PHILADELPHIA — Team president Rod Thorn admits the Nets will have to look everywhere to find players after this nightmare season concludes and at least six player contracts expire.
And current Knicks forward Al Harrington hopes they look his way.
Hall of Famer Magic Johnson last night said he hopes the Nets get the first overall pick in the lottery and then find one player in the draft.
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“I really can’t imagine a team being 7 and 60-something, not in today’s game,” Johnson said, sitting courtside as the “60-something” Nets suffered their 61st defeat, a 108-97 loss to the 76ers, despite a lineup change that inserted Terrence Williams into the first five.
“I can’t fathom it,” Johnson said. “And the worst thing is they may not even get the first pick, which they need. Be it John Wall, whomever, they need it for the fans, for the energy in the arena, for the organization.
“They need it for [Brook] Lopez, who is really good. The league needs it for them to build around.”
Of course, LeBron James could help, but Johnson feels the Nets lost him with their temporary move to Newark before their relocation to Brooklyn.
“That took them out of it,” Johnson said.
So maybe the Nets, with $23.3 million to spend, will get lucky with the second tier-type free agents that include Harrington, 6-foot-9, a 14.1 career scorer who stated he would be open to signing with the Nets.
The notion is not far-fetched. Multiple team sources agreed Harrington “would be someone to consider” during this summer’s free agency.
Thorn declined comment — teams are not permitted to discuss players under contract to other teams. But he didn’t do anything to squash the idea.
“We’ll look at everyone. At the end of the day, we’ll have six or seven players under contract,” Thorn said. “We’re going to have to fill out our roster. We’re going to have to get players somewhere.”
Could have used them last night when they added another notch toward that 9-73 all-time worst record set by the 1972-73 Sixers.
“My goal really is trying not to get that record. That’s the only goal we should have. No individual goals, just breaking that record — we do not want to do that,” said Chris Douglas-Roberts who scored a game-high 23 points.
The Nets, who were without Devin Harris (upper respiratory infection) for a second straight game, have positioned themselves to be major players this summer when that enormously attractive class (James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh) hits free agency.
The Nets will look that way but may try for lower stature guys. Rudy Gay and Harrington’s teammate, David Lee, are among the guys most frequently mentioned. Lee, stressing “as what I’m going to do, it’s to be determined,” recently acknowledged the future potential of the Nets.
Harrington, who starred locally at St. Patrick’s (Elizabeth, N.J.), went beyond that and said he would be interested in playing, for two years at least, with the Nets in Newark.
The Nets have six guaranteed contracts for next season — seven if they pick up the option on Douglas-Roberts. They’ll have some $23.3 million for free agents. They also have three attractive draft picks, an incoming billionaire owner (Mikhail Prokhorov should be approved right after the season, NBA officials reiterated yesterday) and young talent like Lopez, Harris, Courtney Lee and Williams.