Reggie Evans Fined for Flop from Nets-Lakers Game

This is kind of old already (with the ridiculously short news-cycle of the Internet age), but Reggie Evans has made news as the first NBA player to be fined under the league's new flopping policy. The "flop" in question came during the Nets-Lakers game on Tuesday night when Evans embellished a bump he took from Metta World Peace of the Lakers, a play which was called an offensive foul on the Player Formerly Known as Ron Artest. Evans was fined $5,000 dollars for the incident, so I'm sure he's not that discouraged.

Postponed Nets-Knicks Game Rescheduled for November 26th

The Nets-Knicks game, originally planned to be played yesterday, November 1st, has officially been rescheduled by the NBA to Monday, November 26th at 7:00 pm. The new date for the game means that it will be the second game of a back-to-back, as the Nets play the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday, the 25th, at the Barclays Center as well.

Tonight's Nets-Knicks Season Opener Postponed

I know this is old news (as of yesterday) but as a Long Islander (an area of New York that was hit very hard by Hurricane Sandy) without power, the postponement of the planned Nets-Knicks regular season opener--official christener of the Barclays Center--is still huge news that deserved to get a post on the blog when I found a short amount of time that I could get internet access.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced yesterday that with all the mass transit disruptions caused by the storm, it would be unwise to play tonight's game as scheduled. Saturday's Nets-Raptors game at the Barclays will instead serve as the first-ever regular season game at the Barclays. Also, the Knicks will kick off their regular season on Friday night at Madison Square Garden against the Heat. 

Nets' Jersey Unveiled at Jay-Z Concert, Same As Leaked Ones

The stars, like new Dodgers co-owner and NBA legend, came out on Friday night for the official debut of the Barclays Center with Jay-Z show.

As was announced awhile ago, the Brooklyn Nets' jerseys for the 2012-13 season were unveiled during the official opening of the Barclays Center, by minority owner and rap star Jay-Z wearing a black Nets road uniform on stage.

The very jersey that Jay-Z wore last night was leaked a week ago by someone on the Internet and the simple, black-and-white design of the jersey, which is echoed in the look of the Barclays Center itself, sent ripples throughout the sports world. In today's modern world, a plain uniform design was deemed as unusual but granted, not much about the inception and development of the Brooklyn Nets franchise was usual. A Russian majority owner, a rap mogul minority owner, a groundbreaking case of eminent domain in New York City? Not all things that other franchises face, but things necessary for the Brooklyn Nets to become a thing.

Also, as noted in the first link above, last night's concert signaled the 1st time Brooklyn Nets jerseys were to be sold on NBAStore.com and BrooklynNets.com, as the new uni's became available soon after the concert was over. Last night marked a true milestone in the Nets' history as a franchise, as more milestones are soon to come in the upcoming weeks, with the team's 1st regular season game scheduled for just over a month from now.

For All Intensive Purposes, Here Are Your New (Leaked) Brooklyn Nets Jerseys

I don't love the new threads, I really would like some gray on both the home and away uni's, but I really shouldn't complain. The black and white look is dominant and kinda intimidating, as if Reggie Evans on the glass wasn't enough.

I know they officially are supposed to be released to the public on September 28th, but this latest leak of the Brooklyn Nets' first jerseys, found by the great guys at NetsDaily, seems to be legit. We obviously won't know for sure if these are the real deal until the 28th, but work on the assumption that they are, considering a bunch of major basketball outlets and Nets sites ran the same leak earlier today. Welcome to your new franchise, Brooklyn Nets fans, these are our jerseys for the future and hopefully they bring us some winning luck. No more red alternates ever again.

Andray Blatche Becomes Latest Player to Be Linked to Nets; Will Meet With Avery Johnson in Houston

Blatche was amnestied this offseason by the Wizards to shed themselves of his $23 million contract, making him a nice, low-risk potential addition for the Nets

According to the New York Times, amnestied Wizards power forward Andray Blatche and Nets' coach Avery Johnson, are scheduled to meet in Houston in the upcoming days to gauge each parties' interest in a potential training camp contract. Since the Nets' acquisition of Donte Greene ended up stalling, the team has an open roster spot for a power forward/center with some size, and Blatche fills that mold.

When healthy, the 6'11'' 26-year old has proven that he can provide decent to good scoring and rebounding numbers, posting careers averages of 15.7 points and 8.6 rebound per 36 minutes respectively. Honestly, with a guy that has Blatche's talent, there is almost no risk for the Nets to bring him aboard for training camp and beyond.

He doesn't have to play 20 minutes a night; he can just sub in occasionally to give the starters or higher reserves a blow when needed and can help out on the boards and maybe score some points in his action. With a roster as filled out as the Nets' is, having another player who has shown he can effective in the NBA can never hurt, and is a low-risk, medium-reward transaction. Of course, you can't go wrong with one of those.

After Breaking Ankle, Donte Greene's Deal With The Nets Stalls

Looks like Donte Greene won't be a Net as soon as we thought he would be. It's being reported (and has been for a few days) that the former King needs surgery for a fractured ankle he received while playing in a pick-up game last week in Charlotte. Just more wonderful injury news for the Nets, as we certainly haven't had much of it in recent years (snickers bitterly).

This recent development has led Billy King to look around the free agent pool for a suitable alternative Greene, who, it's important to note, could still very much end up a Net but with his timetable unknown, nothing is for certain right now.

Names are being floated around the Nets right now by the usual assortment of "insiders" (no, you suck Chris Broussard, you taint actual NBA insiders everywhere) and beat writers, but nothing is even close to happening right now.

Just stay tuned to Brooklyn Balling and we'll update you on both Greene's contract situation and Billy King's  search for a potential replacement for him. However, know that it won't be Hilton Armstrong, who signed with Panathinaikos in Greece a few days ago.

To Fill Out Roster, Nets Are Working Out Hilton Armstrong And, Gasp, Eddy Curry

This is what Eddy Curry is associated with right now in his career. The only thing he could provide for the Nets is another mouth to feed, a hungry one at that.

Yep, Eddy Curry, seriously. In their seemingly desperate search for a back-up center, the Nets have tapped former NBA player Hilton Armstrong and Eddy Curry for work-outs. NBA fans in the New York City area should know both of these players well. Armstrong, a Westchester, NY native, was a star at the nearby basketball powerhouse University of Connecticut while Curry played on the Knicks from 2005-10.

Unlike the addition of Donte Greene to the team, I don't like Armstrong or Curry as potential members of the Nets. Both players have nice size but Armstrong just hasn't been able to convert his physical skills into solid performance during his NBA career while Curry has suffered from a myriad of injuries, weight problems, and even a heart condition in recent years.

Sorry Billy King, but neither of these guys would be a good fit on the Nets and certainly wouldn't be more than a benchwarmer at this point in their respective NBA careers.

Brooklyn Nets Jerseys to Be Unveiled on September 28th

These depictions may or not turn out to be the Nets' legitimate jerseys for their debut season in Brooklyn at the Barclays Center, but we won;t know for sure until the 28th, a month from today

It's official, one month from today, at the opening concert (and event) of the Barclays Center, the Brooklyn Nets' first jerseys as a team will be unveiled. That day, September 28th, is also the date of the first event at the Barclays Center which happens to be a Jay-Z concert. I can't even begin to describe how pumped I am to see the much-hyped and anticipated Nets jerseys end up looking like. I really hope they don't screw this up.

Nets' Preseason Schedule Announced, 1st Game at Barclays is October 15th

This will be the place to be on October 15th, the first time the Brooklyn Nets will play a game there. I'll be in attendance, will you?

In a press release from yesterday, the Nets, among with all other NBA teams, announced their 2012 preseason schedule. This preseason, the Nets have six games, three of which are at the Barclays Center (10/15, 10/18, 10/19) and the rest are either on the road or at neutral sites (10/13, 10/16, 10/24). The first official game for the Brooklyn Nets franchise will be October 13th against the Philadelphia 76ers at a yet-to-be-determined site. The first official home game for the Nets at the Barclays Center will be October 15th against the lowly Washington Wizards.

Of special note, the Nets' 4th and last home preseason game will not be played at the Barclays Center but instead at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island where the New York Islanders play their home games during the NHL season. A possible attempt to spread the Nets' fanbase onto Long Island? If so, I love the idea. As a Long Island resident, I can first-hand tell that most Long Island basketball fans support the Knicks, but if the Knicks have another disappointing season, that barometer could easily shift in favor of the Nets. The more fans, the merrier.

Full preseason schedule for the Nets after the jump, courtesy of BrooklynNets.com:

Gerald Wallace Opts Out of Contract; Will Become Free Agent

According to the Charlotte Observer's Rick Bonnell, Gerald Wallace has declined the option in his contract for next season with the Nets and is now on the open market. This was the expected move for awhile since it would make more sense for Wallace to sign a multi-year deal instead of exercise the option for one season. There is still a good chance Gerald will re-sign with the Nets and will be with the team in Brooklyn since the Nets hold his bird rights, but in free agency, anything is possible. However, if he doesn't re-sign with the Nets, this past March's trade will go down as one of the worst the Nets have ever made and quite possibly one of the worst in NBA history.

The Nets Lose Their 1st-Round Pick to Portland as Draft Lottery Goes (Almost) Chalk

Bleh, this team makes me sick

Last night's much-hyped Draft Lottery was yet another fit of incredible misfortune for the Nets as their lottery balls came up short, landing them in the 6th-spot and giving the Portland Trail Blazers the draft pick as part of the much-scrutinized Gerald Wallace deadline deal. Like the Nets pick, most of the 14 lottery selections went the teams with the corresponding record, such as the Nets having the 6th-worst record and getting the 6th pick. However, this didn't happen at the top of the draft board as the Hornets, who had the 4th-worst record in the NBA last year, ended up getting the #1 pick, presumably to take Anthony Davis. As a result, the league-worst Bobcats got the 2nd-pick while the Wizards landed in the 3rd-slot.

Congrats to those afor-mentioned teams and their fan bases but that doesn't cover the Nets, and us, their beaten-down fans. This news is absolutely terrible for the newly-minted Brooklyn Nets, whose future was greatly leveraged by the Wallace trade while the proverbial knife was dug in deeper with tonight's complete loss of the pick that could have been used as a trade asset for Dwight Howard. Now, Deron Williams has much more incentive to not re-sign with the Nets, a team that only has a 2012 2nd-round pick (57th overall) and four players under contract currently as potential trade bait. Of course, I will have more on this unnerving situation in the days to come but I leave all you readers a final statement: Give us a damn break for once!

The Brooklyn Nets Are Officially Born

This recently leaked logo may be the Brooklyn Nets official one, but we won't be sure until Monday morning

As of right now (12:00 am EST on Monday, April 30th), the Brooklyn Nets are officially a member of the NBA and the New Jersey Nets are gone. This moment is a landmark for the Nets franchise as the much-excited move to Brooklyn has been in the works for years now and is sure to help the Nets be more successful than during their 35 years in New Jersey. This also means that Brooklyn Balling is now a Brooklyn Nets blog as opposed to a New Jersey Nets one. It also means that in a few hours (at roughly 6:50 am on CNBC) the Nets' new jerseys, logo, and team identity will be revealed by Nets CEO Brett Yormark. Congratulations fellow Nets fans, we have been waiting for this day and time to come for years now and its finally here. Now, as the blog has stated since January, the Nets are "Brooklyn Balling".

Houston Rockets Eliminated From Playoff Race, Keep Their Lottery-Protected 1st-Round Pick

By losing to the Miami Heat on Sunday afternoon, the Houston Rockets have been eliminated from contention for the 8-seed in the Western Conference and will spend another season not in the playoffs. Normally, this news would mean nothing to Nets fans but it actually is very important because by missing the playoffs and entering the lottery, the Rockets keep their protected-1st rounder that they traded to the Nets for Terrence Williams last season. This means that the Nets might not have a 1-round pick in this year's draft. On the bright side, the pick rolls over the next season and is once again lottery-protected so if Houston finally makes the playoffs, the Nets get their 1st-rounder.

Springfield Armor Eliminated from D-League Playoffs by Canton Charge

Former Hofstra star Antoine Agudio led the 7th-seeded Canton Charge with 24 points in a stunning win in Springfield.

The Nets' D-League affiliate Springfield Armor, the regular season Eastern Conference champion of the NBDL, fell to the Canton Charge, the affiliate of the Cleveland Cavaliers, at the MassMutual Center in Western Massachusetts last night. The crucial third game of the best-of 3 series, in which the Charge and Armor split the first two games in respectively, was won by Canton by a score of 115-106. Recent Net call-up Dennis Horner scored 21 points and grabbed seven rebounds for the Armor while perennial D-League All-Star JamesOn Curry scored 24.

The quick playoff exit was extremely disappointing for a Springfield team that has its best ever regular season in the D-League this past year and seemed poised to win an Eastern Conference that they owned during the season. However, the season was a major success for the franchise and only bodes for more success in the future, and hopefully more effective players for the big-league Nets to call up.

Nets' Move to Brooklyn Officially Approved By NBA

Barclays Center, the future!

Well, we all knew that this would happen so the NBA's Board of Governors' approval of the move of the New Jersey Nets to Brooklyn to become the Brooklyn Nets was more of a formality than anything else. Some other interesting happenings from that meeting today: the Hornets were bought by Saints' owner Tom Benson for $338 million and the Kings' efforts to stay in Sacramento took a pretty big hit.

Deron Goes Nuts But East Still Loses All-Star Game

There was some questioning of D-Will inclusion in the All-Star Game but quieted the critics with his performance

Even though he was the last player on the Eastern Conference team to enter the game, Deron Williams certainly made his presence felt in the 2012 NBA All-Star Game which the West won by a score of 152-149. In only 18 minutes, D-Will scored 20 while making 8-for-11 from the field, along with 4-for-7 shooting from behind-the-arc. Deron was one of only six East All-Stars to score double-digits in points and showed that he truly is among the NBA's elite players.

Not surprisingly, the game's two leading scorers with 36 points each were Kevin Durant, who was named the MVP, and LeBron James. Dwyane Wade compiled only the 3rd triple-double in the game's history as the Miami Heat were certainly well represented in Orlando tonight.

All-Star Saturday: Armor Do Well, the Nets Not So Much

The nice tribute Morrow made to Petrovic, a great shooter in his own right, didn't help him much in his debut appearance in the 3-point contest

In today's All-Star weekend festivities (ok, it was yesterday), the Nets and their D-League affiliate, the Springfield Armor, were really busy. On the D-League side, three Armor players (JameSon Curry, Jerry Smith, and Jeff Foote) played in the D-League All-Star game while L.D. Williams played (and won) in the dunk contest that took place at halftime of the game.

In the game, the East team (with all three Armor players) ended up losing 135-132 to the Western Conference D-League All-Stars. Curry scored a game-high 25 points off the bench on 10-for-16 shooting along with 8 assists. Smith started the game and scored 14 while Foote grabbed 7 rebounds but couldn't find his groove at the offensive end. In a weird note, Andre Emmett, whose 10-day deal with the Nets ended on Wednesday, played on the Western Conference team and scored 15. Emmett wasn't on the East squad because New Jersey didn't call him up from the Armor, but rather the Reno Bighorns.

Anthony Morrow Makes First Career NBA 3-Point Shooting Competition

I'm not sure how Morrow hasn't been invited to the contest before, but regardless, I'm picking him as my favorite to win

According to the Star Ledger's Colin Stephenson, Nets' shooting guard Anthony Morrow has been invited to participate in the annual 3-Point Shooting Contest at NBA All-Star Weekend, which takes place later this month in Orlando. Frankly, this invitation is definitely deserved and is long overdue for a sharpshooter like Morrow who is the 2nd-most efficient 3-point shooter in the history of the NBA, just .011 percentage points behind leader Steve Kerr.

Morrow' invitation means that the Nets will have three of their own players participating in All-Star Weekend in addition to three of the Springfield Armor's, the Nets' D-League affiliate, players who will be playing in the D-League All-Star Game. Marshon Brooks will be playing in the Rookie/Sophomore game and, of course, Deron Williams will be playing in the actual NBA All-Star Game. For the first time in awhile, I will actually be able to have a rooting interest in that weekend's festivities because I can't stand rooting in games/contests that no Nets are in. Fans/selection committees, you done good!

Deron Williams Named as Reserve for Eastern Conference All-Star Team

The Feb. 26 game in Orlando will be a nice place for D-Will to show that he is among the NBA's elite

For the 12th time in Nets franchise history, they will have a player represented in the NBA All-Star Game as Deron Williams has been named to the Eastern Conference team as a reserve. The All-Star appearance is Deron's third in as many seasons and enters himself among the ranks of other Nets players to have made the All-Star team like Vince Carter, Devin Harris, and Jason Kidd who did it recently along with Stephon Marbury, Kenyon Martin, Derrick Coleman among others.

With per game averages of 20.9 points and 8.6 assists this season, Deron is the only player in the whole NBA who is currently averaging 20+ points and 8+ assists per game. There was some doubt before the announcement of the rosters if Deron would indeed be chosen as a reserve or not which I thought was a preposterous idea. D-Will is, in my opinion, the third best point guard in the NBA, after Derrick Rose and Chris Paul, and the fact that he might not make the All-Star game because of the Nets' poor record is simply ridiculous because team success should be an important consideration for MVP but not for something like the All-Star game.

A full list of both rosters can be found here.