RealGM

I am going to be rather pessimistic/realistic here. For awhile I thought Lebron would possibly come to Brooklyn/Jersey. But, I think he actually thinks the future of the Cavs might be greater than it really is. I feel like the Cavs realistically have a shot to win the title this and next year. But, with Jamison aging, Shaq's career over, Z essentially irrelevant, Mo Williams as his main sidekick, the lack of true young talent around him, etc.. that he is making a mistake.

Needless to say I feel like Wade has a bigger chance of leaving Miami for greener pastures (Chicago/Brooklyn/NY) if they do not sign a star big man and get a solid PG.

But, to be pessimistic here these guys are most likely leaving and available (not Wade or Lebron):

Bosh
Boozer
Amare
Johnson
Gay
Lee
Pierce (if something happens and he and the Celtics want that to happen)

If the Nets were able to land Wall or Turner in the draft we would have a solid piece to build around for the next decade with T-Will, Bropez, and Harris. I think CDR will show he is truly valuable next season as well. I would not mind signing Joe Johnson and David Lee and still have a few million left over.

But, the real question would be if we did this could we structure deals and our team to be ready for NY's own Brooklyn born and Syracuse's finest player in 20 years to come back to play for the Brooklyn Nets in 2011? He can't be happy now as they have no supporting cast around him that the he knows will grow with him from 2010 or 2011 on. Billups is done. K-Mart's knees are shot. Nene just doesn't have the make up of a dominant center. JR Smith is a nice young piece (but isn't that consistent and is not a true number 2). I think we would have a great shot at Melo. If we had to just sign Joe Johnson (kid is so sick) and sign a few guys to 1 year deals in order for this to happen I would be open to signing and trading for Bosh (using Harris and a pick and signing Amare to a 90 percent of the max deal) and then sporting a line up in 2010 of:

Wall
Joe Johnson
T-Will
Bosh
Lopez
6th CDR

Then in 2011 I would be open to doing whatever is necessary to grab Melo and increase the ability of our team to win a title.

If we could not sign and trade for Bosh using Devin (who when healthy next year will kill it!) I would keep Devin and try this out if we truly believed Melo would happen in 2011. This lineup would make us a top Eastern Conference title contender and the missing piece to becoming the Eastern Conference champ and NBA Title contender would be Melo (and a few more bench guys).

signing only David Lee, drafting Wall or Turner, signing Michael Redd for our bench (if at age 30 he rehabs and proves he can play for 2-3 years more and be instant offense in a spot up 3 point shooter with a quick release off our bench ala Lucious Harris) or signing Korver to be the same (we need 3 point shooters).

Wall/Turner
Harris
T-Will
David Lee
Lopez
6th Redd/Korver
7th CDR


then 2011 we could have (with signing of Melo and if we have Wall at the 1 and move T-Will to the 2) and trading of Harris for a future 1st:

Wall
T-Will
Melo
Lee
Lopez
6th Redd/Korver
7th CDR

Not sure how you worked out the math but most of these scenarios dont seem very realistic to me.

I do like the idea of going after Melo in 2011. But in order for that to happen the Nets have to play their cards right. Getting JJ and Bosh (not only totally unrealistic, but horrible idea) would leave us no options for 2011 at all, even if we did get rid of Devin.

I do think there would be enough room to get David Lee, or maybe even Boozer AND still have cap for Melo. But definitely not if you add Redd/Korver. Sing and trade for Devin is no given, but this way we'd have room even if Devin was still here. Addition of Lee and Wall would make us competitive as it is, we'd have to fill out the roster with 1 year rentals which is not that hard. We can just throw some trade exceptions around for teams that want to save money. Adding someone like AK47 or Beasley would be options.

Wall/Devin
Lee/CDR
Beasley/Twitt
DLee (or Boozer)/Humph
Lopez/Yi/#27 pick

Thats 11 guys. Beasley, Humph, Yi and CDR all expire.

I have come to the conclusion that Boozer is my top target this year. He is straight up beasting this playoffs. I would settle for Lee as consolation. Then we go for Melo next year.

Wall
Lee
T.Will
Boozer/Lee
Lopez

then in 2011

Wall
Lee
Melo
Boozer/Lee
Lopez

Then we could find a replacement for C.Lee if he doesn't step up.

I actually have been starting to think 2011 is the main summer our management is looking at. I think we want to add a upper tier player at the PF position this summer, pray for John Wall and go into the season seing how that does. If we can find a above average player at the 3 for something like Harris/Hump/CDR or Yi we'll naturally take it, but if not, I think we'll be focused on possibly moving Devin for a flat out salary dump/future pick (I keep feeling like we're gonna try to work out a 3 team deal with Utah and Indy where we land AK47/fillers in the end) to free up the space for Melo in 2011. Then resign AK on the relative cheap and go with that.

Wall/Vet PG
Twill/Lee
Melo/AK47
Boozer/Rookie/Vet PF
Lopez/Boone/Vet C