With the recent release of Sean May due to an injury, it looks like the Nets are still seeking a veteran PF for the bench and may be turning to Joe Smith, according to Yahoo's Marc Spears via Twitter.

Vet free agent big man Joe Smith is expected to take a physical with New Jersey Nets on Friday & sign a contract, a source tells Y! Sports.

Smith has been one of the more solid backup big men in the league for years though he looked like he was finally showing his age the last two season. We'll see how the Nets plan to use him, though I'm guessing it's to give Derrick Favors another veteran buddy to practice with.

Mark Ginocchio

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With four of the starting positions seemingly locked down, the only real point of roster contention seems to be at the shooting guard position between free agent signing Anthony Morrow and second-year Nets player Terrence Williams. Today, Dennis and Devin look at the case for both players.

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Devin Kharpertian

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With four of the starting positions seemingly locked down, the only real point of roster contention seems to be at the shooting guard position between free agent signing Anthony Morrow and second-year Nets player Terrence Williams. Today, Dennis and Devin look at the case for both players.

Terrence Williams has to be the most polarizing New Jersey Nets player right now.  Should he start or come off the bench?  Should he play some point guard or stay exclusively at the two or three?  Should the Nets trade him or keep him for his big-time potential?  Let the debate begin.... MORE →

Dennis Velasco

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In the ongoing Carmelo Anthony drama, Yahoo's Marc Spears is reporting that Anthony is trying to persuade the Nuggets to trade him to either the Knicks or the Bulls.

The Knicks have limited assets to offer the Nuggets, which makes the Bulls a more appealing potential trade partner. The Bulls can offer a replacement small forward in Luol Deng(notes), as well as two young forwards in James Johnson(notes) and Taj Gibson(notes). New York officials would like to make a run at signing Anthony next summer if he were to opt to become a free agent. The Knicks will have salary-cap room with Eddy Curry’s(notes) contract expiring after the season.

Between Denver's reported absurd trade demands and Melo's disinterest in coming to the Nets, I think the best course of action may be to lay low. If I'm Billy King, I only ramp up my discussions with Denver if it sounds like another Eastern Conference team is close to getting him.

Mark Ginocchio

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Two years ago, Devin Harris dropped 41 points (and 13 assists) on his former team against former Nets' point guard Jason Kidd.  Two years ago, Devin Harris was representing the New Jersey Nets at the NBA All-Star game and almost took the Nets to the playoffs despite nobody really expecting them to even be close.  Two years ago, Devin Harris was the New Jersey Nets' point guard of the future.

Now?  Well, now everybody thinks that the Mavericks won that Jason Kidd-Devin Harris trade.  Now, this team can't win with Devin Harris as their starting point guard (you should see the e-mails I get "Trade Devin for Rubio," "Get Kidd back," "We should start Farmar").  This complete 180 in fans' opinion of Devin Harris is mostly due the Nets' 12 win season last year.  But while most fans are shaking their heads in disgust thinking about Devin Harris running the New Jersey Nets, I am excited because you know what?  Devin Harris is still a very good point guard.

When Nets fans complain about wanting to upgrade the point guard position, they need to realize that they only way the Nets can truly upgrade at the point is if they get Chris Paul.  That's it.  The great Kelly Dwyer had Devin ranked as the 8th best point guard (Kidd wasn't ranked in the top 10 for what it is worth), and that is after his poor performance last year.  Dwyer's rankings aren't the be all, end all but he is one of the smartest basketball writers out there (in my opinion), so when he says something I listen.  Despite that, you still hear the same  four arguments over and over:

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Sebastian Pruiti

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After suffering a stress fracture in his foot during a workout, the Nets have decided to part ways with PF Sean May, the team announced yesterday. After the acquisition of Troy Murphy, May was a longshot to make the team anyway, but it's disappointing to see he couldn't even get the chance to prove himself during the preseason:

Nets general manager Billy King explained that the team just couldn’t wait on the 25-year-old power forward: "The injury has a four- to eight-week rehab period," King said, "which would not provide Sean a legitimate chance to make our team."

Mark Ginocchio

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By Evan Kaplan

Fast-forward about seven weeks and envision this scenario. There are 5 seconds remaining in the Nets opening night game against the Pistons. The score is tied and the team needs a bucket to win their debut at the Prudential Center. Who is going to take that all-important shot with the game on the line?

One of the team’s main problems in 2009-10 is that there was no clear answer to this question. Many times the Nets would keep the game close until the last few minutes but would be unable to hit that big shot needed to secure victories. There was no Vince Carter, no Jason Kidd on the team that could be relied on in crunch time. This season the team needs to find a player that can be called upon to make big plays when they are most needed, especially if they want to try and contend for a playoff spot.

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Sebastian Pruiti

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Did you hear the Nets signed a new SF in the off-season? He may not be the King or 'Melo, but Travis Outlaw does have a reputation for some 4th quarter heroics. The new Net has posted some video of himself working out on YouTube (hat tip NetsDaily). Why don't you give it a look?

Mark Ginocchio

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Day in and day out, we here at NetsAreScorching try to provide content that you guys want to read, however, we don’t know what exactly you want to hear about, and some things may fall through the cracks. This is what the mailbag is for. Every Monday we are going to be answering questions from you the reader, don’t be afraid to e-mail your questions to mailbag@netsarescorching.com.

It was a pretty short mailbag this week with only two questions e-mailed in.  They were interesting though, so I felt the need to answer them.  Remember guys, we want to be able to do this every week, so please, send in any questions that you may have.  We'll blame this one on the holiday...let's get it next week.

Jeff

Over/Under 5 Triple Doubles For T-Will?

I really want to say over, I really do, but it is going to be under.  Every time Terrence Williams steps on the basketball court he has the potential to get a triple double, and while I do think he may pull 1 or 2 this upcoming season, 5 is just way too much.  Williams will have a few close calls as well I think, just like the end of last year.  He has a few better shooters around him, another year of experience, and maybe more playing time this year.  However, there are some things working against him as well.  Scorers mean there are lets shots to go around for him, and no question that Coach Avery Johnson is going to make him work on the defensive end, and that could take away from some of his offensive game.  So yeah, 1 or 2.  What does everyone think?  Let me know in the comments.

Ryan

The Nets-Knicks rivalry has always been a good one locally in the tri state area, but doesn't really get that much buzz, will that change this year?

I know that I personally hate the Knicks, because growing up my dad was a Knicks fan so in order to trash talk, I rooted against them.  That has always stuck with me as I grew up.  As for this rivalry going national, it all depends on one thing, will both teams be good.  Last year's Knicks-Nets games were pretty good and competitive last year, but nobody was paying attention because there was only 5 wins between them.  When the Knicks were good back in the day, the Nets were awful.  Same for when the Nets were really successful, both teams have just never been good at the same time.  If these two teams are right around 35-40 wins and battling for the final playoff spot, people will start to pay attention again.

Sebastian Pruiti

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With the Nets constantly being mentioned by the mainstream sports media as a potential landing spot for Carmelo Anthony, the NAS squad is going to take a look over at some of the players who would likely be included in a deal for the All-Star SF.

Note: Earlier this week, we at NAS incorrectly referred to a rule that noted Derrick Favors could not be traded within the year. In actuality he is only trade-protected within 30 days of signing his rookie contract. We apologize for the error.

Would You Trade Derrick Favors?

The Case For Trading Derrick Favors:

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Devin Kharpertian

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Obviously, this is a New Jersey Nets blog, however, the NAS crew absolutely love the NBA in general. So, every week, Sebastian, Mark, Devin, and myself will answer questions regarding the L.

1. Recently, Andre Iguodala said that Kevin Durant will eventually break Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's scoring record. Of course it's possible, but how likely will it happen? Will he or won't he?

Mark: Very unlikely. Kareem played in over 1550 games in his career. You just don't see that kind of longevity in the NBA anymore. If you consider maintaining 24 ppg over that period of time, I just can't see anyone currently playing in the NBA approaching those numbers.

Devin: It's not only possible, barring injury, it may actually be likely. Let's look at the numbers. Durantula has 5,967 points in three NBA seasons so far, with a breakout year of 2,472 this past year. Let's say he scores about 2,200 a year (around 27-28 points per game) for the next 10 years (until he's 31), and then about 1,800 a year (about 22-23 points per game) for six more (until he's 37). I realize the numbers will fluctuate, just an estimate. If that's his level of production, by age 37 he would have 38,767 points - breaking Kareem's record. A lot of things would have to go right, and you can never predict when a guy's body might break down. That being said Durant hasn't even been legal for a year yet and is already the most special offensive talent in the NBA. I'm certainly excited to see his career unfold.

DV: My gut reaction is "aw, HELL no!" Of course if Durant actually does break Kareem's record, it'll be so far into the future no one will ever remember my negative outcry. And, after thinking about it some more, my answer is still a nay to this scenario. There are too many factors here - health being the main one. It's obviously impossible to predict one's durability, although Durant should have the skills to score tons, no one can say he'll be able to play the 16+ seasons it'll take for Durant to be the NBA's all-time points leader.
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Dennis Velasco

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With the Nets constantly being mentioned by the mainstream sports media as a potential landing spot for Carmelo Anthony, the NAS squad is going to take a look over at some of the players who would likely be included in a deal for the All-Star SF.

Would you Trade Terrence Williams?

The Case For Trading Terrence Williams:

The man is all potential at this point.  Williams is a favorite of a lot of Nets fans and surely many will cry foul should T-Will be traded.  Afterall, some may have spent $40+ dollars on a Williams jersey and it only appreciated one year's worth of value?  In any case, Williams is loaded with talent and athleticism and brings a certain amount of excitement every time his kicks touch the hardwood.  However, he can't shoot for excrement!  Granted it was his rookie season, but shooting 40.1% for the season is as bad as answering your girlfriend when she asks you if she looks good in a certain outfit (BTW, the answer is always to ask a question back such as, "Do you think you look good in it?").

Taking a closer look at it, Williams shot 55.4% at the rim and 50.0% from less than 10 feet, which is decent, but 31.6% from 10-15 feet, 22.0% from 16-23 feet, and 31.0% from three-point range.  In a word, yuck.  Obviously as a wing player, one must, you know, be able to hit shots from the wing and Williams clearly cannot do that yet.  Unfortunately for T-Will, there are other players now on the team that can.  Anthony Morrow is a career 48.1% shooter from 10-15, 44.1% from 16-23, and 46.0% from the land of treys.  Travis Outlaw, in the past four seasons, has hit 39.8% of his shots from 10-15, 41.8% from 16-23, and 36.4% from behind the three-point line.

Granted getting to the rim is part of being a wing player, but both Morrow and Outlaw are pretty good finishers at the rim themselves, so Williams doesn't stand out in that respect.  So, unless T-Will can get a jumper of some kind with the quickfast, he has to be considered expendable, particularly for a player of Carmelo Anthony's caliber.

The Case Against Trading Terrence Williams:

The man is all potential at this point.  However, the last two months of the 2009-10 season, in particular, showed how great Williams could be.  In 15 March games, T-Will averaged 14.1 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 4.9 APG.  In 7 April games, he slightly upped the production by averaging 14.3 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 6.3 APG, a month that includes getting his first career triple-double (27, 13, 10) versus the Chicago Bulls on April 9th.  And to get back to his shooting, in March, Williams shot 42.9% from the field and did a lot better in April, hitting 45.5% of his shots.  So, there is hope yet!

Given the burn on the court, T-Will is basically a triple-double waiting to happen.  His Per 40 stats break down to 14.9 PPG, 7.9 RPG, and 5.1 APG.  Williams is a freak athlete with outstanding court vision and passing ability for a wing.  In fact, there always seems to be talk about T-Will playing the lead guard position as a back-up to Devin Harris.  Williams has the tools to become an outstanding defender at the NBA level as he was during his college days at Louisville, able to defend multiple positions.  Again, there is a lot of potential here with Williams.

The Final Verdict:

Potential is a nice thing, however, it can only get you so far, especially if you're the Nets trying to make the playoffs and change the culture surrounding the team.  So, the question is, will Carmelo Anthony help the Nets into the playoffs?  No question.  Will T-Will?  Quite possibly, but there is a better chance with Melo around in a Nets uni.  So, Terrence Williams, we hardly knew ye.  Enjoy Denver.

Dennis Velasco

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