Posts Tagged New Jersey Nets
New Jersey Nets To Sign Travis Outlaw
Posted by Mark Travis in News on July 8, 2010
The New Jersey Nets have agreed to a five-year deal worth $35 million, according to ESPN’s Ric Bucher.
Outlaw is a six-foot-nine, 25-year old small forward that spent last season with the Portland Trail Blazers before being traded to the Los Angeles Clippers in a deal that brought Marcus Camby to Portland.
Outlaw averaged nine points, four rebounds and one assist last season in 34 combined games with both teams. An injury sidelined him for most of the season.
Sam Presti Puts New Jersey Rumors to Bed
Posted by Mark Travis in Front Office, News on July 7, 2010
Sam Presti will not be the next General Manager of the New Jersey Nets, nor will he interview with the team.
“There’s zero substance to it,” Presti said of the rumors linking him to the Nets. “I’m happy where I am.”
That’s four GMs now that have been linked to the Nets’ job. Joe Dumars, Jeff Bower and Presti have all denied interest or an offer while the book is still out on the other, Kevin Pritchard.
Update: Kevin Pritchard to Interview for the Nets’ GM Job
Posted by Mark Travis in News on July 7, 2010
July 7th, 2:40 AM, Update: Dave D’Alessandro of the Newark Star Ledger reports that no interview has been set-up with Pritchard as of now.
According to David Aldridge, one of them is Kevin Pritchard – which is really odd, because nobody in the Nets organization was expecting him to get an interview as of 6 PM.
Rod Thorn was a little vague: “I haven’t set up an interview with him,” he said, “but I may in the future.”
Obviously, Thorn does not deny the possibility of Pritchard interviewing for the job but there is nothing scheduled as of now.
With Jeff Bower and Joe Dumars out of contention, the New Jersey Nets will now interview former Portland Trail Blazers General Manager Kevin Pritchard for their GM position, according to David Aldridge of NBA.com.
New Jersey is believed to be going through a double-digit list of candidates to replace former GM Kiki Vandeweghe, who was not retained after the Draft by new owner Mikhail Prokhorov, and team president Rod Thorn, who is stepping down from his job July 15 after helping the team get through the free agent negotiating and signing period.
It’s not known when Pritchard will interview, as the Nets are right in the middle of the fray with other teams trying to cash in on the free agent sweepstakes of LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade and others. The Nets met with James last week and were said to have put together a very impressive presentation, led by Prokhorov. New Jersey has more than $30 million in cap room after trading guard Chris Douglas-Roberts to Milwaukee and forward Yi Jianlian to Washington and waiving guard Keyon Dooling, looking to build around center Brook Lopez, guards Devin Harris and Terrence Williams and first-round pick Derrick Favors.
My two cents: New Jersey should hire Pritchard on the spot. He got a sour deal in Portland and he still pulled off some nice deals on the final day of his employment.
Hornets’ GM Jeff Bower Says No to the Nets
Posted by Mark Travis in Front Office, News on July 6, 2010
New Orleans Hornets’ General Manager has declined a chance at being the GM of the New Jersey Nets, according to Yahoo! Sport’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
“I appreciate the interest shown by the N.J. Nets to discuss the opportunity with me to head up their basketball operations,” Bower said. “At this time, however, it is not the right fit for the Nets or myself. I remain focused on improving our Hornets roster on a daily basis.”
According to Wojnarowski, working with Avery Johnson may have been a turn off for Bower.
Bower has a tough job in New Orleans as his superstar point guard Chris Paul has publicly expressed that he would like his team to be more active this summer. Unfortunately, cap restraints have made doing so very tough on Bower which no doubt made the New Jersey scenario look pretty good with a lot of cap space to use and a solid group of young players already in place.
Bower is the second already in place GM to confirm that they will not be taking the New Jersey job, with Joe Dumars of the Detroit Pistons being the other.
Pistons’ Joe Dumars Not Interested In Nets
Posted by Steve Kays in Front Office, News on July 6, 2010

According to Yahoo! Sports NBA columnist Adrian Wojnarowski, General Manager Joe Dumars of the Detroit Pistons is not interested in any basketball operations job with the New Jersey Nets. Earlier reports from The Bergen Record had indicated that the Nets had interviewed Dumars, along with New Orleans General Manager Jeff Bower, to replace outgoing president Rod Thorn.
However, according to texts from Dumars, such an interview never took place. The team also released a statement late Tuesday evening from Dumars that read:
“In response to today’s media reports regarding the New Jersey Nets, I can say that I do not have any interest in a basketball operations position with the Nets,” Dumars said in a statement released by the Pistons.
“My priority is to continue leading the Pistons’ basketball operations efforts and putting together a team that is ready to compete and get back on track next season.”
The Pistons organization is in somewhat of an upheaval the past year and half, starting with the death of longtime owner Bill Davidson in March 2009. After that longtime Palace CEO Tom Wilson left the organization, along with other Palace employees. Complicating matters, new Pistons owner Karen Davidson recently stated that she expects the team to be sold by the start of the upcoming season. While such a sale would probably do well to add some direction and balance to the organization, it remains doubtful if a transaction can be completed in such a short time.
New Jersey on the other hand is now an attractive destination due to their new billionaire owner Mikhail Prokhorov, the soon-to-be New York City based area, all the cap space, and young pieces in place. While such a job might intrigue Dumars, it seems that, for now anyways, the interest is just a one-sided affair for the Nets.