As the trade deadline passed, there were no trades announced by the Nets. There was a pretty big move announced today though, as the Nets have made it known that they reached an agreement and will be playing their games in the Prudential Center soon. The Star-Ledger has the details:
After months of speculation over whether the struggling NBA team would leave Izod Center in the Meadowlands for a two-year stay at the new Prudential Center in Newark, a deal was struck today to allow the Nets to break their lease for $4 million and move to Newark, according to officials involved in the negotiations.
The early termination fees could be offset in part by advertising, suite revenue and other credits.
The agreement came after the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority voted in secret to approve the deal at a special meeting this morning. A formal announcement is expected later today by Gov. Chris Christie.
This is a great move for the Nets. While there is no word on when the games are going to start being played in Newark, I am guessing it will be next year. I know the move is only temporary, but you know that Free Agents would rather play anywhere other than the Izod Center. I have also been in the Prudential Center (not as a fan), and I can say the locker-rooms and facilities are very very nice. This is a good place to play while waiting for Brooklyn to get done. I am not saying that the Prudential Center will draw fans on it’s own, but it is much more attractive than the Izod.
Plus, this is better for the fans. The Prudential Center is just blocks away from a train station. This means that there is finally a way to get to Nets’ games using mass transit, something that wasn’t all that possible for the Meadowlands. In the article, there was one final interesting note:
Additionally, the Nets agreed that it would not stand in the way of another NBA coming to New Jersey in the future — which leaves the door open to another team coming to the Prudential Center should the Nets finally move to Brooklyn.
Not sure that it would actually ever happen (in my opinion it all depends on how the Nets draw in the Prudential Center), but can you imagine having two New York teams and a team in New Jersey? That could be interesting as a fan…
