Three-Team Trade Helps Brooklyn Immensely

By Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x)

July 9, 2014

Three-Team Deal Helps Brooklyn Immensely

chatsports.com

The LeBron James 2014 off-season factor made its way to Brooklyn on Wednesday, as the Cleveland Cavaliers in need of clearing cap room to offer James his max contract, basically just handed players away. The three-team deal also included the Boston Celtics, who acquired Marcus Thornton from the Nets, Tyler Zeller, and a 2016 protected pick from the Cavaliers. The Nets made out excellent in this deal, receiving Jarrett Jack to replace Shaun Livingston, and 2013 first round pick Sergey Karasev.

Even though James isn’t coming to Brooklyn it shows the effect that he is having on the off-season with many players and teams waiting on him to decide. For Brooklyn his interest in the Cavaliers allowed them to get the Point Guard they wanted in Jack, and a 20-year old with a lot of potential in Karasev.

Jack, was the Nets first option for quite a while when it became apparent that keeping Livingston was going to be unlikely. Jack is coming off a bit of a disappointing season with the Cavaliers after a great post season with the Warriors the year before. Jack averaged 9.1 PPG on a poor 41% shooting from the field to go along with 4.1 APG, and 2.8 RPG. If Jason Kidd was still coaching the Nets, you would certainly a lot of Jack and Deron Williams playing on the court together, but Lionel Hollins tends to go with a more traditional lineup so it will be interesting to see how Jack is used. Jack has two years left on his deal worth $12.6 million, and a team option for the 2016-17 season.

Karasev is a very interesting pickup for the Nets, with Karasev being a 6-7 Shooting Guard that was the 19^th overall pick last June. The Nets had a lot of interest in the Russian in that draft, which they eventually picked Mason Plumlee with the 22^nd pick. Karasev only played in 22 games last season, but brings the Nets a great shooter and ball-handler. He does however need to add some strength to his frame, which will come with him being only 20 years old. Getting Jack and Karasev for Thornton’s expiring contract is a good haul for the Nets, who have added a lot of young players this off-season. The Cavaliers will now be able to offer James what he wants money wise, and after just giving away players, they better hope he is indeed interested in coming back home.

Read More

Nets Lose to Cavs, Clinch 6th Seed in East

By Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x)

April 16th, 2014

Brooklyn Nets vs. Cleveland Cavaliers Post Game Recap

Final Score: Nets 85 Cavaliers 114

nba.com

The Brooklyn Nets finished up their regular season with a blowout loss at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers. After a tough start to the season starting (10-21) they finished (44-38), which landed them the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference, and a first round match-up with the Atlantic Division winning Toronto Raptors.

Player of the Game: Andray Blatche

Jason Kidd elected to rest his starting lineup leaving his bench players to play nearly the whole game with just a seven-man rotation. Andray Blatche in the extended time was able to snag a double-double in the blowout in 39 minutes of play. Blatche finished with 20 points on eight for 18 shooting to go along with a game-high 12 rebounds. It will be interesting to see how much Blatche will be playing in the playoffs with the emergence of Mason Plumlee and the return of Kevin Garnett.

Positives:

The biggest positive of the game for Brooklyn wasn’t anything that happened from a player on the court, but the way things worked out for them in the standings. The Nets loss and the Washington Wizards win the Nets got the sixth seed, and with the Toronto Raptors and Chicago Bulls both losing, it sets up a first round match-up against the Raptors. The Nets didn’t seem to want any part of the Bulls, and for good reason, so now they get a much better match-up against the young inexperienced Raptors.

Negatives:

Brooklyn seems to be healthy going into the playoffs, but although they will be rested and ready, they are also not heading into the playoffs playing their best basketball, as they have lost four of their last five games, all to teams under .500. The Nets are a veteran group so being healthy is the most important, but it will be interesting to see if their poor play of late will carry into the first round.

Actually on the court for the Nets, they were totally dominated by the Cavaliers in almost every aspect of the game. Off the bench the Cavaliers got a big game from Tyler Zeller, who scored a game-high 22 points on nine for 11 shooting to go along with 11 rebounds. Zeller wasn’t the only big man on the team to have a double-double, as Tristan Thompson scored 11 points on five for nine shooting with 10 rebounds.

Dion Waiters came through with yet another good game against the Nets, as he scored 19 points on seven for 12 shooting. In four games this season Waiters has played well this season against Brooklyn, as he finished averaging 19 points per game on 45% shooting from the field.

Next up for the Nets will be Game 1 of their playoff series against the Raptors on Saturday at 1230.

Read More