It's been a rough four months, truly insane. Matter of fact - it's unprecedented. What Dwight Howard just did goes entirely against why modern FA was created in the first place. Nonetheless, Billy King HAD TO move on. He HAD TO acquire a veteran talent to appease Deron Williams. And according to who has been traded thus far, no player could've fit what the Nets need more than Gerald Wallace.

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The most glaring weakness on the Nets roster right now is their wing positions. And it's not even debatable.

Anthony Morrow has been a surprise this year. When he has been on the floor, he has produced. He has a much better offensive game than I had anticipated, as he is not just a three point shooter but one of the best mid-range shooters I've ever seen. Very reminiscent of Richard Hamilton. Furthermore, his defense has improved this season, as evidenced by his final play on Reggie Williams Wednesday night.

If the Nets can find a game-breaker for the SF position, Morrow should still be considered the starter at the SG position. Considering how low his contract is for his production, it may be the best bang-for-your-buck contract on the roster.

People continue to focus on the debate at the PF position, and people continue to downgrade Kris Humphries, and it's utterly disgusting.

Hump is very very close to averaging a double-double this season, and has provided competence to a position that the Nets have had issues with since the Kenyon Martin trade.

Nets have had to deal with the likes of Sean Williams, Stromile Swift etc. at PF, but Humphries has provided something none of those players have been able to do - stability.

You know what you are going to get from Hump every night - high energy, high intensity, great rebounding, an emphatically blocked shot or two and an expanding offensive game. He is a worker and a bruiser. He is amazingly athletic. He does the dirty work. He is an Avery Johnson-type player and fits the system very well.

Humphries has never had the PT he has received this season, as he had been stuck behind premier talent at the PF position (Bosh, Nowitzki, Boozer) for the entirety of his career. He's got very young legs and should continue to improve over time.

Sure, he has his flaws. He's not the best team defender and seems to be caught off-guard too often.

However, he provides more positives to the team than negatives.

At the end of the day, in order to help maintain cap flexibility and maximize the value of team contracts, it would behoove Nets management to find a wing player that can assist Deron and Brook, rather than finding one of these "star" PFs.

The way the Nets are constructed, they have the ability to be very good for a long long time. They have the two most important positions secure - PG and C. They have good complimentary starters that are high-energy guys in Morrow and Hump. All they need is star wing player to fill out the starting lineup.

I would argue that this is the Nets most glaring need to fill.

Some names come up, including Danny Granger and Andre Iguodala, but I'm going to leave that part of this post open for discussion below.

Who do you feel makes the most sense for the Nets at the wing position going forward?

I am not surprised that Carmelo Anthony spurned the Nets to become a Knick. While I was hopeful that Carmelo Anthony would become a Net, as I believe it would have provided some seriously needed credibility to a franchise viewed as lackluster in regards to on the court performance, I had a feeling that after the second failure to close a deal that this would happen.

However, this post is not to discuss what the Nets should do, or bash management. This post is to discuss other particular qualms that plague sports and our society.

I'm going to keep each point brief and would like others to add rational and objective thoughts on these subjects post-completion

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Go to around :30.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTCNKBlc0Rc

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Amongst the Carmelo Anthony rumors, the Nets still have to play some basketball. First stop included coming into the Staples Center to play arguably the best team in the NBA - the Lakers.

So what did we see? Some great performances from the players that the Nets are going to retain post-trade.

Most importantly, Brook Lopez showed why NBA GMs and executives have been gushing over his potential.

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I've seen a lot of posters talk about how embarrassing this looks for the Nets if the trade falls through.

Personally, I do not see it. Or understand where those statements are really coming from.

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With the advent of the super-team, the majority of NBA teams have no legitimate shot at winning an NBA title over the next 5-6 years. The Celtics first set the standard, teaming Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett. The Heat followed suit, signing LeBron James and Chris Bosh to team with Dwayne Wade in South Beach. The Lakers have always had one but people have seemed to neglect the fact that Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Ron Artest and Lamar Odom are just as good if not better than the two teams previously mentioned. The Magic are trying to create one, hoping that Dwight Howard, Gilbert Arenas, Jason Richardson, Hedo Turkgolu and Jameer Nelson can mesh well enough to compete with the Celtics, Heat and Magic. The Thunder have the young talent to build a "super-team," with Kevin Durant as the linchpin surrounded by Russell Westbrook and Jeff Green, but even that may not be enough. And we can never count out the Spurs (Duncan, Parker, Ginobili), the Jazz (Williams, Jefferson, Millsap, Kirilenko), the Mavericks (Nowitzki, Kidd, Terry) and the Bulls (Rose, Noah, Boozer, Deng).

So where do the Nets lie? Nowhere near any of those teams.

If the Nets want to contend in the foreseeable future, they must get Carmelo Anthony.

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As we have all already noticed, the Nets are stuck in the doldrums once again. They have major scoring issues, can be weak defensively and cannot seem to run any sort of an offense. Essentially, they are a poor basketball team.

I cannot blame this all on Avery Johnson. While has does have no offensive creativity, he seems to be pouring his heart and soul into this particular team and for that I give him a pass. Furthermore, his co-captain and star, Devin Harris, cannot consistently stay healthy. The group seems to have bought in, but there is one simple problem: they're young.

With the exception of Devin Harris and Troy Murphy, none of these players have legitimate NBA experience. While Brook Lopez has all the talent in the world, the offensive system that Avery Johnson is running (whatever it is) is not helping his game and not focusing on his strengths. Anthony Morrow is very young, and while he has a ton of potential to be a huge scoring threat, he is not there yet - give it 2-3 more years. Derrick Favors, the Nets prized young first-round pick, has strong instincts but is very raw in all aspects of his game.

While I have high hopes for this team in the future, the Nets need some more experience. A good basketball team has a strong mix of polished veterans and young blossoming talent. The Nets are too young to be a good NBA team.

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After finding out that Terrence Williams put up triple-doubles, two of three games in his NBDL career, I must question how much longer he needs to stay in that league.

Everyone knows that he has the talent and an amazing skill set. He can pass, score, drive and get out on the floor with the most athletic of NBAers. But people question his head and his emotional maturity, and there is no denying he has some work to do on his personal life outside of basketball.

Yet, how long does Johnson need to ride him? Until the Nets lose 20 games?

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Regardless of whether Terrence Williams has been sent to the D-League, he is too valuable to be thrown away just because of his attitude at the present moment.

Look, he is no Sean Williams. Terrence Williams has an NBA ready body at 22, can pass and score and is amazingly explosive. He also makes the Nets extremely flexible, which is a huge plus. Sure, he has had some problems getting his act together, but this is no reason to just ship away a former first-round pick for next to nothing when his value may be at its lowest.

Terrence Williams has a ton of potential and I'm hoping that being sent to the D-League will help him wake up and realize how much of a privilege it is to play in the NBA. He will get treated like crap down there like the rest of them and that should light a fire under T-Will.

If Billy King had any smarts, he would tell Avery Johnson that he is not going to trade T-Will. If the Nets sent T-Will and Favors to Denver for Carmelo Anthony, hypothetically, the Nuggets would be ripping the Nets off. They could have their 2 and 4 locked up for the next 5 years. Seriously.

I simply don't see that happening because regardless of how much of a knucklehead T-Will is, I don't think King is that naive. If anything, T-Will will get shipped away for someone like OJ Mayo, which I could handle.

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After being inactive last night against the Jazz, trade speculation began to start regarding Troy Murphy.

But I only have one question: why does it seem like it has come to such a shock to Nets fans?

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The Nets are 2-2, a solid 2-2. The Nets took it to the Kings and Pistons, should have beaten the Bobcats and lost ugly to the Heat (should be expected). While the Nets have been poor in executing their half-court offense and have been turning the ball over way too much, their effort, energy, hustle and defense has been, for the most part, good. There have been individual bright spots (Harris, Lopez, Favors), so-so performers (T. Williams, Morrow, Farmar) and poor performers (Outlaw, Petro). Still, there is a lot to like about this team: they have seemingly bought into Johnson's system, have an established veteran staff that knows how to manage a game and continue to fight even when they're down.

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Pros:

Brook Lopez - solid numbers, excellent third quarter where he became more efficient and patient in his shot selection, strong leadership

Devin Harris - solid numbers, clutch performance (especially 4th quarter runner and one), down the stretch free throw shooting

Anthony Morrow - showed tonight why the Nets signed him, excellent range and clutch shooting, better defensively and more athletic than I anticipated, Johnson should start to use Morrow like a combination of what the Pacers did with Reggie Miller (cuts off the baseline to the three point line off baseline screens), Ray Allen and Rip Hamilton

Jordan Farmar - solid veteran presence off the bench, showed his prowess and energy at the PG position (something they have been lacking since Kidd), clutch free throw shooting, excellent range, knows how to run an offense, worked well with players off the ball

Derrick Favors - showed his promise putting up 8 points and 10 rebounds, excellent energy and solid offensive and defensive rebounding, went up strong after looking hesitant at first, started to use his size to his advantage against a Pistons team with smaller big men

Bench - came with high energy all night and turned the game around when the starters went cold, kudos to Farmar, Humphries, T. Williams, Favors and Petro, also standing up and cheering all fourth quarter, you would not have seen that last season

Coaching - the hack-a-Wallace goes without saying, was an excellent move, timeouts were placed well and kept the Nets from getting 14-15 points down and made it never higher the 10 all night, Johnson was in the players ears and it seems like they respect him

Team Unity - the team just seems like they like each other, last season's team never had this type of energy or cohesiveness

Prons:

Terrence Williams - did use his size and athleticism to his advantage, clearly a more confident player and better shooting overall, yet, could not finish at the end, if he wants the ball at the end of the game, he has to hit his free throws

Damion James - did not get much time but you can see why the Nets drafted him, has size and strength, hit a great jumper to start it off but clearly needs work on his free throw shooting, could be a big part of the Nets down the stretch

Stephen Graham - clearly will be the Nets defensive stopper for the 2-3 all season long, happy he made the roster, every team needs this type of player who knows his role and willingly accepts it

Cons:

Travis Outlaw - is the epitome of a tweener, too tall and slow to be a SF, too short and big to be a PF, poor shooting, poor defense, poor ball handling, not sure where he fits in here, could be the biggest FA bust in Nets history if he doesn't get his shot together

Team Defense - there were a lot of open lanes for the Pistons inside, clearly the Nets cannot run a zone effectively and will need to be able to stick with their men all night long in a man-to-man, need to communicate

Transition Defense - Pistons ran all over them, Nets could not keep up

Offensive Execution - while the final numbers were good, the Nets could not get into a rhythm at times, looks like they need more practice time as a unit, good defensive teams will pick up on what the Nets continue to solely do (high screens Harris, establish Lopez down low)

Turnovers - a lot of poor giveaways, is easily correctable but that may be a function of the players than the coaching

Chemistry - clearly the Nets need to work together more on both ends and become more efficient as a unit, they look like they like each other as a group so hopefully by December they gel a little better

Outlook:

Great win and an important one to start the season off right; last season's team would never have come back like that - they did not have the shooting the team has now or the will to win; Favors is going to be a star, he has all the raw tools and has better free throw shooting form and footwork in the paint than I had anticipated; T. Williams is also going to be a star once he gets his act together distributing the ball; the Nets coaching staff looks prepared and ready to take every game seriously, makes Vandeweghe look like a child

There are clearly pros and cons to this pending trade. The cons are most evident - the Nets lose a dynamic and, more importantly, loyal starting PG in Devin Harris and a young, athletic, potential-filled PF Derrick Favors, who could give the Nets one of the most dynamic PF/C duos in the league for a long time. The Nets also lose some of their depth - Jordan Farmar and Favors off the bench would have been quite nice; would have made the Nets athletic and tough for second teams to deal with.

Yet, the pros of this deal may overwhelm the cons. First, Anthony gives the Nets a proven, prime-time scorer entering the best years of his career. Anthony can score from anywhere on the floor, has size for his position and would provide Lopez with more room on the block. The Anthony/Lopez combination would be a very very good tandem.

Furthermore, Anthony gives the Nets a face of the franchise and credibility. Look at the Nuggets records with Anthony playing for them - all of their teams have been successful. While they have not gone as far as other teams in the playoffs, they have always been there; the Nets desperately need to regain some credibility amongst those within the NBA and getting Anthony is the first major step in the right direction.

This move also appeases Prohkorov, who clearly wants a "superstar" to be the face of the franchise. I like Harris but he is no Anthony. People have seemed to forget how oft-injured Harris has been over the years because of his playing style. Anthony is a better, more efficient scorer than Harris and would replace and surpass his scoring void.

I also think this move could help Farmar finally fulfill his potential. Farmar could be the most improved player of the year if this trade goes down. Unfortunately, Farmar has been stuck in the triangle offense under Phil Jackson. If people remember, Farmar was so dynamic at UCLA - he can shoot the three, run the floor and play solid defense. Farmar could be Harris 2.0 - meaning he explodes upon the scene after leaving a system that was poor for his playing style. Farmar already has a championship pedigree and has learned under Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher - I think he is ready to take his game to the next level. (It's also funny how the Nets went after Marcus Williams over Jordan Farmar in the same draft only to have Farmar now after believing Williams was the one who had potential)

I think the main reason people are upset with this trade is the loss of Favors, and I agree it would be a blow. But, he has not even played a game. Listen, he could be the next Amare Stoudemire or he could be the next Sean Williams. Both are possible. To get Anthony makes the Nets instantly more credible and will help the Nets regain some respect in the NBA.

Also, a lot of people have said to develop the young talent like the Thunder. There is one problem with that argument - who is our Durant? I don't see any player on the Nets roster that they can build around permanently. Unless we want to become the Pistons of 2004 (which will be difficult to do), the Nets won't be able to beat teams like Miami or Orlando unless they tank again this season and hope they can get Harrison Barnes in next year's draft. Harris, Lopez and Favors are all #2 options on championship contenders, not #1s.

More importantly, Anthony makes the Nets more attractive. If one thing is clear from this off-season, NBA stars will align now. If Anthony comes to the Nets, then Chris Paul could legitimately follow. Is the three-some of Paul/Anthony/Lopez good enough to beat Wade/LeBron/Bosh? Potentially.

Look at this Anthony trade like the Ray Allen trade for the Celtics. The KG trade (Chris Paul) would come next. (It probably will not be a trade because the Nets won't have the assets to make a deal with New Orleans then; but it would happen in 2012).

Awhile back, I think it was noted that Mikhail Prohkorov, Brook Lopez, Jay-Z or some combination of the three should make guest appearances on arguably HBO's most popular television program. This season of Entourage has had far and away the most special guests I have ever seen on a television program, with last week's episode showing some of sports and entertainment's biggest names including Ryan Howard, Drew Brees, Eminem, Minka Kelly, John Cleese and Christina Aguilera.

Yet, somewhere amongst the big names is Jordan Farmar. For the life of me, I cannot figure out how the executive producers at HBO decided to bring in Farmar over other NBA players. At the time the episode was being filmed, he clearly must have still been with the Lakers and it would have made sense to have at least one of the Lakers players at a private party hosted by Eminem. Still, if the best they could do was Farmar, then I'm shocked. Ron Artest would have made a much better cameo and it would have been interesting to see him involved in a brawl again.

Is this good publicity for the Nets, seeing Farmar involved in a fight with Vincent Chase and Eminem? Some have said that 'any publicity is good publicity', but it has to be spun the right way. Does it look good to see professional players out on the town and involved in fights? One could argue either side. However, it was just interesting to see Farmar in the finale; I was stunned to find out that he would be the first Net ever in Entourage. 

A couple videos here from YouTube illustrate some very good things about Anthony Morrow, at least offensively.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmEYExm40k4

(Look to :26 crossover on Durant; 1:16 on Jefferson)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhcpzLF91n0&feature=fvw

(That was around Brandon Roy)

1) He is surprisingly more athletic than I anticipated and seems like he has the potential to expand his game to be more than a spot-up and three-point shooter. The thunderous dunk he has in the second video was quite surprising.

2) Still, his three point game is his bread and butter and if that is what works, he should stick to it. He has a very fluid motion and is clearly a natural scorer from the perimeter.

3) None of the highlight reels showed his defensive capabilities, but like Chris Paul was quoted as saying he is great at what he does.

Does Morrow have the chance to start? Most definitely...

Do I see him starting? Probably not. After reading the post about Johnson's coaching style on offense, it may make more sense for Williams to start because of his ball handling and athleticism out on the run after a defensive rebound. Yet, I can also make the case that T-Will could help anchor the bench with his overall game and thus Anthony Morrow would make more sense staying out on the wing and waiting for dribble penetration kick outs from Harris.

Regardless, the Nets have locked up a very good young player, with a good work ethic and a level head. May have been the best signing of the summer.

I'm a bit confused as to why nobody has been talking about Courtney Lee and his situation whatsoever this off-season. Lee, unfortunately, was given a role that we all knew he was not going to be able to fulfill adequately (replacing Vince Carter) in his second season in the NBA. Net fans had been spoiled in recent years in finding instant impact players in trades maneuvered by Thorn (see Kidd, Carter, Harris, Nachbar deals); consequently, many assumed Lee would transform overnight from a 7-8 PPG scorer to a 15-17 PPG scorer simply because he became the Nets new starting shooting guard.

Yet, towards the end of the season, Lee produced and showed flashes of why Thorn and Co. were so high on him post-Carter deal. Lee can hit the outside and mid-range jumper, however, it seems that pre-season and training camp injuries prevented him from getting into stride all season long. Furthermore, Lee can defend; he is quick and mobile and uses his athleticism to make up for his lack of height for his position.

With the signings of Anthony Morrow and Travis Outlaw, the emergence of Terrence Williams as a must-play, do-it-all swingman and the draft day addition of Damion James, someone is not going to play or will have his playing time cut short. While Lee is still the clear cut starter at shooting guard, he may lose time because some of Nets brass consider Lee not to be part of their long-term future. I think that is a big mistake; Lee has all the pieces to be a legitimate player in the NBA, worst case scenario in a role like Bruce Bowen played for the Spurs during their championship runs (remember his work on Kobe when the Magic were in the Finals?). To exclude him from discussion amongst Harris, Lopez, Williams and Favors is actually insulting and I'm just confused why no one has even mentioned him at all this off-season.

In the end, I expect Lee to surprise everyone and become a big piece of this team as the season progresses.