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The New Jersey Nets can't point to much that has gone well for the franchise in the last couple years. Early playoff exits despite the presence of the extremely talented "Big Three" of Jason Kidd, Vince Carter, and Richard Jefferson have become a yearly tradition. However, even this staple of the Nets' season was missing this past year, as the team could not even qualify for the postseason. This was largely due to the well-publicized trade of Kidd, and the team seemed to lose interest after his departure. Even still, for all the doom and gloom, the Nets could be turning things around quicker than most might think. All it will take is some ingenuity, and just a little bit of luck.

The Draft

The new Nets GM Kiki Vandeweghe certainly inherits a promising situation in the draft. The Nets have the tenth overall pick from their own work, and also have the twenty first overall pick due to the Jason Kidd deal. The majority of the mock drafts out there have the Nets picking either Anthony Randolph, the forward from LSU, DeAndre Jordan, the center from Texas A&M, or Darell Arthur, the forward from Kansas. From the Nets point of view, taking Randolph or Jordan would be the worst case scenario. Both are freshmen big men with huge amounts of upside and physical measureables, but little in the way of basketball IQ or consistent effort, with huge potential to become busts. Arthur, on the other hand, is a skilled and versatile forward who is coming off a championship season with the Jayhawks and plays solid defense. The Nets already have two young, budding big men in Josh Boone and Sean Williams, and taking a chance on some guy just because he has an impressive wingspan and tons of "upside" is not what they need right now, especially with a top ten pick. Ideally, UCLA star Kevin Love will fall to them, where his defense, passing and outside shooting can make an impact immediately, but chances of that seem unlikely. Essentially, what the Nets should do is hope that a big star like Love will fall to them, but be prepared to ignore what the draftniks say and go with Arthur, the more polished college star with less upside, but more guaranteed production.

The twenty first pick presents a few significantly more interesting questions for the Nets. Consensus isn't nearly as strong for this pick, with over five players representing strong possibilities. Chase Budinger, the forward from Arizona, Mareese Speights, the center from Florida, Chris Douglas-Roberts, the guard/forward from Memphis, Roy Hibbert, the center from Georgetown, and Robin Lopez, the forward/center from Stanford, are all in the mix. Any one of these picks have both positives and negatives. Budinger is a very good scorer, but his effort and tendency to "disappear" in some games have lowered his draft stock. Speights has excellent post skills, but is still a bit of a late bloomer and could take some time to develop fully. Douglas-Roberts is a prolific scorer and led one of the best teams in basketball to the NCAA championship game, but questions regarding his mid range shooting have arisen. Hibbert is the prototypical center, with good passing, defense and rebounding, but he lacks the ability to take over a game and is often passive offensively. Lopez is the typical hard working, energetic bench player, but has limited offensive skills. The best fit for the Nets would probably be either Douglas-Roberts, Hibbert, or Lopez. Douglas-Roberts could provide instant leadership and scoring off the bench, while Hibbert or Lopez could be good prospects that could really make an impact defensively.

Comings and Goings

Free agency and trades are going to be one of the other major parts of this rebuilding process. Deciding who comes, and more importantly, who goes, needs to be a big focus of Mr. Vandeweghe's next few summers. The major issue is with their big star players. Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson are two of the teams most talented, and desirable, players, but at the same time, eat up valuable cap space. They could get several talented players and/or draft picks for either star, and if they hope to be active in both current and future free agency periods, then at least one of the two will have to go.   The most recently discussed move for the Nets was the rumor of obtaining the Nuggets' talented SF Carmelo Anthony and C Marcus Camby in exchange for the Nets' top draft pick, Richard Jefferson and some throw ins. The deal mostly fell through, however, because the Nets' lottery pick stayed at the position of ten instead of moving into the top five, but this type of deal could be a good thing for the Nets. A nucleus of Melo, Camby, Vince, PG Devin Harris and Sean Williams could be an immediate contender in the East, should such a deal ever be salvaged.  

While the immediate future is important when considering the fates of Jefferson and Carter, the long term is really what Nets' management should be thinking about. Specifically, they should be looking at 2010. That is the year they move to Brooklyn, and the year that a certain LeBron James becomes a free agent. Now, James has stated many times that he loves the city of Cleveland and wants to stay there, but the Cavaliers continue not to provide with an adequate supporting cast, and after a couple more years of playoff inadequacy, the prospect of moving on may begin to appear very attractive. Naturally, the Nets would seem an ideal destination. They are partially owned by LeBron's good friend and mentor Jay-Z, he would provide them the perfect star to open the new arena with, and then, of course, there is his relationship with Nike to consider. Much has been made of the alleged "bonus" Nike would give to LeBron should he sign with a team in a large market, like Los Angeles, Chicago or New York, but more likely, Nike's contract with LeBron expires in 2010 as well, and the prospect of his move to a large market team may greatly increase the likelihood that he is resigned and increases the amount they'd be willing to pay him. This is important, as LeBron's promoting abilities have been doubted, as he isn't able to be the draw that Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods are, despite the fact that they have similar contracts with the company. A move to New York would greatly boost LeBron's visibility and put him at the heart of the East Coast media, making a better endorser and restoring Nike's faith in him. However, he will certainly not come cheap. LeBron is still playing under a $60 million contract, and he will be asking for a lot more if he does hit the free agent market. The Nets are in a decent situation now, with only the league's 14th highest payroll, but Carter and Jefferson stand to make between 40 and 50 million each over the next few years, and one needs to go. Carter's large contract made at the end of last year was a perhaps a mistake for these purposes, making him a little harder to move, but he is still a very good scorer that could be excellent in a supporting role on a contending team.  Jefferson, too, is considered an excellent talent that could be benefited by a change of scenery. If they can make room for LeBron with one of them gone, the team could be transformed into one of the premier teams in the league. On the game's biggest stage with the game's biggest star, all with a budding young supporting cast, could be a realistic future for the team.  

The next two years will determine the Nets' course for the next two decades. If they can stockpile solid draft picks while finding a way to lessen their salary in a bid for a premier free agent like LeBron, then the team could be turned 180 degrees. However, things won't be pretty on the court in the meantime. The team will struggle next year, and Lawrence Frank will certainly be fighting for his job by the end of the season, or even earlier. The lottery could be a common destination for the next few years. In the end, though, this can only help the team. The Nets also hold the Mavericks' 2010 first round pick, giving them five first rounders in the next three years, and the more quality picks can only make the team stronger. As long as they play things the right way salary-wise, they could be contenders for prime free agents, like LeBron or even guys like Elton Brand or Gilbert Arenas, who are free agents this year. Come 2011, the conversation about the Nets could be very different. Instead of lottey bound, they could be thinking about earning the franchise's first championship, with the prospect of James' number 23 hanging in the rafters of the new Barclays Center. All it would take are two good years.