Nets-Cavs: Dynasty vs. Dynasty

Back in 2004 Bruce Ratner bought the NJ Nets for $300 with the help of an investment team that included Jay-Z .

Make no mistake, this new management team has been making power moves. As well as I thought Jason Kidd meshed with Kenyon Martin, there is no doubt that Vince Carter is leagues better. Jason Kidd, Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson are an East coast version of the Phoenix Sun's run and gun style of play.

I have a feeling that Larry Hughes and Sasha Pavlovic are not suited defensively to play against Kidd and Jefferson, so I expect to see E. Snow and Anderson Varejao to produce some solid minutes off the bench. The Cavs have an advantage with their big man, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who averaged a double-double during the regular season - watch for the first play of the game to be Z. down and inside on the basket. Lebron James and Vince Carter should be playing each other up and down the court. That's the match-up to watch.


Speaking of LeBron, this is the sort of image that causes the hearts of Cleveland fans to stop for a moment.

For now Cleveland can breath a collective sigh of relief, since LeBron is locked into his contract for a few more years. But if the Jigga man moves the Nets to Brooklyn like he plans to do and Cleveland doesn't close the deal by the end of LeBron's contract...well, I got 99 Problems...

In any case, Cavs win this series in six to advance to the conference finals.

J Kidd and Vinsanity: Double Triple Double

Jason Kidd and Vince Carter both put up triple doubles in the same game.

V. Carter 16-28 FG 16 REB 10 ASS 46 PTS
J. Kidd 4-12 FG 16 REB 18 ASS 10 PTS 9 TO

Yes that's right, Kidd was 1 TO away from a quadruple double. Nuts! Has 2 trip dubs on the same team in the same game ever happened before?

Vinsanity

Yikes, you get the feeling there are a thousand more where these came from.

Friday Pits and B-Sides

From BasketBawful, a demonstration in humiliation:



Gah!

From RealGM, the journeyman who wouldn't retire:

The Knicks have explored signing free agent swingman Jimmy Jackson to fill the massive void left by Jamal Crawford's season-ending stress fracture injury, according to the New York Post.

From HoopsHype, the deal (I already said is) screaming to be done:

If I'm Orlando chairman Rich DeVos I only have eyes (and a maximum contract) for Vince Carter the moment he opts out of New Jersey. You can't find a more ideal complement to Dwight Howard and restricted free agent Darko Milicic. New York Post

From TrueHoop, the bittersweet memory of Dax-Devlon Ross (on dreaming of being like Mike):

It never crossed our minds that we were being sold a false bill of goods until we were introduced to Arthur Agee and William Gates four years later in Hoop Dreams. Watching their dreams fade faster than MJ’s hairline made us realize how dangerous all of those hours of dreaming we could one day fly like Mike would be if we didn’t pack a parachute.

From SportSwag, the show stealing Cavs point guard in between Mark Price and Andre Miller:




Don't recognize those sick moves? It's Terrell Brandon, who faded away too soon and with not enough fanfare. Dude was still doing 18pts, 3 rebs and 9 assists while being a top 10 steals guy up to 2000 in Minnesota. Speaking of which, how the hell do we go from Price to Brandon to Miller to Rip Van Winkle, er, I mean, Eric Snow? Snow's a great vet presence and competent point runner, but, as we celebrate his 65th birthday later this year, you have to wonder what happened to the position of point guard in Cleveland...

Get Carter

Is Vince leaving New Jersey?
The short answer is yes. The long answer is a little cloudier, but still basically "yes." I would bet the farm Vince Carter gets traded, either by the deadline, or in a sign & trade deal this off season. The thing is he's an expensive malcontent, one who can ball, no doubt about that, but a malcontent nonetheless. Also it's become evident that he can't make the Nets win. If a squad featuring JKidd, Vin, Dick Jefferson and Nenad "Can I Buy a Vowel?" Krstic can't win games, they need to blow it up. Oddly enough, that core did win last year. A lot. In fact, with the steep learning curve Krstic has been on, the rejuvenated play of Kidd and Carter and the rugged all around game of Jefferson, many had the Nets as a title contender this year. Those plans were derailed by the injuries to Krstic and Jefferson, and have the Nets battling the Knicks for the right to be called worse than the Raptors but better than the Sixers or Celtics. Not really much to brag about.
Now New Jersey's got lots of options. They're shopping both Carter and Kidd to anyone who'll listen. The offers back for Kidd have been paltry, and they're not likely to get anything sexier for Carter. At the end of this season, Carter can opt out of his contract and walk away amicably. As we learned from Mark Cuban, this isn't necessarily bad for the Nets. In a free agent rich off season, the Nets would be happy to let Carter walk and then attempt to re-direct his 16 million dollar salary at a stud who's been unleashed and taking bids. Unfortunately this is not a free agent rich market, this off season will not feature an overabundance of guys worth sinking serious loot into. It could; Rashard Lewis, Chauncey Billups, Antawn Jamison, Gerald Wallace and Mike Bibby all have opt out clauses similar to Carter's and could become free agents if they wanted to. But other than Orlando & Charlotte (and potentially Chicago) no team has got the bread to throw at them, so there's not much chance any of these guys are changing teams, without a trade happening, in the near future. Carter's situation is slightly different, because he's got a vested interest in going to either of those 2 teams with significant bank. Carter's family lives in the Florida-Carolina region, and he owns, amongst other things, a house down there. That's why this little snippet from Brian Schmitz at the Orlando Sentinel comes as no surprise... if it's true:

Then there was the talk that TNT, following Dwight Howard around, might have intercepted some dialogue between Carter and Howard that indicated VC might become magic property before the trade deadline.

If that's true my first question is: why the hell hasn't TNT made this little gold nugget known to the public? That's a frickin' page 1 exclusive. Regardless of the truth, or Otis Smith's firm denials, the concept of Orlando trading Grant Hill's expiring contract for Vince's services is almost too good to be true. Orlando talks a lot of yang about wanting to keep Grant Hill, but I can't believe they really mean it enough to pass on the versatile scoring threat (they desperately need) in Carter. Can you imagine a more lethal starting line than this? C- Darko, PF-Dwight Howard, SG/SF- Hedo Turkoglu, SG/SF- Vince Carter, PG- Jam Nelson. I'd have to call them favorites in the east with a line like that, and the best part is they don't have to give up instrumental bench guys like Dooling, Diener, Arroyo, Reddick and Battie to make it happen. I can't fathom why Magic GM Otis Smith is against such a deal, other than Vince's tradition of underachieving teams. And honestly this is actually the only reasonable thing standing in the way of a deal for Vince; Vince himself.