Nets coach Avery Johnson, GM Billy King and every other Nets management employee still can’t comment because the NBA lockout rules remain in effect, but that didn’t stop the players from expressing their relief and joy about the apparent end of the labor war through a handshake agreement early Saturday morning.
“Guess ill be going home soon #LockoutOver! My time in Istanbul w/ Besiktas was amazing thanks for everything!” was Deron Williams initial tweet from Turkey.
Williams remains the most critical player as the Nets move forward. Keeping the All-Star guard is imperative and Nets brass must immediately begin building a team that will appease him and keep the free-agent-to-be in place as they move to Brooklyn.
Exactly what can be done won’t be known until the new collective bargaining agreement is ratified, but the Nets should have upward of $20 million to spend, even with 10 players, including rookies MarShon Brooks and Jordan Williams (and minus Travis Outlaw who should be amnestied away), on guaranteed deals. And they will spend.
Keeping Williams is the one universal truth about the Nets, other than their poor record in recent years.
The players the Nets likely will pursue have been out there: Nene, Tayshaun Prince, Jamal Crawford. Then there is always the sign-and-trade route, which seems more feasible again as the new deal apparently will allow for immediate sign-and-trades like in the past.
And nothing would keep Williams happier than having Dwight Howard as a teammate. But even if that flops, it’s not like the Nets have Jerome James plugging the middle.
Brook Lopez is 23 years old, please remember. And Williams has been most complimentary about him in the past.
Details of the new deal have not fully emerged, but there will be harsher penalties through the luxury tax. Still, the Nets have space.
So teams being able to spend, although likely not as lavishly, is a Nets plus. That’s why it seemed virtually incomprehensible when owner Mikhail Prokhorov was portrayed in at least one report as a hardliner in negotiations. Prokhorov’s greatest asset is deep pockets.
The Nets need to surround Williams with upgraded talent, which is what the player has claimed that in the past. The best way to do that is to spend.
Soon, they’ll be able to.
“man God is great finally we r back to work,” said Anthony Morrow on Twitter.
And Brooks, the rookie who has been climbing the walls (the dorm walls as he went back to Providence to earn his degree) tweeted, “This feeling right now is crazy” later adding “I’m bout to text coach ‘put me in the game’ lol.