Kidd is out

WTF JUST HAPPENED!?!??! I was just sitting on my coach enjoying Tanaka throw a gem then I check twitter to see that Jason Kidd made a “power play” to run basketball operations of the Nets, and failed. Now he is “likely” out as the head coach of the Nets and is interviewing to become president of basketball operations for the Milwaukee Bucks. (OH look Tanaka just lost the game. What a great night!) Jason Kidd did an outstanding job in his first year with the Nets. It looked to be a lost season when Brook Lopez went down, but instead Kidd went to a smaller lineup and changed the season around. Kidd was a great coach when it came to the rotations and game plans; I mean the Nets were two or three plays away from being up 3-2 on the Heat in the second round of the playoffs. Now the Nets don’t have a head coach and are a complete and utter mess. Also if Kidd goes to the Bucks, the Nets will most likely get a first round pick from them.

First let’s look at Kidd as running basketball operations. I would have been 100% behind it. What has Billy King done that makes you say he should not been have fired? During the season I thought the Nets had their coach of the future; now they’re back to square one.

What Jason Kidd did here was very smart. Bomani Jones explained it perfectly on twitter and I’ll just re-write what he said. (Paraphrasing) “Kidd has five million left on his contract that isn’t job security so what does Kidd have to lose if he feels Billy King might get the boot soon. Because if Billy King goes, Kidd will go soon after. Kidd is close friends with the Bucks new owner so if Kidd walked up to the Nets and was denied to run the front office he had a safe place at the Bucks.” What Kidd did was smart and very dirty. He went behind the back of the man who hired him and traded to get him fired.

This leaves the Nets in a horrible place. They’re entering their third season in Brooklyn and will be on their fourth head coach. Why would Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett or Shaun Livingston come back to this mess? Comeback to an organization with no culture and no stability? The Nets look like the Knicks. Right now the Nets need a new coach and please God, not Mark Jackson. The Nets have to go with a young coach; that will be the long term answer, not a re-trend coach.

Here are three quick options:

Mike Longabardi of the Phoenix Suns. He was an assistant under the Celtics with Doc Rivers where he learned from Tom Thibodeau. He has been an assistant coach for the Suns the last couple of years and is a great defensive coach. He was also born in Brooklyn. He has been an assistant forever and has paid his dues. He is ready to become a NBA coach and I will be the leader of his bandwagon. Get him to Brooklyn!

David Fizdale of the Miami Heat. He did interview for a couple of jobs this offseason about their head coaching job but was turned away. He has been an assistant with the Heat since 2008. He is well respected by LeBron James and is believed to one day be a NBA coach.

Sean Sweeney. I have no idea who he is. Sean Sweeney is the youngest member of the Nets coaching staff and is highly regarded within the organization and will be coaching the summer league team for the Nets. Sweeney moved to the bench midseason last year after being promoted from video coordinator. Kidd always seemed to listen to Sweeney. The only problem about Sweeney is that he’s 29 years old. However, if he’s highly regarded, I don’t care how old he is, let him coach if you like him.

Like I said this was just a quick list of names the Nets are reportedly looking for someone with coaching experience in NBA or college.  

For everything NBA and the mess we call the Brooklyn Nets follow @threwthenet on twitter.

Knicks and Mavs trade

            We’re not even at the NBA draft and we have our first trade of the NBA offseason. ISN’T THIS WONDERFUL?!?!?! The Knicks are sending Tyson Chandler and Raymond Felton to the Mavericks for Jose Calderon, Samuel Dalembert, Shane Larkin, Wayne Ellington and the 34^th and the 51th pick in this year’s draft. I’ll do a quick pros and cons list for this trade.

Dallas Mavericks

Pro: They got rid of Jose Calderon’s contract which expires after the 2016/2017 season

Cons: Everything! Chandler and Felton looked awful last year and they gained 3 million dollars in their cap for this year, the Mavs got worse in this trade.

New York Knicks

Pros: They got rid of Raymond Felton!!!!

They also got Shane Larkin who was drafted last year and is obviously on a rookie deal until 2016/2017 season. Larkin had an okay rookie season but has the potential to be a good point guard in the NBA.

The Knicks also get the 34^th pick in the draft, in this deep draft that could catch the Knicks a good young player. The 51th pick is late but hey you never know could grab someone decent.

Jose Calderon and Samuel Dalembert combined are better than Felton and Chandler so in that sense it’s a good trade.

Calderon is also one of the best three point shooting point guards in the league. He shot 49% from three last year.

Wayne Ellington is a very good three point shooter and could be a sleeper in this trade.

Cons: My con is Jose Calderon, he is going to be 33 when the season starts and he has a long contract it ends after the 2016/2017 season he makes 7 million dollars in all three years. Paying an average point guard 7 million isn’t good.

Advance Stats

            Okay so I dug around a bit I found a stat that was a little surprising to me Chandler had a real plus minus of 3.86 which is 7^th among centers while Dalembert was -.39 which was 35^th among centers. Felton had a real plus minus of 0.91 27^th among point guards while Calderon had a -1.70 46^th among point guards.

For everything NBA offseason and Nets follow @threwthenet on Twitter. 

2014 Draft

The NBA draft is on the 26th and since I am no college basketball expert we turn to our good friend John Kluppy for his draft expertise. In this draft I would say there are four levels of prospects; really good prospects, good prospects, some wildcards and everyone else. Agree?

JK:  I would definitely agree that there are tiers (like in any draft) but the drop from tier one to tier two is dramatic. Coming into the draft, I'd say that Embiid, Wiggins, Parker and maybe even Exum are the top tier. I believe that Wiggins will be the best player in this draft. I believe Wiggins, Embiid, and Exum have tremendous potential while Parker, who has the lowest floor, also has the lowest ceiling. Wiggins can be a TMac lite and Embiid has the potential to be the best offensive big man in the game. Exum, like Embiid, is very far but also has great potential. Exum has great size who projects as a plus defender with a potentially scary offensive repertoire. He has the size and passing ability to be a plus passer who can play the one and two.

   After those guys, Randle, Smart, and Gordon, round out the second tier. I really like Gordon. Gordon has the potential to be a defensive whiz with incredible athleticism. Shawn Marion and AK, guys who do a little bit of everything, are good pro comparisons. Smart is one of the intriguing players in this draft. If he had come out last year, he would've been picked 3rd by the Magic. He was seen as a Dwayne Wade type whose great leadership would help right the ship of any sunken ship. After the punch incident, he was seen as a wild card. The Kings seem like a great fit and I think he has the potential to be a star.

            I agree with your first part; I like Exum more than Parker. Wiggins and Embiid are the two best in this draft. I disagree with some of your stuff in the second part. Randle has taken a hit due to his foot injury so he could fall out of the top ten and his game doesn’t quite work in the current NBA.  However, he was definitely in the second tier of prospects before the news of his foot injury. For the Marcus Smart pushing incident, I personally don’t find it a big deal. He’s twenty years old and he pushed a fan who could have said something really awful towards him. I also noticed you left off a name on your second tier; a player who I really like, Noah Vonleh. He has great size, averaged a double, and can shot the three, and did I mention he’s 6’10? He could be a wildcard, but I love his game I think he has the highest ceiling of anyone in the second tier.

JK:  I totally forgot about Vonleh. I’d rather have him than Randle and Smart. I don't mind the Smart incident and I think he can still be the leader people brought him up to be. I think Vonleh has a lot of potential and could've been much more productive in college if given more chances at Indiana. Randle has almost no defensive potential and with his T-Rex arms, doesn't look to have a lot of potential. I think Randle has taken a hit unfairly (like Smart) but could be a steal later in draft if he falls (a la Jared Sullinger). If he lands in the top 10-14, I’d pass. But 20 and on? I’d pull the trigger.

The Wildcards in the draft are? I put Exum in here simply because he has never seen him play before and Doug McDermott. McDermott was a great scorer in college but it won’t translate to the NBA. He could be a good shooter in the NBA but that’s about it; and his defense is about average.

JK: I wouldn't put Exum in wild cards. Or instead of a wildcard section, I would call the third tier the hindsight guys. I think guys like Douggy buckets or whatever, Zack Lavine and James Young could turn into very serviceable players but could also be nothing more than a lost cause. I like Lavine and I think he has the ability to be a star with plus athleticism (watch those crazy videos of him in workouts) with a great shooting touch. He can score too, but he wasn't a leader at UCLA as it was obvious that it was Kyle Anderson's team. Speaking of Anderson, he’s probably the hardest guy in the draft to predict. His stock has been at the top ten (nbadraft.net had him going in the top ten at one point), to the lottery, to out of the first round. Boris Diaw’s amazing postseason probably helped his stock as his game resembles his to a key. Anderson will never give you defense but his offensive game is one of the more well-rounded in the draft. He does everything (offensively) well and is LeBron James without the athleticism. James Young has one of the nicest jumpers in the draft and showed flashes of a real scorer who can finish at the basket.

So you like Kyle Anderson? I agree that all of those guys could be serviceable players in the NBA. The only problem is they will be drafted into situations where they will be asked to be the 3rd or 4th guy and some of those guys might not be ready for that. I think Lavine is the guy that will be a great pick in the lottery and you mentioned the workout videos. I think he will sneak into the top ten; his potential is sky high. Okay, what player do you think is a bust that will be picked in the top 15?

JK: I like Kyle Anderson but to a point. If I’m a team in the later first round, I’d take him without a doubt. Lottery? That gets a little tougher. I also think it depends on the situation. The Spurs seem like a perfect fit. But so do a lot of competing teams like the Clippers (Collison replacement?) Suns (perfect fit for their style) Rockets (ditto) and the Heat (could replace Mario Chalmers). I think Randle is a nice fit as a bust. I would rather have guys like Young, Lavine, Stauskas, Harris and all the other guys in the top ten. I also think Douggie buckets has a good chance at being a bust. White guys who need the ball a lot don’t always translate into the NBA well. If he wants to be successful he’ll have to transform his game (think J.J. Redick) but even if he does he won’t be the player people will want him to be.

            I think Randle has the highest probability to be a bust. The injury and his style of play is concerning. Aaron Gordon’s lack of offensive skill is concerning, but he can improve. Marcus Smart shooting is also not great although he did improve his 3 point % but 10 points this year. Randle is probably the best bet for a bust I agree. Last question, give me a mock of the first ten picks (no trades just the way the teams are slotted now).

JK:

1. (Cleveland) Andrew Wiggins  

2. (Milwaukee) Jabari Parker

3. (Philly) Dante Exum

4. (Orlando) Noah Vonleh

5. (Utah) Aaron Gordon

6. (Boston) Joel Embiid:

7. (L.A.) Julius Randle:

8. (Sacramento) Marcus Smart

9. (Charlotte) Nik Stauskas

10 (76ers) Gary Harris

My top 10 is…

1.    (Cleveland) Wiggins

2.      (Milwaukee) Parker

3.      (Philly) Exum

4.      (Orlando) Embiid

5.      (Utah) Vonleh

6.      (Boston) Gordon

7.      (L.A.) Smart

8.      (Sacramento) Randle

9.      (Charlotte) McDermott

10.  (Philly) Stauskas

Two quick notes. John and I wrote this piece before the Embiid injury due to our schedules… Embiid would have been the number one pick if he had not gotten hurt but he’s still a top ten player. Also I expect the Nets to get into this draft by buying a pick, my belief is that it will be a second round pick. The Nets don’t have the assets to acquire a first round pick unless they are willing to part with Brook Lopez which doesn’t seem likely at the moment.

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