Nets team president Rod Thorn likely will dial NBA central casting this summer with a simple but awfully hard-to-fill request.
“Get me a moose.”
That will be among the Nets’ chief priorities this offseason — if not the No. 1 quest. In a perfect world, a 25-year-old Charles Oakley would walk into Thorn’s office, solving several major headaches.
“A guy who can defend, a guy who can rebound, a guy who does all the little dirty work out on the floor, sets screens,” Thorn said. “A guy like that is invaluable.”
And a guy like that answers the Nets’ glaring needs — defense and rebounding — as they move forward from a second straight lottery season.
“We need a guy who just cleans up the glass,” said Vince Carter, who sees some of that in Ryan Anderson. “We have a lot of scoring. We have a lot of shooters.”
They don’t have a moose.
“Team defense is a definite priority,” Thorn said. “Our team rebounding has fallen off. Defense and rebounding are two areas we’ve got to look at.”
Now the rub. The Nets want to hold, if not reduce, costs. So they’re not likely to go out and lavishly spend on Carlos Boozer or Anderson Varejao, both expected to opt out. Undersized but excruciatingly effective Paul Millsap is restricted and Utah isn’t going to let him go anywhere, especially if Boozer leaves. David Lee, also restricted, is a rebound machine, but the Knicks would be more apt to rehire Isiah Thomas than let Lee float across the river.
Unrestricted types are Joe Smith in case they want to get older or, if he opts out, Al Harrington, in case they want to lose games with stupid technicals.
The draft? There are theories being kicked about that the Nets might consider compiling a package for a run at the No. 1 spot and Blake Griffin. Everything depends on who wins the lottery. The Nets would need a power forward-heavy team (say, Kings) or a real cost-cutting team (say, Grizzlies) to land that top spot and then be amenable to dealing.
Even with an economic climate more conducive to rolling up in a fetal position, the Nets will try to be active, Thorn said. Of their 14 roster players, just Mo Ager is an unrestricted free agent. Trenton Hassell could (but won’t) opt out.
Jarvis Hayes has a team option — $2.062 million (cheap). Like Carter, he wants to stay, even if underpaid.
“You never know, but I would hope they do [re-sign him],” Hayes said. “These guys gave me a chance after my injury. They offered two years, so I don’t look back at it in any negative way at all.”
Figure the Nets will bring him back. He is a bargain.
“I think most teams are going to be very conscious of what they’re doing from a monetary standpoint, but I think you’ll see some movement,” Thorn said. “With us, we’ll look at obviously the draft, we’ll look at some possible deals, we’ll look at free agents. We could make a deal to enable us to do something elsewhere.”
Like finding a moose.