Le Basketbawl

According to reports there seems to be no chance that Carmelo Anthony will be wearing the Blue and Orange of the New York Knicks this season. However according to both the “New York Post” and the “New York Daily News” the All-Star forward still could end up in the tri-state area as a member of the New Jersey Nets. According to one report any member of the Nets roster would be available to the Denver Rockets so the Nets can rent the forward for one season. Because Anthony is a Free Agent at the end of the season and there are no guarantees that New Jersey will sign him to a long term deal.

Now New York Vinnie would take one name out of the hopper right from the Frickin jump and that is New Jersey center Brook Lopez. New York Vinnie would also if he were Nets General Manager Billy King to prefer to keep starting point guard Devin Harris; however any deal involving the New Jersey center is off the table. Because in an era in the NBA when you have D-Howard and then everybody else in the pivot Lopez has the skills and the potential to be a Frickin huge weapon in the middle for any team. That is not worth giving up for anything especially a player that you are only sure you will have for one season.

Now New York Vinnie would think that if the two teams were to work out a deal newly acquired veteran power forward Troy Murphy would most likely be involved as the two salaries would need to balance out. Murphy is also a Free Agent at the end of the season so Denver could keep the salary cap slot open. However the Nuggets could also restock for the future as the Nets have 10 draft picks over the next three NBA Drafts.

A team with Devin Harris at the point, Brook Lopez in the middle, promising rookie Derrick Favors at the power forward slot and Carmelo Anthony could make some noise next season in the NBA Eastern Conference. Maybe they could be good enough to get Anthony to sign a long term deal especially since the team is moving to Brooklyn, which is where his wife grew up. But the one thing the Nets can not do is allow Brook Lopez to be in that deal.

© Copyright NYVT Productions

There are boat-loads of guys out there who can talk the talk, but truly only a small percentage that can walk the walk as well. Indiana Pacers Team President Larry Bird is a guy who can do both as he has showed since his playing days with the Boston Celtics. Have you ever known somebody that you don’t particularly like but you respect and admire them just the same? That is how “Birdie” is for New York Vinnie; he and the Celtics crushed “MY BOYS” the New York Knicks way too many times for me to ever like him. But New York Vinnie has always admired his attitude and his confidence.

Back in the eighties during All-Star Weekend “Birdie” would walk into the Frickin locker-room before the “Three Point Competition” and ask his opponents who would finish in second place behind him? And then “MY MAN” went and won the contest! In New York Vinnie’s book that takes “Stones” the size of Texas to pull that off!

Any body who watched Larry Bird on the hardwood for an extended period of time knows how much the man knows about the game of basketball. However he apparently learned some lessons from sitting at the knee of Legendary Celtics Team President, the late Red Auerbach.

The “Indianapolis Star” Wednesday reported that the Pacers were part of a blockbuster trade on Wednesday involving four teams and five players. Here is the breakdown of the deal:

New Orleans Hornets:
Traded Darren Collison and James Posey to the Indiana Pacers.
Received Trevor Ariza from the Houston Rockets.

Indiana Pacers:
Traded Troy Murphy to the New Jersey Nets.
Received Collison and Posey from the Hornets.

New Jersey Nets:
Traded Courtney Lee to the Houston Rockets.
Received Murphy from the Pacers.

Houston Rockets:
Traded Ariza to the Hornets.
Received Lee from the Nets.

Now in New York Vinnie’s mind the clear cut winner is the Pacers who get a point guard who had his coming out party last year with the Hornets. They also get a proven sixth man in Posey who was a key component of the Boston Celtics winning the NBA Title in 2008. They lose Troy Murphy who was going to become a Free Agent at the end of the year and did not figure in their plans.

Courtney Lee never wanted to be with New Jersey and was truly hurt when the Orlando Magic traded him last year in the deal that acquired Orlando Vince Carter. A change of scenery may do him some good. Murphy becomes a Free Agent at the end of the year making him a marketable commodity in the NBA. Ariza takes over at the small forward for the aging Peja Stojakovic. New York Vinnie is not that confident that he was worth a  kid who looked for real at the point this past season as well as sixth man Posey.

© Copyright NYVT Productions

They say that the acorn does not fall too far from the tree; and New York Vinnie guesses that is exactly the case in this situation. When New York Vinnie was just 12 years old a new addition to our family was brought into the world as my little Cousin Paulie was born just three blocks away from my childhood home.

Family is the most important thing in New York Vinnie’s life so naturally I took Cousin Paulie under my wing. From the time he was a little guy Cousin Paulie became New York Vinnie’s constant companion and side-kick until he was ready to go out on his own. New York Vinnie took Cousin Paulie everywhere; his first Knicks game, first Yankees game as well as the first time to the Circus at MSG.

New York Vinnie also tried to make the road a little smoother for Cousin Paulie by trying to get him to avoid the bumps in life that I had previously experienced. Sometimes it worked and other times Cousin Paulie went his own way only to find out it was the wrong path.

Although New York Vinnie and Cousin Paulie are both grown up now and have our own families and lives to take care of we have remained incredibly close over the years. Cousin Paulie is truly the younger brother that New York Vinnie never had. Just like with all brothers on some situations we agree and others we are miles apart on.

From the day that “The House That New York Vinnie Built” started last year Cousin Paulie has wanted to be a contributor to Le Basketbawl. New York Vinnie made a promise to him that if the site lasted a year that he could play a role but the first thing was to make sure my house was in order first. Last month we passed that marker and so it is time for New York Vinnie to make good on his word.

Just as in the case of New York Vinnie; Cousin Paulie is a man of strong opinions who shoots from the hip. There will be issues that we agree on and others that we could not disagree more strongly. But without further delay ”The House That New York Vinnie Built” welcomes the debut of Cousin Paulie:

Whoa, whoa, whoa I knew I had to come save this blog, but I didn’t know how desperate the situation is. I wake up this morning to find out that New York Vinnie’s post of the day is about the NETS? You should rename that post ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ, or at least save news about the NETS until the end of the day when I have some trouble sleeping after stuffing my face with some fresh antipasto.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Cousin Paulie is here to save the day. Okay, I’ll admit maybe some of you people living in the armpit of America are interested that Billy King is taking over for Rod Thorn to help build a team around LeBron, I mean D-Wade, sorry Bosh, wait a minute, who the hell did the Nets sign this off-season after making a lot of noise with some billionaire owner tough guy straight out of Rocky IV?

Good Luck with Billy King, I mean look at all those rings he won with the 76ers (zero). And also, good luck with his ability to attract all the big name players and sign them to extremely well thought out contracts. Seven-year, $50 million to Kenny Thomas, and six-year, $63 million to Sam Dalembert. Who needs LeBron and D-Wade as your building blocks when you have those two big names? And let’s not forget about King traded Philly’s only superstar in Allen Iverson for basically a mute point guard (Andre Miller) along with a pair of draft picks and a pat on the back.

So as I go to get my second cup of instant coffee, New York Vinnie please don’t ruin my morning again with news that won’t affect the league in anyway. Nobody cares about a twelve win team. Perhaps, I’m just bitter that the Nets are trying to move in on our home turf in Brooklyn, stay in Newark for all I care.

Like it or leave it, Cousin Paulie is here to say!

The New Jersey Nets took another step forward in their rebuilding process Wednesday as “The Star-Ledger” has reported that the team hired Billy King as the club’s new General Manager. King will take over the reigns from Rod Thorn who has decided to retire. The Nets during the last few months have gotten a new Majority Team Owner as Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov is now running the show. The club also has a new head coach as the Nets recently hired former Dallas bench boss Avery Johnson.

Team Owner Prokhorov released a statement praising the club’s new General Manager. The Russian native said “He has all of the qualities we’ve been looking for in a candidate: professionalism, good relations with the league, players and agents, and strong communications skills. He will be an excellent fit with Head Coach Avery Johnson. Most importantly, Billy is ambitious. He wants to win. This is what I felt when I met with him and why he will be a strong addition to the Nets organization.”

King had previously been Team President and General Manager of the Philadelphia 76ers serving with that team from 1997-2007. Ironically he was replaced by former Nets executive Ed Stefanski.

“The Record” reported on Thursday that the New Jersey Nets have hired former Dallas Mavericks head coach Avery Johnson as their next bench boss. Johnson led Dallas to a 194-70 mark while he led that squad; he faces a rebuilding project with New Jersey after the team ended this past season with a record of just 12-70. The team is expected to present their new coach to the media next Tuesday.

Johnson stated that he is looking forward to his new challenge. The Nets new bench boss said “I am really excited to be the head coach of the New Jersey Nets, it’s an honor. I want to thank Mikhail Prokhorov and Rod Thorn for their confidence in appointing me as head coach. The future of the team is bright and I am excited to be a part of that future. We want to play tough, hard-nosed defense and we are going to move the ball on offense. It’s all going to begin with training camp where we will start building a foundation for the future.”

Team Owner Mikhail Prokhorov feels that his new head coach is the perfect guy to lead the team into the future. The Russian billionaire said “The hiring of Avery Johnson as the Nets head coach is a wonderful first step towards building a winning team. His leadership qualities, knowledge of the game and ability to motivate are all talents we will be calling upon as we move forward. This is the beginning of what I hope will be many more exciting announcements to come before the start of the season.”

The “Associated Press” has reported that the NBA Board of Governors approved the sale of 80% of the New Jersey Nets to Russian businessman Mikhail Prokhorov on Tuesday. The billionaire who is said to be the richest man in Russia becomes majority Team Owner of the Nets and he has also has a 45% stake in the project that will build the team a new home in Brooklyn. According to reports the sale was approved by a vote of 29-0, with one team abstaining from voting.

Prokhorov played hoops while in college and the businessman and owns a share of the Russian team CKSA Moscow and he becomes the first owner of an NBA franchise that is not from North America.  The Russian assumes control of the team after an embarrassing season that ended with the Nets having a record of 12-70. They are currently without a head coach and do have money to spend this summer under the NBA salary cap.

After receiving approval from the Board of Governors; the billionaire released a statement of encouragement to fans of the team. Prokhorov said “For those who are already fans of the Nets and the NBA, I intend to give you plenty to cheer about. Today’s vote will give the NBA a greater global reach and bring a multitude of new fans to the game of basketball.”

NBA Commissioner David Stern has wanted to market the NBA on a global basis. Having an NBA team now owned by a foreign owner will most likely help him to reach that goal.

There are currently five NBA teams that are without a head coach; and after the Playoffs there could possibly be a couple more. Recently there has been all sorts of buzz about Philadelphia and Chicago but there has been virtual silence on the situation that New York Vinnie believes may be the most intriguing of the bunch. Now the reason there has been little action on that front is the fact that the New Jersey Nets are waiting for their new Team Owner Mikhail Prokhorov to be approved by the NBA Board of Governors. “The New York Times” recently reported that the vote for the billionaire from Russia should take place on Tuesday May 18.

Until Prokhorov takes over the team no moves will be made regarding the future of the franchise. The new owner could come in and fire Team President Rod Thorn and General Manager Kiki Vandeweghe on his first day although that is highly unlikely.

However once that situation is resolved; New York Vinnie thinks it will be interesting to see who New Jersey brings in as the new bench boss. Because even though the Nets played like Total Frickin Crappolla this past season they have the core of a pretty good roster. And with the right guy as the coach and one of three Free Agents that are available this summer the Nets could go from the sewer to contender in the NBA Eastern Conference next season.

There was no history made in New Jersey this past season; it was just another lousy NBA team as they would finish with a record of 12-70. Although it looked like a lock that they would end up with less than 9 wins for most of the season they got lukewarm during the last few weeks and won some games. However even with the team firing Lawrence Frank early on and putting Kiki Vandeweghe; who was totally clueless as head coach three players on the Nets roster showed that they are for real this year.

New Jersey has three assets in center Brook Lopez, point guard Devin Harris and shooting guard Courtney Lee; now add a Bosh, Boozer or Stoudemire to that mix you have a very strong starting lineup. With putting either Chris Douglas-Roberts or Terrence Williams in as the starting small forward you have one of the better starting lineups in the Eastern Conference. 

New York Vinnie believes that Carlos Boozer would be the perfect guy to go to the Nets and take that team to the next level. He has the numbers and he has the right mind-set to be a leader on New  Jersey. Boozer has now been in the NBA for eight seasons and will be 29 years old next November; so you are getting him right in his prime years. He was a member of Team USA in 2008 and is a key reason that the Utah Jazz made it into the second round of the Playoffs this year.

The Nets will have money under the cap available; and they can bring in a Chris Bosh, Amar’e Stoudemire or as New York Vinnie suggests Carlos Boozer. In a Conference that had its eighth seed at 41-41; a team can move up in the ranks pretty quickly. If the Nets are smart they bring in the right guy as coach and sign Carlos Boozer to a long term deal.