Ben Golliver of CBS’s “Eye on Basketball” ranks NBA rosters from 30 to 1, and the Nets rank 27th. Golliver ranked the rosters based on his answer to this hypothetical question:
If you were a new NBA owner in an undisclosed location granted the ability to poach an entire roster from a current team — taking with you all of the players and their contracts, but not the coaching and management staffs — who would you take? What would your list look like?
Here’s what he says about the Nets:
Much like the Magic with Howard, the Nets have tied their fortunes to Williams, who seems particularly itchy to play for a winner. If there’s a consolation, it’s that New Jersey doesn’t have a contract like Arenas’ or Turkoglu’s on the books, but they did overpay for a bunch of marginal players last summer, and Outlaw’s deal looks worse by the day. Lopez and the team’s ability to add talent during the upcoming free agency period provides a glimmer of hope that Williams might decide to stay in town but there’s still significant risk.
I’d say this is about accurate, given the roster the Nets have. Much of the Nets’ upside is the move to Brooklyn (which isn’t accounted for in this hypothetical) and the re-signing of Deron Williams (which is a question mark). Golliver adds that the rankings are for “right now,” but that the potential for future success plays a huge part.
Some more notable rankings:
