2010 a Smokescreen?

[lunarblues]

while reading the piece on Nenad on draftexpress, they went into detail about the state of the nets ownership group. it said that the stock price of the group that owns the nets had gone down by 92%. with that lack of value do you think that the group just decided to use the prospect of getting lebron to hide the fact that they can't afford to field an expensive team. that would make alot more since than throwing away two years for the chance of getting one player.

It’s important to note that Krstic is currently a restricted free agent, with his NBA rights still held by the New Jersey Nets. With the Nets having 15 guaranteed contracts on their roster, and a deep frontline (with seven players who are either power forwards or centers), it’s expected that they will not match Oklahoma City’s offer sheet. The team is trying to maintain as much cap space as possible for the summer of 2010, and the third year on Krstic’s deal would hinder them in that regard.

The team is in a big financial crunch, as shares of Nets owner Bruce Ratner’s company, Forest City Enterprises, have fallen 92% in a year and a half, from $70 to just under 6$, and the team has laid off employees (even in the front office) as recently as last week. Forest City reported losses of 30 million dollars on the Nets over the first nine months of 2008. A number of articles released recently again put in question the feasibility of the Atlantic Yards project, which would move the Nets to Brooklyn in 2011.

http://www.draftexpress.com/blog/Jonathan-Givony/

[vincecarter4pres]

That is an insane amount of money for a stock to go down.

If that was the case I think we would have seen VC traded already for whatever was out there that expires this year, although, teams that are interested in him might have wanted to see how he looked coming off the ankle surgery, so I have to say I haven't ruled out that possibility.

[deviljets7]

That is an insane amount of money for a stock to go down.

If that was the case I think we would have seen VC traded already for whatever was out there that expires this year, although, teams that are interested in him might have wanted to see how he looked coming off the ankle surgery, so I have to say I haven't ruled out that possibility.

I have to agree. I know a lot has changed since June, but if the financial situation was that dire, I'd guess Carter would have been dealt and/or the Nets would have done an RJ trade that got them expiring filler (rather than Bobby Simmons).

[ecuhus1981]

This team is built on alot more than $70mil. But if I were a GM, losing that much money, ON TOP OF the Nets' yearly operational losses, would force me to look carefully at my finances.

I think we truly are one of the "favorites" ( I use the term VERY loosely) for LeTravalier's services in 2010, but even if we aren't, we can find other elite FAs during that summer. I don't think it is a smokescreen, but if it were, I couldn't really blame them. I just be disappointed.

[S.I.C. GM]

My thing is

DOES IT MATTER?

We needed a change. Even if we dont get anyone in 2010, we are still better off in the future then if we kept Kidd, RJ, and soon gone VC. We have a young group. All we need is another young potential Superstar either through trade or draft. In all honesty, I dont think Big FA are going to want to play here. We are not moving to Brooklyn any time soon. We are still the distant cousin of the Knicks.

With that said, I dont care as long as we continue to stay young and dont waste money on GLUE FA.