policy they adopted and they stuck with it. The reason why the nets don't get the Barneses and Azubuikes is because they are just not considering those players.
And you underrate Wright's impact on the game. I wish he could freaking score also, but he does have value. Of course, if you put him on the floor with a PG that makes 35% of his shots and a bigman that can't shoot, his weaknesses will become more glaring.
