Around the Nets Thursday: Down Goes Fournier!

Remember how this weekend’s draft combine existed to highlight Evan Fournier, the French point guard the Brooklyn Nets covet and may trade into the first round for? Fournier injured his ankle in-game yesterday, and now it appears he won’t make the trip over to the combine. Though you’d like to see him healthy, it’s possible that not seeing Fournier this weekend may give teams more reservations about drafting him. I’ve heard that the Nets still plan to hold a private workout for him during the June 10-12 Adidas Eurocamp in Treviso.

For the non-Fournier’s, DraftExpress previews the NBA Draft Combine held by the Nets this coming weekend.

Chad Ford: “I think you’ll see them let go GM Otis Smith and head coach Stan Van Gundy in the next few days. From what I can gather, they’ve already begun to kick start a search for a new GM. I think it’s time for a major change in the front office, but I wonder if they’ll be able to find a better coach than Van Gundy.

More Ford:”If (the Nets) can land Dwight Howard, I think (Deron Williams) stays in Brooklyn. If they can’t, I’d put Dallas at the top of the list.”

Also in that chat: Ford can see the Brooklyn Nets dealing the #1 pick for Dwight Howard. In that wildly hypothetical world, I hope they don’t.

The Barclays Center: now with underground subway signs.

Andy Vasquez thinks you’re thinking too hard about D-Will‘s trip to Russia.: “Last I heard, he was partying overseas with Nets management,” Mavericks center Brendan Haywood told a Dallas radio station Tuesday. “If he’s leaning toward Dallas, he’s got a funny way of showing it.” Yep, Williams’ trip has created quite the stir. But it has people excited for all the wrong reasons. The real reason Nets fans should be excited is because, believe it or not, their team might provide Williams with the most desirable landing spot.”

Stefan Bondy agrees that the Brooklyn Nets have the upper hand in retaining Deron Williams.