Kevin Garnett

BIG Potential Brooklyn Nets Trade Targets

Posted on: January 30th, 2013 by Devin Kharpertian 37 Comments

Recently, Brooklyn Nets fans have clamored to fill what seems like the team's #1 weakness: the need for a power forward/big man that can defend and score. As endearing as Reggie Evans' beard is, his lack of an offensive game has begun to wear on some folks, and it's clear he's best suited coming off the bench to provide energy in the second unit. Mirza Teletovic & Kris Humphries both have had hot & cold stretches all season.

But it isn't that easy. Nets GM Billy King can't just pick a great power forward off the Great Power Forward Tree, and boom, all the problems are fixed and the Nets cruise their way to championship behind their big man tandem of Brook Lopez and Great Power Forward. But similarly, there's no question that there are big men out there that the Nets can at least make a phone call about.

So we're going roundtable-style at The Brooklyn Game: our writers & analysts look at five potentially available power forwards (and the one center that we have to look at, because, well, we have to), how they fit with Brooklyn, and how realistic an acquisition is.

Onward!

Start here: Paul Millsap

TAGS: andrea bargnani, Brooklyn Nets, Dwight Howard, josh smith, Kevin Garnett, Kris Humphries, Mirza Teletovic, nets analysis, Pau Gasol, paul millsap, Reggie Evans, roundtable

Nets

If Celtics blow it up, could Nets get involved?

Posted on: January 28th, 2013 by Devin Kharpertian 14 Comments

Devin Kharpertian

The Boston Celtics lost their star point guard Rajon Rondo for the season, announcing Sunday that Rondo had suffered a torn ACL against the Atlanta Hawks Friday night. (Rondo would play on the torn ligament in a double-overtime loss.)

With the aging 21-23 Celtics clinging to the eighth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, we've come to that inevitable point in the year when this question comes up: should the Celtics blow it up and start over?... MORE →

TAGS: Brooklyn Nets, Kevin Garnett

Morning Shootaround

Shootaround: Garnett blasts Humphries, No rest for D-Will

Posted on: November 30th, 2012 by Devin Kharpertian 2 Comments

Devin Kharpertian

First and foremost comes the most super-important part of today, both for this site and our current political climate: I'm now doing Nets Power Rankings for New York Magazine every Thursday. Tease: two members of the bench mob make the top five. One invented palindromes.

We didn't really touch on this when it happened, but holy Joe Johnson:

(note: per request from @elonepb, I've switched out the NBA's version -- which had the Celtics call -- with Ian Eagle. Because, I mean, it's Ian Eagle.)

Kevin Garnett has some choice words for Kris Humphries: "Dude's always been known to be out of control. He's always tried to play the tough guy or whatever role you want to do it. It was a little extra, but it comes with the territory and it comes with the game. ... I guess they're trying to hold up to the whole Brooklyn mentality."

Even with Deron Williams' bumps and bruises, Billy King says there's no plan to rest his point guard.

The Manhattan/New York Knicks are #1 in the NBA jersey sales... unless you count fairly.

TAGS: Billy King, Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, Kevin Garnett, Kris Humphries, merchandise, nets power rankings, Paul Pierce

Devin Kharpertian

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Waxing Poetic

The Boston Celtics: A Portrait in Fugazi

Posted on: November 29th, 2012 by Mark Ginocchio 5 Comments

Mark Ginocchio

The phrase “Fugazi” – Mafia slang for “fake tough guy” per the movie Donnie Brasco – should be a familiar one to long-term Nets fans. Following a game 2 Nets demolition of the Manhattan Knicks during the 2004 NBA Playoffs, then-Knick Tim Thomas, injured by a hard foul from Nets center Jason Collins, referred to Collins’ teammate Kenyon Martin – long considered the heart, soul and tenacious grit of the back-to-back finals team – as a “Fugazi.” Martin, ever the diplomat, said he would welcome being locked in a room with Thomas to see who would emerge in one piece. That surprisingly did very little to quiet the heat between the Nets and Knicks.

What I’ve always found preposterous about Thomas’ words was the fact that Martin’s tough guy act helped his team win, and only went on to emblemize in that playoff series how much more battle-tested and prepared the Nets were than the Knicks –- a team that had taken a punch and essentially refused to fight back. If Jason Kidd hadn’t suffered a debilitating knee injury in the second round of that postseason, the Nets and their “Fugazi” spirit probably would have made a third consecutive trip to the NBA Finals. There was nothing "fake" about Martin and those Nets.

Of course the reason why I’m fixated on “Fugazi” today is based on last night’s Brooklyn Nets victory in Boston over the Celtics. The Celtics, who are only a few months removed from taking the Miami Heat to a competitive fourth quarter of Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, put on a clinic in “Fugazi” last night... MORE →

TAGS: Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets, Doc Rivers, Fugazi, Gerald Wallace, ian eagle, Jason Terry, Joe Johnson, Kenyon Martin, Kevin Garnett, Kris Humphries, Paul Pierce, Rajon Rondo, Tim Thomas

Nets , Video

VIDEO: Brawl in Boston, Humphries, Rondo Ejected

Posted on: November 28th, 2012 by Devin Kharpertian 5 Comments

Devin Kharpertian

UPDATE: Here is the full video:

(h/t Twitter user @LYKaPROindaGAME)

Here is the shortened clip, courtesy of SI:

Near the end of the first half of the Brooklyn Nets-Boston Celtics game, a foul by Kris Humphries led to a forceful retaliation by Rajon Rondo, leading both players into the stands fighting. Other players joined in to try to mitigate, but the damage had been done. Rondo appeared to throw punches at Humphries in the fracas.

Humphries, Rondo, and Gerald Wallace (who had one earlier technical) were ejected from the game. Rondo will presumably face a suspension.

Nets lead 51-38 at the half.

(h/t Ben Golliver of SI)

TAGS: Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets, celtics-nets fight, fight, Gerald Wallace, Kevin Garnett, Kris Humphries, Rajon Rondo, video