New Jersey Nets

Gregg Polinsky is a careful man when he talks to the media, particularly at this time of year. The Nets director of player personnel --chief scout-- has been around for a while. Along with Bobby Marks, he's the permanent party in the basketball operations office. Polinsky joined the Nets as a scout in 1999 and was named the team’s director of scouting in 2004, then later director of player personnel in 2008. So he knows you don't give away the store when asked about what the Nets are looking for in the draft. In interviews with Tim Bontemps, Ben Couch, and Jonathan Givony of Draft Express, he put on his best poker face talking about what he's and the team is looking for. To Bontemps, it sounded like the Nets are looking for "a player to step in right away, given the fact that they have only two options – the draft and their "mini" mid-level exception – to add to their roster." Polinsky didn't flat out say that, but he told Givony that he expects the Nets will find "a player that can help our basketball team." In that same interview, Polinsky said the Nets have to be ready to switch up if Billy King decides to move up, down or out of the draft. "I work for a very creative manager in Billy King," said Polinsky, smiling. "Maybe there's some deals on the table, not just at where we're picking at 22 but also to know the draft from top to bottom, do our video study, do our background checks, do our analysis. YOure always looking for some kind of edge to get you in better position." Nets looking for solid role player in upcoming NBA Draft - Tim Bontemps - New York Post Brooklyn Nets Director of Player Personnel Gregg Polinsky at the 2013 Nets Combine (Video) - Jonathan Givony - Draft Express Nets Draft Combine - Gregg Polinsky (Video) - Ben Couch - Brooklyn Nets

Devin KharpertianToday's three things to watch for The BK Playoff Game in tonight's Game 2 Miami Heat-Indiana Pacers matchup: 1) Another close game. My official "prediction," which is as official as a stick of gum, was that the Miami Heat would sweep the Indiana Pacers in four very close games. One down, three to go. After a back-and-forth regulation ended with a 30-foot bomb to tie the game at 92 from Pacers forward Paul George, a raucous overtime ended with LeBron James laying in an uncontested layup in 2.2 seconds as time expired to win at the buzzer, 103-102. I'd be surprised if this one didn't come down to the final minute, either. 2) Another LeBronathon. Hard to be humble when you stuntin' on the jumbotron. A calm, unsmiling James recorded his first triple-double of the playoffs in Game 1, with an oddly nonchalant 30 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists, adding three blocks to the party. James began the game hitting contested midrange fadeaways and ended it with the aforementioned game-winning layup. There's no player that can bend the court with his combination of court vision, scoring, and passing ability like James, and his full-court impact both opened and closed the game for Miami. Will that reflect in the statistics again? 3) More chippy play. It's amazing that only one technical foul was called in Game 1, frankly. With two shots to player *ahem* midsections, one of those players being offseason boxer David West, it's a miracle that no one was tossed from the game. With even more on the line for a desperate Indiana team and possible retaliation on their mind, expect an even more physical game -- until the officials step in. The post The BK Playoff Game: LeBronathon appeared first on The Brooklyn Game.

Devin KharpertianFormer Brooklyn Nets interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo thinks Mikhail Prokhorov's goal of winning a championship in the next two years isn't realistic with the team's current roster. "That's a heavy load for anybody, not just for Brooklyn," Carlesimo said in a conference call with reporters Thursday. "I don't know if that's realistic the way the roster is right now. I would not say that team could not win a championship. We thought we could this year if things broke a little better for us. But if you have that on your plate, that you need to win a championship in two years, I think it makes it a little challenging." Carlesimo added that the Nets aren't one of the favorites -- duh -- but did lop praise on Brooklyn, saying they're a 50-win team that "could do well, particularly in the Eastern Conference." After firing Avery Johnson, the Nets went 35-19 under Carlesimo in the regular season before losing in seven games to the Chicago Bulls in the first round of the playoffs. Carlesimo was let go the next day. This statement isn't particularly new or controversial. If doing well means "they have the potential to get as far as playing Miami before getting swept," I'd agree. The Nets locked into a good-not-great core last year. We knew they weren't a championship team from the outset, not as long as the Heat were still in the East and the Thunder in the West (though they did beat OKC emphatically earlier this season). A better coach and better system could help them improve, but there's still a ceiling there. Despite their publicized goal, the point of "win now" isn't to win a championship immediately (although that would be great), it was to erase the stench of New Jersey's losses from the franchise. That won't happen overnight, but winning -- even if it's just games, not championships -- helps. ESPN New York -- P.J. on Avery's firing, Part I New York Daily News -- PJ Carlesimo isn't buying into the narrative for why he was fired: "People spin things the way they want to do it." The post P.J.: Championship goals unrealistic for Nets appeared first on The Brooklyn Game.

ESPN's Darren Rovell reports that Nets minority owner Jay-Z has, despite all the publicity, NOT yet sold his stake in the team. Despite a report to the contrary, I have been told that Jay-Z has not yet sold his share in the Nets. — darren rovell (@darrenrovell) May 24, 2013 Rovell did not report on reasons behind the holdup. Jay-Z, whose shares have been placed at between 1/5th and 1/15th of one percent, has to sell out in order to represent NBA players ... and possibly players in other sports. The executive director of the MLB players union has expressed concern about an owner having a stake in any professional sports team. Through his alliance with CAA, Jay-Z has deals with Robinson Cano of the Yankees and Geno Smith of the Jets. He's also reportedly near a deal with Victor Cruz of the Giants and is reportedly interested in repping Seth Jones, Popeye Jones son and the top prospect in this June's NHL draft. There are also reports that once he is cleared by the NBA players union, he will sign a top NBA player. Jay-Z has said he would like to retain his interest in Barclays Center but insiders say that it might be difficult for him to do that, since the team and the arena are separate assets of a single partnership, not separate entities. He has also said that he intends to keep his courtside seats near the Nets bench. Only two people --Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian and Taiwanese pop star Will Park-- have publicly expressed interest in buying the stake, but the list is reportedly quite long.

Here it is, your guide to the off-season, with dates for the remaining pre-draft combine to the opening of training camp and including details on free agency and amnesty signings. The most intent period will be, as usual, between the draft, on June 27, and free agency signings. Last year, the Nets had 14 players on the roster by the end of July, adding Josh Childress in September. Of course, last season the Nets added 11 new players. For the same reason, the Nets won't run a free agent mini-camp as they did last summer. It didn't produce any players, but did produce never-to-be-forgotten images of Adam Morrison's hair. And no, there's no date set for the announcement of a new coach. That said, here's the calendar, starting next week. May 28-29 - Minnesota Group Workout at Timberwolves practice facility in Minneapolis. Another 22 players with hoop dreams will be on hand for measurements, drills and 5-on-5 scrimmages. June - Individual workouts at PNY Center will take place throughout the month. Only confirmed workout so far: Jamaal Franklin of San Diego State, a 6'5" swingman. June 8-10 - Adidas EuroCamp, Treviso, Italy. The leading pre-draft combine for overseas players. Nets liked what they saw from Toko Shengelia here last year. Expect a number of top candidates, like Sergey Karasev of Russia and Dario Saric of Croatia to be on hand. June 27 -- NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Nets have their own first round pick, but no second round pick. Last year, the Nets used $2.75 million of their $3 million cash limit to buy second round picks used to acquire Tyshawn Taylor and Shengelia. If they don't use the $3 million on Draft Night, they lose it three days later. Tickets available here. June 30 -- Presumably, C.J. Watson will have decided on his player option for 2013-14 by this date. If he opts in, he will be paid $1.1 million. Contracts for basketball operations staff expire ... as does the Nets $3 million cash limit for 2012-13. July 1 -- Andray Blatche, Jerry Stackhouse and Keith Bogans become unrestricted free agents. Free agents can begin talking with teams, but cannot officially sign until July 11. Rumors of signings begin hours after the midnight opening bell. New $3 million cash limit is put in place for the 2013-14 season. July 7-12 - Orlando Summer League, which includes the Brooklyn Nets, Orlando Magic, Oklahoma City Thunder, Utah Jazz, Indiana Pacers, Mimai Heat, Detroit Pistons, Boston Celtics, Houston Rockets and Philadelphia 76ers. Expect Taylor, Shengelia, Kris Joseph and the Nets pick(s) to participate. Will Bojan Bogdanovic play? He won't be signed but the Nets have played unsigned international draft picks before. July 8 - European teams will hold first familiarization practices in their home nations as they begin preparations for FIBA Eurobasket. July 11 - First day free agents can sign contracts. Will Nets be signing Bogdanovic? Also, beginning of one-week amnesty period during which the 15 teams who can still drop players will decide whether to do so. Possible amnesty candidates include: Tyrus Thomas of the Charlotte Bobcats, Metta World Peace of the Los Angeles Lakers, Charlie Villanueva of the Detroit Pistons, Linas Kleiza of the Toronto Raptors and Drew Gooden of the Milwaukee Bucks. Because they are over the cap, the Nets cannot participate in the blind auction that takes place after a player is put on waivers. They can sign a player if no other team bids on him, as they did with Andray Blatche and Josh Childress. July 27 - European national teams gather for full practices and "friendly" games prior to start of FIBA Eurobasket. August 1 - First guarantee in Kris Joseph contract comes due. If he is still under contract, he gets a $100,000 guarantee. He gets a second guarantee of another $100,000 on October 29, roster cutdown day. His contract remains partially guaranteed through the first week of January when all contracts are guaranteed. August 30 - September 11 - FIBA Tournament

Steven Waldmanby MrNykes via Instagram Judging from the number of Nets hats one sees in the streets of Kings County, it sure seems that the Brooklyn Nets have captured the imagination of Brooklyn. But there’s some statistical evidence that the Nets are not yet fully a Brooklyn team. First, just 16.7 percent of those who watched the Nets on YES Network are from Brooklyn, according to information provided The Brooklyn Game by Scarborough Research. By contrast, 30.7 percent were from New Jersey, and 46 percent came from New York City as a whole. (Chart below) Second, The Brooklyn Game's own web traffic follows a roughly similar pattern. Our recent user survey indicated that 26 percent or our readers come from Brooklyn vs. 40 percent from New Jersey. Our site traffic is in the same zone, and, according to Tweetsmap.com, 30.8 percent of @TheBKGame followers come from New York City. In the state breakdown, 35 percent come from New York State compared to 14.7 in New Jersey. The Nets declined to provide numbers on the geographic distribution of ticket buyers. But the available statistics all indicate that the majority of active Brooklyn Nets fans are not from Brooklyn. In a way, it's not surprising. If you were an ultra-serious basketball fan living in Brooklyn for the last few decades, you rooted for the Knicks, you didn’t sit out the season in the hope that some day Brooklyn would have a team. So the Nets started off with a problem: the Brooklynites who cared most about basketball already had other loyalties. Then, unfortunately for the Nets, the Knicks chose this year to get good again, making it less likely that grumpy, Dolan-hating Knicks fans would jump ship to the new team. Meanwhile, it's to be expected that many New Jerseyans who had stuck with the Nets during the lean years would stay with the new-improved version. Perhaps we should just rejoice that the Brooklyn/Jersey Nets are a "national team" – what with the cool logo and the Jay-Z ownership. On the other hand, despite the self-evident awesomeness of Nets fans, there are at least two signs that the situation is less than ideal. The Emory Sports Marketing Analytics study ranked the Nets dead last in fan involvement. It may not feel that way to those chanting Brooooook-lyn in the middle of Barclays -- or to the many who creatively "Rep Your Nets" each week -- but the folks at Emory argue that the most objective way to compare across cities is to look at the dollars spent relative what would be projected based on the population and other factors. And while there's no precise way of knowing how fan intensity might affect a team, it is worth noting that the Nets had one of the worst home court advantage differentials in the league. As Devin wrote earlier, "Per 100 possessions, Brooklyn is only 1.7 points better at home than on the road, a margin that's only better than one team -- the 20-62 Orlando Magic, the team with the league's worst overall record." Even if the diffuseness of the Nets fan base doesn't relate to either "brand equity" or the home court performance, it can't be a good thing in the long run that Brooklyn -- a city of 2.5 million people -- isn't supplying the bulk the Brooklyn Nets' fans. Are there things the Nets could do to better penetrate the borough? The Nets already conduct a variety of community events around the borough, especially with young people. And Barclays has made a point of using local Brooklyn food. Personally, I think it would help if even a Net or two lived in Brooklyn, as several of the Brooklyn Dodgers did. And it would be nice if the Forest City Ratner folks keep their promises about the development. Otherwise, some portion of Brooklyn will feel like rooting for the Nets is an endorsement of dishonest business practices. [Note to Brooklyn readers: What else should the Nets do?] This is just the first year in Brooklyn. Perhaps its not shocking that the Nets don't have Dodgers-like penetration. But the team should at least realize that th

Devin Kharpertianvia Stefan Bondy: Just got off phone with CJ Watson's former agent, Jared Karnes, who says Watson switched to the Nets players' rep of choice, Excel Sports — Stefan Bondy (@NYDNInterNets) May 21, 2013 Brooklyn Nets backup guard C.J. Watson has left Jared Karnes's a3 Agency and joined Excel Sports, which also represents Brooklyn Nets players Mirza Teletovic, Tyshawn Taylor, and Deron Williams (as well as free agent Jerry Stackhouse). Watson has a player option for the 2013-14 season worth a little over $1 million. According to a3, Ramon Sessions is now the only NBA player they represent. Watson averaged 6.8 points and 2.0 assists in 19.0 minutes per game this season, shooting 41.8% from the field and 41.1% from three-point range. The post C.J. Watson switches agents, teams with Deron Williams appeared first on The Brooklyn Game.

Devin KharpertianBoston Celtics coach Doc Rivers. (AP) Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge rebuffed the Brooklyn Nets when they inquired about interviewing Doc Rivers for their open coaching position, according to ESPN Boston. Rivers had been one of the coaches on Brooklyn's short list, and he was reportedly considering not coming back to Boston after this season ended. Since Rivers is still under contract, the Nets would need permission from Ainge & the Celtics to interview Rivers, who has been Boston's coach since the 2004-05 season. It was unlikely that the Celtics would allow Rivers to interview with a division rival, but their flat refusal would indicate that they expect Rivers will be around for the duration of his contract, which runs through the 2015-16 season and pays him a total of $21 million. Ainge refused to publicly comment on Brooklyn's interest. "Doc has told me he's coming back," Ainge told ESPN Boston. "I talk to him almost every day about our team and what we are going to do moving forward." ESPN Boston -- Danny Ainge says no to Nets The post Celtics denied Nets Doc Rivers interview appeared first on The Brooklyn Game.

Perhaps you know the routine around here: Each year we convene 2½ Jersey guys to talk about the NBA Playoffs, because they also happen to be the three best analysts in the biz and they really need someone to talk...

Pierre Jackson is one of the smallest players in the 2013, but after Nate Robinson destroyed the Nets in the playoffs, they and others may not be so opposed to taking a 5'10" athlete (42" vertical leap) with good range. Jackson, who Chad Ford thinks could sneak into the first round because of that Nate Robinson effect played well in the second day of the Group Workout. Here's what Ford wrote of the Baylor point guard's performance... Virtually every GM I spoke with thought he was the best player in attendance. Not only did he show off his elite quickness and athletic ability, but he also showed off his floor general skills. I was impressed with his ability to run the pick-and-roll. His speed allowed him to fly by defenders (Kentucky's Julius Mays was on him for most of the game), and he hit several big jumpers. Ford was also impressed by some others who showed on Thursday, including Arsalan Kazemi out of Oregon who he notes is " a favorite of the analytics crowd" and a "glue guy." A deep sleeper in the group was the tallest player to workout, tiny Farmingdale State's 7'1" center and Division III's leading rebounder, A. J. Matthews. Matthews, a native of Brooklyn, is unlikely to be drafted --only one Division III product has ever been drafted-- but his dream is to play in Barclays Center. Also, the final measurements for the workout are in and D.J. Stephens of Memphis, who looked good on Wednesday, came away with the highest vertical leap ever recorded in any pre-draft combine or group workout: 46 inches. A Gerald Wallace clone, Stephens impressed with his athleticism and work ethic. Although only 6'5", he has a 7'2" wingspan. The Nets will soon start individual workouts. Expect to see prospects for both the #22 pick and mid second round picks, if the Nets decide to buy picks. The Blazers might be the most likely partner. They have a first round pick, three second round picks and a top Euro-Stash, Lucas Papanikolaou. 2013 NBA draft - Pierre Jackson and D.J. Stephens impress at New Jersey workouts - Chad Ford - ESPN Insider Pressey Looking to Prove Himself as NBA Draft Looms - Josh Newman - Zags Blog Mays impresses at Nets' combine -- at point guard - Eric Lindsey - CoachCal Brooklyn-native A.J. Matthews opening eyes before NBA Draft - Larry Fleisher - Metro