Brooklyn Nets Blog – Page 112 – NBA Blog

Nets waive Keyon Dooling

The New Jersey Nets have requested waivers on guard Keyon Dooling, Nets President Rod Thorn announced today.

According to the Bergen Record, “Dooling had a $3.8 million team option, but only $500,000 was guaranteed. The Nets had until Tuesday to waive him or his salary would have been fully guaranteed for the upcoming season. The Nets will have roughly $27 million to use in free agency after this transaction.”

Dooling was acquired on July 21, 2008 from Orlando in exchange for cash considerations. In two full seasons with New Jersey, Dooling appeared in 130 games, averaging 8.6 ppg, 1.6 rpg and 3.1 apg. The former first round pick (10th overall) of the Magic in 2000 has career averages of 7.2 ppg, 1.4 rpg and 2.2 apg in 10 years with the Los Angeles Clippers, Miami Heat, Orlando Magic and New Jersey Nets.

Did Russian spies help push Rod Thorn out?

Julian Garcia of the New York Daily News reports:

Rod Thorn’s decision to retire as president of the Nets was likely hastened by the presence of what he perceived to be Russian spies inside the team’s offices, sources say.

According to sources close to the team, Thorn had quickly grown tired of having to answer to associates of new Russian owner Mikhail Prokhorov, who took control of the Nets in early May. After months of dealing with Prokhorov’s underlings looking over his shoulder, Thorn decided to walk away.

He will step down on July 15, one week after the free agent signing period begins.

Before news of his impending retirement broke Friday night, Thorn told the Daily News that he had no issues with either Prokhorov or his field generals.

Nets trade Chris Douglas-Roberts to Bucks

The Milwaukee Bucks have acquired guard Chris Douglas-Roberts (6-7, 210) from the New Jersey Nets for a future second round draft pick, General Manager John Hammond announced today. The Nets receive the 2012 second round draft pick that the Bucks acquired from Chicago in the John Salmons trade on February 18, 2010.

After two years in the NBA, Douglas-Roberts has career averages of 7.9 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game while shooting 44.9 percent from the field. During the 2009-10 season, Douglas-Roberts played 67 games, starting 38, with averages of 9.8 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 25.8 minutes per game. He shot 44.5 percent from the field and 84.7 percent from the free throw line last season. His 84.7 percent mark from the free throw line ranked 21st in the league last year.

Douglas-Roberts finished his second season in the league with the fourth highest scoring increase amongst sophomore players. He averaged 4.9 points per game as a rookie and improved to 9.8 points in his second season. Only George Hill (+6.7 points per game increase), Brook Lopez (+5.8) and Robin Lopez (+5.3) had higher scoring increases among second year players.

A native of Detroit, MI, Douglas-Roberts, 23, was drafted by the Nets in the second round (40th overall) of the 2008 NBA Draft. He played three seasons at the University of Memphis where he was a consensus First Team All-American and helped lead the Tigers to the national championship game his junior year.

InsideHoops.com quick-take: News of this upcoming trade leaked days ago, so it’s not a surprise. I wonder how CDR feels being given away for a mere future second rounder. He’s probably going to take it personally. He does that, sometimes.

Nets trade Jordan Crawford, Tibor Pleiss draft rights to Hawks for Damion James

The Atlanta Hawks tonight acquired the draft rights to Jordan Crawford (the 27th pick) and Tibor Pleiss (the 31st pick) from the New Jersey Nets, in exchange for the rights to Damion James, who the Hawks selected at the 24th spot in the 2010 NBA Draft. Atlanta subsequently sent the rights to Pleiss to Oklahoma City in exchange for financial considerations.

At the 53rd spot in the second round, the Hawks drafted 6-7 Pape Sy from the Le Havre club in France’s Pro A League.

“We wanted to select the best player available, and we feel like we accomplished that with Jordan Crawford,” said Hawks Executive Vice President/General Manager Rick Sund. “We’re thrilled to acquire a player of Jordan’s caliber. He’s a player we scouted throughout the year, and targeted in the pre-draft process.”

“Jordan is a prolific scorer with deep range, who rose to the occasion for his team in the postseason,” said Hawks Assistant GM/Director of Player Personnel Dave Pendergraft. “He’s a gym rat who loves to play the game, and will give us another player who can play multiple positions and put the ball in the basket.”

Crawford (a 6-4 guard) led Xavier and the Atlantic 10 in scoring last season (20.5 ppg), appearing in 35 games (.462 FG%, .773 FT%). He averaged 29.0 ppg in three contests in the NCAA Tournament, earning a spot on the NCAA Tournament All-West Region Team. He played in 30 games as a freshman at Indiana University (in 2007-08), finishing seventh among Big Ten freshmen in scoring at 9.7 ppg, hitting double-figures 15 times.

The Detroit native played at Communication and Media Arts High School in his hometown, before attending Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, VA for a year. His brother, Joe, played at University of Kentucky from 2004-08.

Crawford will be available to the Atlanta media when the Hawks commence their rookie camp, which is scheduled to begin on July 9 on the Philips Arena practice court.

“I was impressed with Pape’s workout,” said Hawks coach Larry Drew. “He had a strong desire to come in here and showcase his talent. He’s got a great shot, and the ability to play two positions. We were really hoping he’d be there for us.”

Avery Johnson to be new Nets coach

The AP reports:

Avery Johnson says he has agreed to become the coach of the New Jersey Nets, the NBA’s worst team.

In a text message to the Associated Press on Wednesday, Johnson said he thinks the Nets will announce the deal today.

Nets president and general manager Rod Thorn did not immediately respond when asked to comment on Johnson’s text. In an earlier e-mail to the AP, he said he “will have something to say” today.

The current ESPN analyst coached Dallas for three-plus seasons, going 194-70 in the regular season and 23-24 in the playoffs. He guided the Mavs to the NBA Finals in 2006 but was fired after a first-round playoff series loss to New Orleans in 2008.

He was the starting point guard for the Spurs during the 1999 championship run. He played for the Spurs in 1991, 1992-93 and 1994-2001.

Prokhorov Says GM Vandeweghe will not return to Nets

The AP reports:

New Jersey Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov says general manager Kiki Vandeweghe will be let go when his contract expires this summer.

”I wish him well,” says Prokhorov.

NBA owners approved the sale of the Nets to the Russian billionaire last week.

Prokhorov says Wednesday he does plan to retain team president Rod Thorn.

Wizards win first pick in 2010 NBA Draft Lottery

The National Basketball Association announced tonight that the Washington Wizards received the first overall pick in the 2010 Draft during tonight’s Draft Lottery in Secaucus, NJ.

“This is a great night for our franchise and particularly for our fans,” said Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld. “They have shown great support and passion during what has been a difficult stretch over the last two seasons, but they can celebrate tonight knowing that we’ve taken a big step towards building the team that they deserve.”

The Wizards, who had a 10.3% chance of landing the first pick in tonight’s Draft Lottery, have held the number one overall pick twice before in franchise history. They chose Walt Bellamy number one in 1961 and Kwame Brown with the top pick in 2001.

In addition to the number one pick, the Wizards own Cleveland’s first round selection (30th overall) as a result of a three-team deal on Feb. 17 and hold their own second round pick (35th overall).

Washington is totally rebuilding, and chances are they’ll go make John Wall the first overall selection.

The Philadelphia 76ers are likely to take Evan Turner second, playing him alongside Andre Iguodala.

At third, the Nets will probably go for a power forward. There are several good candidates worthy of going that high up.

Complete 2010 NBA Draft Lottery results are here.

Shaq will consider joining Nets

Marc Berman of the New York Post reports:

Cavaliers free agent center Shaquille O’Neal, a Newark native, told The Post he would consider the Nets as a destination this summer — intrigued because they now reside in his hometown.

O’Neal, the Cavs “other” free agent, praised the new Prudential Center as being an NBA hotspot and said he would rather them not move to Brooklyn in 2013.

“I think it’s better than most arenas, I think it’s one of the best arenas in the country,” O’Neal told The Post following the Cavaliers’ stunning second-round elimination against Boston on Thursday night. “Hopefully they can stay there forever. I don’t know what’s going on with the Brooklyn situation, but it says a lot for the city of Newark.”

InsideHoops.com Says: Shaq has limited impact at this point in his basketball career, and the Nets have Brook Lopez at center already. So while it’s fun to think about O’Neal heading over to Newark, in reality he’ll probably wind up continuing to play elsewhere, for contenders who need him a bit more.

Hornets interview Lawrence Frank, Monty Williams

The AP reports:

The New Orleans Hornets continue to interview candidates for their vacant coaching job; former NBA head coach Lawrence Frank and current Portland assistant Monty Williams are the latest.

Team spokesman Harold Kaufman confirms that Frank and Williams met with team officials on Tuesday in New Orleans, bringing the number of candidates interviewed by the Hornets up to seven.

LeBron James would love to own NBA team

The AP reports:

LeBron James, whose path to superstardom has followed a similar trajectory as Jordan’s, said Tuesday night before the Cavaliers faced the Chicago Bulls in Game 5 of the playoffs that he would “love” to own an NBA team someday. Jordan assumed ownership of the Charlotte Bobcats in March, buying the club for $275 million from Bob Johnson.

“I would love to be in that position,” James said. “It’s a great position to be able to own a team and be able to put pieces together and make decisions.”

InsideHoops.com says:

Well, if any current player should have the money to own most or all of an NBA team by the time his playing days are over, it’s LeBron.