Brooklyn Nets Blog – Page 111 – NBA Blog

Carlos Boozer will join Bulls

The AP reports:

Carlos Boozer is headed to the Chicago Bulls.

A person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press that the two-time All-Star forward agreed to a deal on Wednesday and is leaving the Utah Jazz after six seasons. The person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the contract doesn’t become official until Thursday, did not reveal the terms…

With about $30 million in salary cap room, the Bulls were looking to make a big splash in free agency after back-to-back first-round playoff exits.

Adding Boozer strengthens their standing in the Eastern Conference and maybe makes them more attractive to James.

Opinion: I am cool with LeBron James announcing signing decision on TV

Thursday night at 9 p.m. ET, Cleveland Cavaliers free agent LeBron James will announce to the world which team he is signing with. The event will be a one-hour special.

The teams who may win LeBron’s services are the Cavs, Bulls, Heat, Knicks, Nets and Clippers. And I listed those squads in order of who I think has the best shot to get him.

I believe that LeBron’s signing is worthy of being on national television. Simply because everybody cares about it. The world wants to know. So, put it on TV!

That’s it. There’s nothing more to it.

There’s a good chance I will not pay particularly close attention to the early stages of the special. It could be great stuff, but as someone who follows this stuff closely and covers it for a living, I probably already know everything that’ll be said. There will probably be some cool highlights to glance at. I’ll keep it on in the background with the sound up while I work on my laptop or something.

But, I will listen. And when the announcement does come, I’ll rotate my desk chair and stare right at the TV. So will you. And that’s why it deserves to be televised.

UPDATE: It appears LeBron plans on making his decision early, within about 10 minutes. We’ll see!

–Jeff

Cavs meet with free agent LeBron

Brian Windhorst of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports:

LeBron James’ free agent meetings are in the homestretch, the Cavaliers hoping the focus is on the “home” part.

The Cavs met with James for around 90 minutes Saturday, making perhaps their final pitch to re-sign him in a meeting that focused on the team’s familiarity with the star and his comfort level with the franchise.

New coach Byron Scott, general manager Chris Grant, assistant general manager Lance Blanks and owner Dan Gilbert were the principals in the meeting. In addition to presentations from Scott and Grant about their plans, sources said the Cavs also planned to show James a cartoon featuring him and his friends as characters.

It was made in a Family Guy style, which is one of James’ favorite shows, and featured some inside jokes related to the team. Those who know James personally know that he loves cartoons, inside jokes and cheap laughs. The central part of the Cavs’ pitch is that they know him the best.

Clippers statement on LeBron James meeting

“We can only surmise how the meeting went from our standpoint, and from our standpoint, it went very well. We approached it in a very honest and direct way, and we felt that their reaction was considerate and receptive.”

“We’re not going to go into any details about the meeting’s specifics. But it was our goal to present tangible and very obvious reasons as to why we think LeBron choosing our organization is his best option: we clearly have the best team already in place for him to join, we have the best city, the best arena, the best practice facility – overall the best situation.”

“By communicating all of that in a sincere way, we accomplished our preliminary goal.”

“Now what we can do is wait and see how it all resonates, plus continue to be comprehensive in our efforts to improve our team for the upcoming season.”

“No matter what, we’re getting at least one great new player this summer: his name is Blake Griffin.”

Nets sign Ben Uzoh and Brian Zoubek

The New Jersey Nets have signed free agents Ben Uzoh and Brian Zoubek, Nets President Rod Thorn announced today. InsideHoops.com assumes these deals are not guaranteed deals and only for summer league play. In other words, they likely are not “real” contracts that extend into the regular season.

Uzoh, 6’3”/205, was undrafted out of Tulsa. The four-year senior guard averaged 13.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.1 steals in 141 career games, including 140 starts. Uzoh was named First Team All-Conference USA as a senior and Second Team All-Conference USA as a junior and sophomore. The Texas native shares the school record for career games played with 141, while ranking in the top 10 in school history in 11 categories, including points, assists, steals, rebounds and blocks.

Zoubek, 7’1”/260, is an undrafted rookie center out of Duke. As a senior, Zoubek played in all 40 contests, helping the Blue Devils capture a National Championship while averaging 5.6 points and 7.7 rebounds on .638 (90-141) shooting from the field. For his career, the New Jersey native averaged 4.2 points and 4.5 rebounds in 133 games, which included started in 37 contests.

Richard Jefferson opts out of Spurs contract

Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News reports:

In a surprise move, Richard Jefferson has informed the Spurs that he intends to opt out of the final season of his contract and will become a free agent at midnight eastern time.

Jefferson was due to make $15 million next year. Opting out gives him the freedom to negotiate a long-term deal, in advance of a new collective bargaining agreement next season.

Read fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum topic.

Nets trade Yi Jianlian to Wizards for Quinton Ross

Washington Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that the team has acquired forward Yi Jianlian and cash considerations from the New Jersey Nets in exchange for guard/forward Quinton Ross.

“This trade is a good opportunity to add a skilled seven-footer with significant NBA experience who was the sixth overall pick in the draft just three years ago,” said Grunfeld. “Yi fits in very well with our ongoing plan of building towards the future with a core of young, talented players.”

Yi averaged career highs of 12.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.0 blocks in 52 games (51 starts) last season with New Jersey. The seven-foot native of China holds career averages of 9.6 points and 5.8 rebounds in 179 games (152 starts) in three seasons with Milwaukee and New Jersey.

Originally selected by the Bucks with the sixth overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft, Yi was traded to New Jersey along with Bobby Simmons in exchange for Richard Jefferson prior to the 2008-09 season. He averaged 8.6 points and 5.2 rebounds as a rookie and was named the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month for December. Yi followed his rookie campaign by averaging 8.6 points and 5.3 rebounds with the Nets in 2008-09. Prior to entering the draft, he led Guangdong to the Chinese Basketball Association title and competed for the Chinese National Team in the 2008 and 2004 Olympics.

InsideHoops.com editor says: Yi didn’t do much in New Jersey aside from frustrating teammate Brook Lopez by making various defensive mistakes. But he’s still a young player who can score and move around decently on offense. His passing, physical strength and defense is still a work in progress.

Read fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum topic.

Dwyane Wade gives Heat a wish-list of free agent targets

Michael Wallace of the Miami Herald reports:

Dwyane Wade has given the Miami Heat his “wish list” of potential targets he wants team president Pat Riley to pursue when free agency opens at 12:01 a.m. Thursday.

Landing the services of LeBron James and either Amare Stoudemire or Chris Bosh in Miami would be the beginning of the kind of championship makeover Wade seeks this summer.

Wade stopped short of offering names of the marquee players he discussed with Riley in recent weeks. But the Heat’s star guard repeatedly mentioned James and Bosh when he talked about players who instantly could push a team to title contention.

Talk of James and Bosh coming to Miami intensified Monday amid national speculation the two were leaning toward joining Wade, with each taking slightly less money than the maximum they could command.

Marbury hopes Nets gets LeBron

Marc Berman of the New York Post reports:

Stephon Marbury said he is rooting for LeBron James to sign with the Nets to rescuscitate Newark and, eventually, his home borough, Brooklyn.

“LJ 23 should go to the Nets so that Newark would be able to grow and build businesses for the people there,” Marbury wrote in an e-mail to The Post. “After he builds the economy in Newark he can come to my borough and create a brand new life for people struggling to make it in this tough economy.”

2010 Nets summer league roster

Here is the 2010 New Jersey Nets summer league roster. Note that all summer league rosters are subject to change at any time:

AJ Abrams, G
Connor Atchley, F/C
Demond Carter, G
Wayne Chism, F
Jakim Donaldson, F
Derrick Favors, F
Vernon Goodridge, F/C
Brandon Heath , G
Damion James, F
James Peters, F
Gabe Pruitt, G
Alex Ruoff, G
Garret Siler, C
Lance Thomas, F
Cezary Trybanski, C
Ben Uzoh, G
Terrence Williams, G/F
Brian Zoubek, C