bbwSwish
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<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">
There is no hiding the fact that trading Kenyon Martin and Kerry Kittles before the 2004-05 season was a very unpopular move for Nets fans. Bruce Ratner, the Nets owner, has publicly stated that dealing the two players was a mistake.
And now, with the Nets making their earliest exit from the playoffs in three years, many are predicting another off-season of dramatic roster changes. And that just may be the case. But the difference this year, according to general manager Ed Stefanski, is that the Nets are buyers not sellers.
?The circumstances are different (this off-season),? said Stefanski, who recently signed a multi-year contract extension with the Nets. ?We?re not used to losing in the first round. We need to make some additions to the team.?
?We need another rebounder, a guy who can grab boards and command respect in the middle,? said Vince Carter. ?That would take a little bit of pressure off the other guys and allow Nenad (Krstic) to go out and do what he can do.?
With the Nets holding the No. 15 pick in the 2005 NBA Entry Draft, the possibility of finding a physical rebounder who can make an immediate impact late in the first round is somewhat unrealistic. A more likely scenario has the Nets testing the free agent market to land that type of player.
The names most often mentioned are Stromile Swift, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Kwame Brown and Samuel Dalembert. And there is always the possibility that, for the right price, the Minnesota Timberwolves would be willing to move last year?s MVP Kevin Garnett.
?A big guy would be terrific but that would be one of the hardest positions to fill,? said Stefanski. ?That is one area we will be keying on.?
When Nets captain Jason Kidd was asked what he would do if he were in Stefanski?s shoes he answered, ?I?m not the personnel manager. I?m just an employee who wants to win.?
Head coach Lawrence Frank also leaves the player personnel moves up to guys in the corner offices.
?Our focus as coaches is to coach to guys we have,? said Frank. ?Everybody has an opinion about what we need. The only opinion that matters is that of Rod and Ed.?
And despite the summer starting sooner than the Nets would have liked, the team knows they are only a few pieces away from being to one of the elite teams in the Eastern Conference again.
?If we had Carter for the entire year and R.J. (Richard Jefferson), we would have been the third or fourth seed,? said Nets president Rod Thorn. ?That would have changed a lot, giving us homecourt (advantage).
?So if we want to get to the top couple, we have to improve. How much is the real question. It may be that one or two guys can do it,? said Thorn.
It will be a couple months before we see how different the roster will be next season. But whoever suits up for the Nets in 2005-06, they all must possess one unifying quality.
?The biggest thing is the commitment of the players,? said Kidd. ?No matter who we have, if you have guys in uniform who are committed, that?s all it takes.?
by Chris Creed</div>
http://www.nba.com/nets/news/roster_changes.html
There is no hiding the fact that trading Kenyon Martin and Kerry Kittles before the 2004-05 season was a very unpopular move for Nets fans. Bruce Ratner, the Nets owner, has publicly stated that dealing the two players was a mistake.
And now, with the Nets making their earliest exit from the playoffs in three years, many are predicting another off-season of dramatic roster changes. And that just may be the case. But the difference this year, according to general manager Ed Stefanski, is that the Nets are buyers not sellers.
?The circumstances are different (this off-season),? said Stefanski, who recently signed a multi-year contract extension with the Nets. ?We?re not used to losing in the first round. We need to make some additions to the team.?
?We need another rebounder, a guy who can grab boards and command respect in the middle,? said Vince Carter. ?That would take a little bit of pressure off the other guys and allow Nenad (Krstic) to go out and do what he can do.?
With the Nets holding the No. 15 pick in the 2005 NBA Entry Draft, the possibility of finding a physical rebounder who can make an immediate impact late in the first round is somewhat unrealistic. A more likely scenario has the Nets testing the free agent market to land that type of player.
The names most often mentioned are Stromile Swift, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Kwame Brown and Samuel Dalembert. And there is always the possibility that, for the right price, the Minnesota Timberwolves would be willing to move last year?s MVP Kevin Garnett.
?A big guy would be terrific but that would be one of the hardest positions to fill,? said Stefanski. ?That is one area we will be keying on.?
When Nets captain Jason Kidd was asked what he would do if he were in Stefanski?s shoes he answered, ?I?m not the personnel manager. I?m just an employee who wants to win.?
Head coach Lawrence Frank also leaves the player personnel moves up to guys in the corner offices.
?Our focus as coaches is to coach to guys we have,? said Frank. ?Everybody has an opinion about what we need. The only opinion that matters is that of Rod and Ed.?
And despite the summer starting sooner than the Nets would have liked, the team knows they are only a few pieces away from being to one of the elite teams in the Eastern Conference again.
?If we had Carter for the entire year and R.J. (Richard Jefferson), we would have been the third or fourth seed,? said Nets president Rod Thorn. ?That would have changed a lot, giving us homecourt (advantage).
?So if we want to get to the top couple, we have to improve. How much is the real question. It may be that one or two guys can do it,? said Thorn.
It will be a couple months before we see how different the roster will be next season. But whoever suits up for the Nets in 2005-06, they all must possess one unifying quality.
?The biggest thing is the commitment of the players,? said Kidd. ?No matter who we have, if you have guys in uniform who are committed, that?s all it takes.?
by Chris Creed</div>
http://www.nba.com/nets/news/roster_changes.html
