The New Jersey Nets are a team with a history of such ill fortune that it's almost comical. In my recent memory, I've experienced two trips to the NBA Finals that coincided with the Lakers 3 peat dominance and the Spurs twin towers of David Robinson and Tim Duncan. I've experienced Kenyon Martin, Richard Jefferson, Kerry Kittles, and Jason Kidd get traded away due to a change of ownership. I've experienced the year that the Nets were historically terrible, losing 18 straight games to start the season, an NBA record, and finishing the year at 12-70. Horrendous.
To top it all off, the Nets are moving to Brooklyn in two seasons. The final stage of ownership ripping the hearts out of their fanbase.
Yet true fans remain loyal to the Nets. We've been through too many downs already that it would be foolish to give up on them. We have a new, revolutionary stadium being built for us, a billionaire owner (one of the richest owners, if not THE richest, in ALL of sports), and our next J-Kidd, Deron Williams.
We have a bright future but a dim present, contrasting from the Knicks bright present, and foolish future. If anyone knows me personally, they must know that I absolutely HATE the Knicks. It's so bad that I won't touch anything that has the Knicks' shade of blue and orange.
Let me list some reasons why the Nets future is better than the Knicks:
-We have the two hardest positions to fill set for the future in Deron Williams (PG) and Brook Lopez (C), although Brook plays a little soft for his position.
-Our best player, Deron, is unselfish and posts insanely high assist numbers due to his high basketball IQ and eye behind his head a la Jason Kidd. Compare this to the Knicks' two best players who are primarily scorers and nothing else, Carmelo and Amare. These two need the ball in their hands to be effective, minimizing teamwork which is necessary to win a championship, proven by this year's Mavericks.
-The Nets have significant cap space for the foreseeable future, an ace card for franchises right now since no one knows what the new CBA will look like. We can sign free agents who will be enamored with playing in Brooklyn with an elite talent like Deron Williams while also keeping our draft picks, role players, and starters. Compare this to the Knicks, whose top two players have max contracts which extremely limits the talent that the team can buy to surround them with. As a friend of mine once said, "the Knicks are Carmelo and Amare and the rest are D-League players." Of course this was a little sarcastic, but the Knicks do sport a terrible bench.
-The Nets now have the upperhand with management. I would've given this one to the Knicks had they retained Donnie Walsh, but now, what is going to happen with them? This is the man that turned EVERYTHING around for the franchise. And now he is gone.
-Iman Shumpert. Who?
Done with my rant for now. Just had a random urge to write something.
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