Shot Analysis: MarShon Brooks

MarShon! The semi-fro!

This is the 3rd (and final post) in a series on analyzing shot charts of the more important Nets (sans Brook Lopez because of his limited play last year) and how they fared shooting from the field last season. We finish up with MarShon Brooks. Joe Johnson was analyzed last.

In college, MarShon Brooks was far-and-away known for his offensive skills above anything else regarding his status and basketball acumen. College, and pro, basketball fans alike undoubtedly began to hear Brooks' name after he dropped 52 points on a talented Notre Dame team while playing for Providence. Sure, it was just a regular season game between two non-elite squads, but whenever anyone in college--playing with just 2 20-minute halves--scores that many points, they are bound to get attention. Even with all the extra eyes from NBA teams that were trained on him in the second half, MarShon managed to fall to the 25th pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, where he was drafted by the Celtics and immediately dealt to the Nets for the 27th pick (JaJuan Johnson) and a 2014 second-rounder.

Shot Analysis: Joe Johnson

Joe Johnson's deathscare is pretty scary. At least the body that's attached to that face can shoot.

This is the 2nd in a series I'm doing analyzing shot charts of the more important Nets (sans Brook Lopez because of his limited play last year) and how they fared from the field last season. We continue with one of the newest Nets, Joe Johnson. Deron Williams was analyzed last.

Blah blah blah Iso-Joe, we've heard it all. Ever since the trade Joe Johnson this summer, us Nets fans have been hearing all of these writers, bloggers, and analysts talk about how overpaid he is, how much he shoots, how bad he is on defense, how the Hawks never succeeded in the playoffs with him, blah blah blah blah blah. I, personally don't want to hear it anymore.

Joe is a star shooting guard, undoubtedly one of the best pure shooters in the NBA right now. However, he is still widely labeled as overrated even though he has averaged at least 18 points per game in the last seven seasons of his career.

Interestingly enough, only 4 other NBA players have averaged 18 ppg over that same time-span from the 2005-06 season until last season, 2011-12. (Noted: This list contains only players that QUALIFIED for the scoring championship in each of those seasons by having enough shot attempts. That's why Dwyane Wade and Paul Pierce aren't included). Who might those 4 players be? 

Season-In-Review: Jordan Farmar

Ugh, I miss this guy already. What I don't miss? The empty seats behind him in this picture.

This post, along with the other posts I will do in the Season-In-Review series, will take a deeper look at how all the Nets did last season on the court and possibly off of it. We continue with Jordan Farmar. I covered Kris Humphries last.

March 7th, 2012. The game was just another run-of-the-mill Nets-Clippers game at the Prudential Center on a Wednesday night, except that it was one the Nets won. The game had the feel of many the Nets have played in recent years against playoff teams: They race ahead to a quick lead, but watch their lead slowly deteriorate as the game progresses. In this one, two Chris Paul free throws gave the Clips their first lead of the game with 8.9 seconds, putting them ahead 100-98. Then, magic happened.

Deron Williams sent a beautiful cross-court skip pass to Jordan Farmar who sunk a rainbow three-pointer with 0.2 seconds left to give the Nets their 13th win on the season and a signature win over one of the West's better teams. Farmar scored 16 points in 19 minutes of play in that game, something not completely out of the ordinary for the former Laker to do in his two seasons in Jersey.

Shot Analysis: Deron Williams

Deron's performance has been kinda uneven with the Nets, but he certainly had his bright spots this season.

This is the 1st series I'm doing analyzing shot charts of the more important Nets (sans Brook Lopez because of his limited play last year) and how they fared from the field last season. We start off with the player at the helm of the Nets, Deron Williams.

For these 'Shot Analysis' posts that I'll do, I'll be using statistical support from a new (at least to me) site called VORPed.com that has shot charts from the last two seasons for every NBA player. Pretty cool, huh? The chart below is Deron's from last season, his first one with a significant amount of games being played with the Nets.

As you can see, Deron took most of his non-layup shots behind the 3-point line along the wing. 31% from the left and nearly 40% from the right sides of the wing are each pretty good percentages for a passing-first point guard. However, D-Will's shooting accuracy faded significantly on threes taken in either corner and from right at the top-center of the arc. 

Season-In-Review: Kris Humphries

The 72-day marriage of these two was maybe the only reason anyone talked about the Nets last season in a situation not regarding Benedict Howard..no, Dwight Arnold? Ok, I give up, Dwight Howard.

This post, along with the other posts I will do in the Season-In-Review series, will take a deeper look at how all the Nets did last season on the court and possibly off of it. We continue with the ex-husband of Kim Kardashian, Kris Humphries. Marshon Brooks was covered last.

I can't believe it! OMG! Kris was soooo mean to Kim!!.....Whoops, forgot that Kris Humphries is a basketball player too and not just some caption in People Magazine.

Humphries' 2011-12 season was overshadowed--somewhat ridiculously--because of his failed marriage to a member of the least talented family in the US, the Kardashians! Hump was booed in the first half of the season at nearly every road arena the Nets played in last season and even sometimes at the Prudential Center too for his involvement and eventual divorce with the with reality TV star. No, seriously, that's something that actually happened. This isn't one of those absurd hypothetical situations that Bill Simmons dreamed up.

Pop culture aside, Kris (Humphries, not Jenner) had his best season during his NBA career in the 2011-12 year, putting up career-highs in points (13.8 per game), rebounds (11 per), assists (1.5 per), and blocks (1.2 per). Hump's career season is just yet another peak in his career with the Nets, which started in 2010 after being traded to New Jersey from Dallas with Shawne "Extra-E" Williams for Eduardo Najera. Prior to joining the team, Kris bounced around the Jazz, Raptors, and Mavs organizations, serving a limited role and not providing much value on the court and in the box score to those teams.

Season-In-Review: Marshon Brooks

Marshon certainly hads swagger that goes through the roof, but will his potential and on-court performance do the same this season?

This post, along with the other posts I will do in the Season-In-Review series, will take a deeper look at how all the Nets did last season on the court and possibly off of it. We continue with Marshon Brooks. I covered Gerald Green last.

Ah, Marshon Brooks, the most swagged-out Net remaining on the squad, holding the sole title since DeShawn Stevenson was traded to the Hawks. The 25th overall pick in the 2011 Draft, acquired by the Nets during the draft from Boston for the 27th overall pick (JaJuan Johnson) and a future 2nd-rounder, turned out to be one of the few bright spots for the team last season and showed an inane ability to score the ball. Whether that be from beyond the 3-point arc, via the mid-range jumper, or even an acrobatic scoop-to-the-hoop down low, it didn't matter. The simple truth is that Marshon can score points in the NBA, a talent that he certainly showed during his college years at Providence, most notably in a 52-point performance against Notre Dame.

Ok, I may be fawning a little too much over a guy that doesn't play a whole bunch of defense and might have the worst shot selection in the NBA after Johan Petro of course. However, I don't care because the most important aspect of Brooks' rookie year wasn't that he scored 12 points per or showed he can make shots from anywhere on the court, it was that, as a rookie, he had the confidence heading into his inaugural season in the NBA that he could score from anywhere on the floor.

In basketball, confidence is ridiculously important in order for a player to realize their true potential. If a 6-8, 250-pound tank of a power forward has no confidence in his ability to make a free throw, then they're is a very little chance that he will drive to the paint a lot, greatly decreasing his value as a big-man with no regard to his solid build or even out-of-this-world athletic talents. Without confidence, a NBA player is only as good as his limitations allow him to be, not as good as his true skills or athleticism would suggest.

Season-In-Review: Gerald Green

Gerald, we hope the Pacers and their fans like your dunking ability, because us Nets fans certainly miss it

This post, along with the other posts I will do in the Season-In-Review series, will take a deeper look at how all the Nets did last season on the court and possibly off of it. We continue with the upstart Gerald Green. I covered Gerald Wallace last.

Gerald Green was rescued from the NBA D-League's Los Angeles D-Fenders by the Nets on February 27th, 2012, and the swing-man never looked back. Originally, the Nets, an injury-depleted mess of a team, were just looking for any small forward who could go into games and simply not be terrible. With a low-risk, 10-day contract, the Nets signed Green to fill that role and oh boy did the Nets get some return for their investment.

After his first 10-day contract with the team, Gerald signed another 10-day and then eventually signed on with New Jersey for the rest of the season after showing the coaching staff that he was one of, if not the best, healthy Nets players on the court at some points in the condensed 2011-12 campaign.Green is most notable around the NBA for winning the 2007 Slum Dunk Contest while a member of the Celtics, in his first go-around of the NBA.

Gerald has absurd athleticism and hops, which is what the Nets were assuredly lacking of last year and is what he brought to the team last season, capped off by a crazy, alley-hoop windmill jam he threw down against the Rockets in March. However, the former 1st-round pick of Boston brought much more to New Jersey after the All-Star break than just his dunking ability, he displayed an incredibly well-rounded repertoire in his game that simply wasn't present in the five seasons he was in the NBA before heading overseas and to the D-League.

Season-In-Review: Gerald Wallace

Crash

This post, along with the other posts I will do in the Season-In-Review series, will take a deeper look at how all the Nets did last season on the court and possibly off of it. We continue with the team's mid-season acquisition, Gerald Wallace. Brook Lopez was covered last.

On March 16th of 2011, the Nets definitely mortgaged their short-term drafting future by trading away their 2012 1st-round pick, top-3 protected, Shawne Williams, and Mehmet Okur to the Portland Trail Blazers for small forward Gerald Wallace. I was walking home from school when I saw the trade on Twitter and I was blown away: The Nets just gave up their 1st-round pick for the 2012 Draft, a draft class widely considered to be deep by most standards, for a very good, but not superstar player?

Ok, I thought, as I reasoned with myself to stop flipping out and cursing at Billy King, there had to be some reason why the Nets gave up their most-likely high pick for Wallace. And certainly, to my surprise, there was a massive silver lining to the trade. The first aspect of this was that made me make a sigh of relief was that Gerald Wallace brings so much more to a basketball team than solid rebounding, a decent 3-point shot, and athleticism.

Wallace also brought intensity, emotion, recklessness, and just pure effort to a Nets team that has been lacking that for years. The second part was that the 2012 draft class seemed to clear like a cloud of smoke in the days leading up to June 28th.

Season-In-Review: Brook Lopez

Lopez may have missed (nearly) all of that season, but that doesn't he can't rebound in the 2012-13 campaign

This post, along with the other posts I will do in the Season-In-Review series, will take a deeper look at how all the Nets did last season on the court and possibly off of it. We continue with Brook Lopez. Deron Williams was covered last.

Ah, Brook Lopez, the Nets' most endearing enigma.The 7'0" center was injured for the first time in his short career last season and boy did he miss games. Brook played in just five of the Nets' 66 games last year due to a broken right foot and the team certainly suffered without the talents of their true center who, in years prior, served as a menacing defensive stud down low and put up 20-point performances on the reg. However, Lopez has definitely had his share of problems, especially regarding rebounding, and he may not be the player he was pre-injury this season in Brooklyn.

From 2008-11, his first three years in the league, Brook played in all 246 of the Nets games in that span and played pretty well, increasing his points per game output from 13.0 in '08-'09, to 18.8 in '09-'10, to 20.4 in '10-'11. Even though Brook's scoring throughout his career has been consistently good, his rebounding has been far from and that was shown in the five games Brook did manage to play last season. In those games, he averaged 19.2 points per but just a mere 3.6 rebounds per, something that is unacceptable for a player of Lopez' size and importance to his team.

More after the jump on the Stanford grad:

Jason Kidd Willing to Return to the Nets: Sign Us Up!

Remember this guy? He led the Nets, yes the Nets, to a few Finals appearances in the early 2000s. Would a return to the Nets spark the same success? I don't know, but I certainly hope so

In a recent ESPNNewYork.com piece, former Net fan favorite and future NBA hall-of-fame point guard Jason Kidd said he would be open to a return to the Nets organization, presumably in a back-up role. Like Deron Williams, who J-Kidd would back-up if he re-signs with the Nets, Kidd is a free agent this offseason and counts the Mavericks and Nets as two of his most-favored destinations.

I know that Jordan Farmar will probably exercise his $4 million player-option to remain in Brooklyn next season and the potential clog at the point guard position if Deron and Kidd sign with the Nets would be salary-cap draining. Farmar is a solid player who obviously has more upside than Kidd but he would probably be moved via trade if D-Will and J-Kidd are Brooklyn Nets next season.

This is all speculation right now and mainly depends on what Deron decides to do this summer with his free agency, news of which has been varied and mainly non-committal from D-Will's camp. Deron has said that he wants to sign before the Olympics, which starts in July, so we should expect some more news to filter through the grapevine in the upcoming weeks and days. Getting a little ahead of ourselves, a point guard tandem of D-Will and J-Kidd would be very potent on offense and would make the Nets' backcourt extremely hard to defend for most NBA teams.

Kidd isn't as agile or youthful as he used to be but still plays as hard as he has done for his whole career and is a major facilitator on the offensive end. Imagine Kidd kicking it out to Morrow for some open second-team 3-pointers. Wouldn't that be a deadly proposition for the teams unlucky enough to face the Nets next year? Yes, yes it would be.

Season-In-Review: Deron Williams

This post, along with the other posts I will do in the Season-In-Review series, will take a deeper look at how all the Nets did last season on the court and possibly off of it. We continue with the (current and hopefully permanent) face of the Nets, Deron Williams. I covered DeShawn Stevenson first. 

Well, a (mostly) full (condensed) season with Deron Williams on the Nets the whole year was interesting, right? It's tough to give a fair analysis of D-Will's season right now because of the injury struggles, impeding free agency discussions, lack of teammate help, and even potential trades that undoubtedly affected his play on the court this past season. Deron came oh so close to being able to play with Dwight Howard in New Jersey but that deal with the Nets and Magic fell apart as fast as it was put together. However, even with all these distractions, Nets fans were able to see D-Will at his very best at some scattered points this season (the huge win against the Knicks at MSG where D-Will had 10 points in a minute and of course the 57-point effort in Charlotte), but were unable to see sustained superstar-like play.

Granted, Deron's short tenure with the Nets is a definite aberration as he is far better a basketball player than he has showed recently with awful supporting casts and teams decimated by injury. D-Will's stats also weren't helped out by his career-low shooting efforts in 67 games with the Nets which, according to him, are mainly due to the so-called terrible shooting background at the Prudential Center, a natural hockey arena. Even though he may have missed a lot of games due to injury, not tried 100% when on the floor, or just flat out didn't perform well, it is clear to Nets fans that Deron Williams, when healthy and on a good team, can be the top PG in the NBA and can easily lead a team far into the playoffs.

The NBA Draft Lottery is Tonight, While The Nets' Future Lies in the Balance

Tonight, at 8pm, in MSG, the Nets' franchise will set out on a road to success....or one of bitter despair

The 2012 NBA Draft Lottery is tonight at 8pm on ESPN and it is obviously one of great importance for the New Jersey Brooklyn Nets. Even though the site has been super-quiet lately (You can blame my teachers), it shouldn't be understated just how crucial tonight is for the short-term and long-term scope of this team.

You know the drill, the top-three protected 1st-round pick the Nets flipped to the Portland Trailblazers could wind up in a very good rookie for the Nets (and potential trade chip for Dwight Howard) or a very good rookie for Portland. There is even some chatter that the results of tonight's lottery will be the deciding factor in whether D-Will will return to the Nets this offseason or sign elsewhere (let it be noted that I don't completely believe in Woj's report, but I must acknowledge its existence.)

Anyway, the consequences of the Nets losing their potentially very-high 1st-round pick in this year's loaded draft would be severe and could lead to another period of extended futility with a team and a fan base that has experienced way too much of that in recent years. The specifics are grim: the Nets only have around a 25% chance of keeping their pick and a 75% chance of losing it.

You don't have to be a math major to know that those are awful, terrible, no-good odds and according to said odds, the Nets and their fans will probably go to sleep tonight without a 1st-round pick and a great chance that their franchise player will be playing elsewhere this offseason.

I'm not trying to scare you, fellow Nets fans, I'm trying to be honest and truthful. Being hopeful that the lottery balls will fall in our favor is the way to go for right now, just keep it in check with the knowledge that that hope will most likely spoil and turn into pessimism in about an hour. The only positive with this grim knowledge is that the Nets are no stranger to terrible luck and us fans are used to it by now. Let's hold on to the chance our luck will turn tonight.

Season-In-Review: DeShawn Stevenson

This post, along with the other posts I will do in the Season-In-Review series, will take a deeper look at how all the Nets did last season on the court and possibly off of it. We start off with the enigma that is DeShawn Stevenson.


The Nets signed Stevenson to a 1-year, $2.5 million contract on December 23rd, 2011, just three days before the Nets played their first game of the season. Of course, Stevenson was a key part of the 2011 NBA Champion Dallas Mavericks but had to look for work elsewhere after the season due to Dallas' cap-cutting measures. The Nets were excited to sneak in and sign the guy who shut down LeBron in the Finals for only the veteran's minimum. However, the Nets didn't get the Stevenson that seemed to want to play defense, they got the Stevenson that played it when he felt like it.

I guess we shouldn't really have expected much from the 31 year-old coming into the season but what we got from him was a significant drop-off from anything anyone thought he would produce. Stevenson shot a dreadful 28.5% from the field, 28% from three, and just 56% from the free-throw line. All of the these numbers were near the worst of his career and that could probably be blamed on motivation alone. When a less-than-stable player like Stevenson goes from the NBA Champion Mavericks to the lottery-bound Nets, there is bound to be disappointment and possibly a reduction in level of play. Actually, just reduction in performance wouldn't do Stevenson's season justice; it would be best characterized as the performance falling off of a cliff.

Making the Case for Brooklyn as a Potential Landing Spot for Deron Williams

This Nets team has been a major part of Melodrama (Carmelo Anthony), Linsanity (Jeremy Lin), Dwightmare (Dwight Howard) and now this. If D-Will doesn't come to Brooklyn, we can call the Deronisaster but it he does re-sign with the Nets, it will be pure Headeron (mix of heaven and Deron, not my best work). 

Basically all the NBA writers that cover the teams involved in the complex Deron Williams and Dwight Howard free agency saga sort-of-thing have started to pencil in D-Will as being a Maverick next season. This is coming on the heels of Deron announcing that he will indeed opt of his current contract with the Nets after the season, making him a free agent on July 1st. Guys like Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com (who obviously is a big Mavs fan) are saying that this news makes the potential scenario that D-Will will head to his hometown team in free agency a "likely" occurence.

This notion is ridiculous and is nothing more than a biased view from a writer who would certainly benefit from covering a team with one of the best point guards in the league on it. The only thing that Deron has said which would seem to support him leaving the Nets and going down to Dallas as a free agent is that Deron is from a Dallas suburb and said that he likes playing at the American Airlines Center. Putting all of these half-truths and pure speculations aside, let's take a look at why Brooklyn is the place that Deron should be when next NBA season comes around.

Has Gerald Green Become Another Viable Trade Asset for the Nets in their Push for Dwight?

Green was drafted 18th overall by the Boston Celtics in the 2005 NBA Draft

In a breakout performance in Saturday's Nets loss to the Houston Rockets, recent D-League call-up Gerald Green, who is on his 2nd 10-day contract with New Jersey, went absolutely bonkers for 26 points on 10-15 shooting with four 3-pointers. He also had one of the craziest in-game dunks in recent memory (sorry Blake Griffin, you haven't matched this yet).

Other than showing that he can be the starting small forward for this team (and an effective one at that), Green showed with his performance that he could even be included in a potential trade package that could bring Dwight Howard up to New Jersey by the NBA trade deadline, which happens to be on Thursday of this week.

A lot of talk around the NBA has revealed that New Jersey is Dwight's #1 choice of teams but there has also been some questions as to if the Magic, specifically GM Otis Smith, would be intrigued by a potential trade with the Nets who would probably build a package around center Brook Lopez, guard Marshon Brooks, and a few 1st-round draft picks. The problem is that that doesn't seem to be enough for the Magic to pull the trigger on sending away their franchise center who is basically the only reason that Orlando is any good right now.

Mid-Season Primer: Where Exactly Do the Nets Stand At the Mid-Point of the Season

Deron has been the only consistent positive force for the Nets this entire season and at points, it seems like its too much for him to handle but at other points, it seems like he thrives on that adversity and uses it to improve his game

Record: 10-25


Standings: 5th in the Atlantic Division, 13th in the Eastern Conference, 27th in the NBA

Summary
Much like last season, this condensed 2011-2012 Nets season has been riddled by injuries, underperformance, and trade rumors. Even though Deron Williams has played in all games except for one, New Jersey is still close to the bottom of the NBA but has been playing better basketball of late. Not having Brook Lopez for the first 32 games of the season was heartbreaking for a Nets team that clearly suffered from lack of a proven post-scoring center. Meanwhile, New Jersey has suffered more injuries across the board as coach Johnson has had to use a league-high 17 different starting line-ups due to the multitude of injuries.

The position of obvious weakness for the Nets has been at small forward where the first three guys on the depth chart are all out for the season with injuries after under-performing when they were healthy. Shawne Williams, Keith Bogans, and Damion James were all given their chance to start this year and either lost their jobs due to underperformance (Williams) or gruesome and out-of-the-blue injuries (James and Bogans). The Nets simply haven't been able to catch a break at that position the whole season but with the recent signing of Gerald Green from the D-League, that might all change.

Trade Speculation Candidate: Anthony Morrow

When he gets hot, Morrow is the most dangerous 3-point shooter in the NBA

In this truncated season, Anthony Morrow hasn't been amazing for all 35 games but has been one of the Nets' most reliable players on the offensive end. However, he could become a casualty of New Jersey's quest to clear cap space for this upcoming offseason as his 2-yr, $8 million contract, identical in pay and length to Jordan Farmar's, is one that GM Billy King would love to get rid of in a trade for an (hopefully) expiring contract that might be able to fill some of the production void left by Morrow's departure.

Honestly, Anthony is one of my favorite Nets right now and I would hate to see him go to another team but the truth is that may be necessary for New Jersey to acquire big-name free agents this summer (I think you guys know who I'm referring to explicitly). Let's take a look at two potential trade scenarios which could benefit the Nets, and the other team involved, in both talent and salary cap perspectives:

Trade Speculation Candidate: Jordan Farmar

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This post will be the first in a series that I will do highlighting potential trades involving Nets players who have a good chance of being dealt by this season's trade deadline, which falls on March 15th. Today's focus is point guard Jordan Farmar.


Since the Nets signed Farmar as a free agent from the Los Angeles Lakers two offseasons ago, he has emerged as a quality back-up point guard who could probably start for a few NBA teams. Farmar is good at leading the New Jersey offense and, so far this season, he has been prolific from 3-point range, shooting threes at a high 47 percent rate. However, the Nets would like to get rid of Jordan's 2-yr, $8 million contract to clear out cap space to spend this offseason, hopefully on Deron Williams and Dwight Howard. Let's take a look at three trade scenarios that would get rid of Farmar's contract, improve the Nets team, and clear cap room for this offseason.

Trade #1- Nets trade Farmar and a 2012 2nd-round pick to the Milwaukee Bucks for SF Carlos Delfino
Obviously, this trade helps out with the Nets urgent need for a healthy and somewhat talented small forward as Delfino is a good all-around player who is known especially for his shot. Nets fans may know Delfino because he irrationally always performs well against New Jersey and it would be nice to not have to face him anymore on the opposing side. Another bonus is that his contract ends after this season so if Delfino just doesn't work out in Avery Johnson's offense, the team can just let him go and have his salary come off of the cap for this offseason.

Milwaukee would want to do this trade because Farmar is a total upgrade at back-up point guard for the Bucks. Right now, Shaun Livingston and Ben Udrih are Milwaukee's current reserves at point guards. Livingston just isn't the player he used to be after multiple injuries and he doesn't provide much anymore on offense or defense. Udrih is actually a solid player (A good comparison would be Goran Dragic on Houston; both are lefties with really good shots, especially from three-point range) but his $6.925 million contract is one that Milwaukee wants to get rid of badly. Udrih will probably be amnestied after this season so Farmar would be the Bucks' #1 back-up behind Brandon Jennings next season and he would help Milwaukee out a lot with scoring, which has been a major problem for that team the whole season.

The Emergence of Jordan Farmar and How it Has Kept the Nets Somewhat Competitive

In his nearly two-season stint with the Nets, Jordan has shown that he can be more than just a decent
back-up point guard as was his role with the Lakers

There is no doubt that this season has been an incredibly tough one for the Nets on the court. They have suffered an unheard amount of injuries early on, they haven't been able to score consistently at all, and, maybe worst of all, they have been absolutely atrocious on defense and are even being considered one of the worst defenses in the NBA of the last 20 years.

There have been a few bright spots with this team, mainly in the play of Deron Williams and Kris Humphries and the emergence of rookie shooting guard Marshon Brooks as a prolific scorer. Another bright spot who isn't getting the credit that he deserves is point guard Jordan Farmar, whom the Nets signed in the 2010 offseason, right after Farmar had been a reserve point guard for his hometown Los Angeles Lakers from 2006-2010. During that timespan, Jordan won two NBA championships with LA but wanted more playing time, leading to him signing with the Nets.

Last season, in his first year as a Net, Farmar backed up Devin Harris and later D-Will. He saw his minutes jump nearly seven a game from his final season in LA and even though he averaged a career-high 9.6 points per game, Farmar did not shoot for a high percentage at all and seemed out-of-place at times. Jordan shot a career-low 39 percent from the field in 2009-10 and was even worse from behind the 3-point arc at nearly 36 percent.

Where the Dwight Howard Situation Stands Regarding the Nets

I can't wait for the Dwight situation to reach a resolution, the suspense is killing me

If you're a Nets fan that watches a lot of NBA coverage on TV and reads up on the recent happenings and rumors about the Association, then you are probably very excited or nervous about the Dwight Howard situation right now. As of right now, Orlando Magic GM Otis Smith has kept his stance of not trading the star center and according to what he has told the media, Smith thinks that Dwight will end up re-signing with the Magic this offseason. As a result, he says that he has no plans to trade him.

This current development leaves the Nets in a very tough place regarding their pursuit of Howard. GM Billy King can go the route of upping the team's potential trade offer to Orlando by adding draft picks or young players (unfortunately for Nets fans, MarShon Brooks would fit this category) to the deal. By going this direction, the Nets would most likely trade for Dwight around the March 15th deadline but would probably lose Brook Lopez, Marshon, Morrow, Humphries, and possibly a first-round pick or two in the process. However, he will have reached his desired destination of New Jersey and will most likely sign a long-term extension with the Nets. That means that he and Deron Williams, serving as superstar anchors, would lead the Nets into Brooklyn with one of the Eastern Conference's most intimidating teams.

Of course, the positives of the Nets giving up the farm for Howard would be that Dwight and Deron would be safely with the Nets for the foreseeable future instead of teaming up with another franchise. Billy King will have realized his goal of building a super-team and will have turned this franchise into a playoff contender and possible championship team. However, with the in-season trade for Howard, there are certainly downsides when compared to waiting for free agency to sign Dwight.