The waiting really is the hardest part for the Nets.
The Nets made their presentation to the free agent triumvirate of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh on Thursday. Now, they wait.
They have plans to talk to, at least, Knicks free agent David Lee, but have no formal meetings scheduled. They scrapped yesterday’s chat with small forward Rudy Gay, who re-signed with the Grizzlies. So the Nets plod on, unsure how James and Bosh are leaning.
“I’ve been doing it for 45 years and unless you know going in, you can’t be certain on anything,” Nets president Rod Thorn said. “Honest, in this case I don’t have a clue.”
The Nets are hoping for a favorable verdict from James, obviously the key piece to everything. James is expected to make a decision by Monday.
“I’m waiting for my cell phone to ring, waiting to get an e-mail. Even though I don’t Twitter, if someone sends a message on Twitter some kind of way I’ll get it,” said coach Avery Johnson, part of the Nets’ recruiting team.
Thorn said James, Wade and Bosh were “attentive, genial.”
And inquisitive.
“They asked questions pertaining to the roster,” said Thorn.
James, especially, wanted to know about the Nets’ ability to sign another max contract player. The Nets have $30.1 million in salary-cap space and are looking for ways to dump another $3-plus million. They have sought takers for Kris Humphries ($3.2 million). They found a sucker . . . er, trader . . . for Yi Jianlian, so anything is possible.
The Nets said they felt they gave a strong, powerful presentation centering around Russian billionaire owner Mikhail Prokhorov’s global vision and the team’s impending move to Brooklyn — James’ “favorite” borough, by the way. Nets CEO Brett Yormark kicked off the presentations and Thorn served as the closer.
Wade is seen as a guy they had to talk to, but felt they had no real chance to get. Bosh might be inclined to follow Wade, not James. Nevertheless, the Nets have had him as their No. 2 target behind James.
The Nets proceeded cautiously around Amar’e Stoudemire, who is on the verge of becoming a Knick. Stoudemire’s health history — microfracture surgery, detached retina — caused some concern.
There is talk of sign-and-trade deals for Bosh that would take him off the market. Bosh has met with the Rockets, Bulls, Heat and Nets, who also like the Jazz’s Carlos Boozer and Lee.
“Rod and I are talking,” said Lee’s agent, Mark Bartelstein. “We haven’t finalized a meeting yet. There are just so many possibilities. Honestly, it just changes by the hour.”
That’s what happened with Gay, the Nets’ No. 1 contingency plan behind James. Memphis stunned observers by offering Gay a max deal on Day 1 of free agency.
“We did not see that coming. No one did,” Thorn said. “That was a real curveball.”
The Nets felt they did all they could at their presentations, which included Prokhorov, Thorn, Yormark, Johnson and Dmitry Razumov, CEO of Prokhorov’s Onexim company. Hip hop mogul and longtime James friend Jay-Z attended only the Cleveland meeting with LeBron. The other five went on to Chicago to meet with Bosh and Wade and got back to New Jersey at 2:15 a.m.
“We told our story, we showed our vision, we talked about how we already have some really valuable assets,” Johnson said. “At the end of the day, those prospective free agents are going to do what’s in the best interests of them and their families. . . . We feel from a collective standpoint that we got the best situation for any free agent.
“I’m very optimistic. You can’t get inside any of these guys’ heads. But we laid it out. I saw eye contact, they asked really good questions, and they were there like they wanted to be there. That’s all you can ask for.”