When it comes to transactions, the Nets are never short on stories, just substance. Over the past few days we’ve been inundated with rumors of Dwight Howard, Nene, David West, Jamal Crawford, Chauncey Billups, Gilbert Arenas (!!!), Richard Jefferson, Caron Butler, Josh Howard, and many more… but other than signing rookies MarShon Brooks and Jordan Williams, the Nets have yet to make an official transaction since free agency began on Friday.
That doesn’t mean something isn’t coming, though. The Nets currently have 11 players officially on their roster for 2011-12, including the non-guaranteed Stephen Graham and probable amnesty victim Travis Outlaw. They need starters at both forward positions, and wouldn’t turn down an upgrade at shooting guard.
Chad Ford takes a look at the top remaining free agents (Insider), and reports that the Nets have shown interest in three players: power forward/center Nene, small forward/Russian Army knife Andrei Kirilenko, and former Nets PF/Kim Kardashian husband Kris Humphries.
Ford confirms earlier reports that the Nets have made a mammoth offer to Nene in the four-year, $60-65 million range, one that hangs in limbo pending results of the Dwight Howard fiasco, but that their interest in Kirilenko and Humphries is tepid at best. Kirilenko’s three-year, $26.5 million asking price is too high for some (though after Caron Butler’s $24 million contract over the same time, it seems par for the course), and while the Nets have shown “the most interest” in Humphries, that’s not saying much.
Hopefully we’ll have something real to report soon. Knowing the NBA, it’ll be at 2 in the morning.
