Apparently, the Nets are content leaving their 49 win team intact from last season, even to the point of re-signing Cliff Robinson, you know, the guy who is approaching his 5th decade and was suspended DURING THE PLAYOFFS for a drug violation. I know that Kidd, Carter, and Jefferson are good, no doubt, but these guys need some help out there. Ok, Nenad Krstic has potential and they did sign perennial PMad favorite Eddie House to come off the bench this year, but, really, is Eddie House going to push the Nets over the top? My first instinct was to say - you bet your golden ass he will - but six previous teams have a slightly different opinion.
Fantasy rankings are the wrong tool to evaluate actual player performance, but sometimes a team’s weakness is so obviously glaring that pretty much any type of objective or subjective analysis is enough to pinpoint the problem. In this case, even fantasy rankings show that the Nets have absolutely no bench. They just don’t just need a good 6th man, but a 5th, 7th, and 8th man. At least they have the PG position all set.
2005/2006 Fantasy Rankings
(16) Jason Kidd
(22) Vince Carter
(34) Richard Jefferson
(117) Nenad Krstic
(222) Clifford Robinson
(270) Jason Collins
(309) Jeff Mcinnis
(340) Bostjan Nachbar
(441) Antoine Wright
“Significant†Additions
(188) Eddie House
(336) Mikki Moore
(NA) Marcus Williams
(NA) Josh Boone
(NA) Hassan Adams
Significant Subtractions
None that I know of
BUY
Jason Kidd – Chris Webber, Amare Stoudemire, Rashad McCants, Allan Houston, Penny Hardaway, Zach Randolph, Jamal Mashburn, Kenyon Martin… they’re all pussies. Anyone who takes more than 5 months to return from microfracture knee surgery should grow a set and follow the way of the master - Jason Kidd. 8.4 assists, 7.3 rebounds, 1.7 threes, and 1.9 steals last season – that’s at least second round talent – and he put those numbers up almost directly after walking out of surgery. Kidd will be as good if not better again this year.
Richard Jefferson – The “big board†has him ranked at 44. Last year, coming that big injury year in 2004, he finished up the year at 34. I think a lot of people downgrade him because he and his game are boring as hell, and let’s be honest, we all look for players we like and excite us to some extent. But, he’s definitely a buy because however boring his game is, it’s also consistently good.
Nenad Krstic – I could care less that he’s playing well in the world championships… What really matters are two things: (1) he’s a center and (2) his per game stats over March and April 2006 work out to 15.2/8/1.4 with 0.8 blocks. Those numbers are slightly above what he did for the entire season last year and I see that kind of slight improvement for Krstic in 2006/2007. Just don’t expect any kind of breakout season. He is however, inching his way into being a solid contributor to your fantasy team, C eligibility or not.
HOLD
Vince Carter – I want everyone to check back here in June of 2007. My prediction for Carter is 24/6/4.5/1.2/0.6. I guarantee that 6 out of 10 times, I’m right every time.
SELL
Everyone else who the Nets will throw out there for 10 to 20 minutes a game. Especially:
Jason Collins – When you start and play 27 minutes and score 3.6 points and grab 4.8 rebounds a game, that’s bad. In 2004/2005, playing 32 minutes a game, he arguably sucked even more.
Marcus Williams & Eddie House – It’ll be real tight for minutes behind Kidd (37 min/gm) and Carter (37 min/gm). Although if you own one of the aforementioned all stars and have a large bench, it might be worthwhile to stash either of these guys in case of an injury… if you have a REALLY large bench.
Clifford Robinson & Josh Boone – They’ll get more minutes than Williams and House, but likely play worse when they’re out there. The end result won’t be worth very much.
WATCH
The Nets win 45 to 50 games and depart from the 2007 NBA playoffs in the second round again. Whoo-hoo, that’s exciting! Maybe they’ll get some additional depth while the big three are still in their primes.
Where I’d Draft Em (in a 10 team league)
Jason Kidd – 2nd
Vince Carter – 3rd
Richard Jefferson – 4th
Nenad Krstic – 9th
