Category: Brooklyn Nets Blog

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MarShon Brooks has no idea if Deron Williams will stay with Nets

deron williams

The Nets may not have a full team yet, but MarShon Brooks is working hard on improving his game this offseason.

While both Deron Williams and Gerald Wallace are expected to test the free-agent market this summer, Brooks is prepping for his second season with the Nets whether or not Williams and Wallace make the move to Brooklyn.

“We don’t really have a team right now,” Brooks told The Post. “I’m just working as hard as I possibly can to be ready for whatever role they give me. I’ve been doing a lot of lifting, trying to get stronger. I think that will help me with my defense, my long range shot.”

Brooks admitted he doesn’t have any inkling what the two All-Star free agents will do when the free-agent signing period begins July 1.

“I haven’t talked to Gerald in a while, but [Deron Williams] he’s still around lifting and things like that at the practice facility,” Brooks said at a Sprint NBA Nation event at South Street Seaport. “[Deron] is a tough guy to read. I really can’t control [whether or not they come back], that’s between them, their family and their agent.”

— Reported by Anthony Sulla-Heffinger of the New York Post

Tony Parker suffered eye injury during Drake vs Chris Brown nightclub fight

tony parker

San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker suffered an eye injury during a nightclub fight, but it will not stop him from playing in this summer’s Olympics.

Parker told multiple media outlets that he got some shards of glass in his eye during the incident Wednesday in Manhattan.

“I was there with a bunch of friends when a fight broke out. They started to throw bottles about … I got it all,” Parker said.

“The cornea has been touched. I can’t do anything for seven days. … But I was lucky. The injury won’t prevent me from competing the Olympics in any way.”

— Reported by the Associated Press

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Jay-Z will open 40/40 club in Brooklyn Nets Barclays center

Jay-Z and his 40/40 club are taking full advantage of the Nets move to Brooklyn, and doing it in style.

The 40/40 Club will open its new location at the Barclays Center, the new sports and entertainment venue and home to the Brooklyn Nets.  The $1 billion arena will house the 9,000 square-foot restaurant slated to debut on the arena’s opening night when Jay-Z performs in concert on September 28, 2012.

“There is no better home for another 40/40 Club location than the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn,” stated Jay-Z.  “The 40/40 Club has revolutionized restaurants in a way I anticipate Barclays Center to transform the arena watching experience.”

Located on the Barclays Brownstone Suite Level, The 40/40 Club will feature key materials and design concepts from its newly renovated New York City flagship location, including the custom illuminated amber resin bar top.  The design for the space is by SHoP Architects with consultation from designer Jeffrey Beers to ensure a consistent look and feel with the flagship venue.  The new location in Barclays Center will feature 36 TVs, including eight 80’’ TVs on the outside of the bar soffit, and will also offer great views of the basketball court.

“The 40/40 Club at Barclays Center will provide a dynamic environment to complement the experience of attending Brooklyn Nets games and other select events,” said Barclays Center and Brooklyn Nets CEO Brett Yormark. “The 40/40 Club will deliver the best in service and cuisine, while creating a vibe fitting for such a spectacularly designed venue.”

Sounds like the Nets will keep the party going both before and after games.

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Lottery team may have made Dion Waiters a draft promise

The intrigue here at the NBA pre-draft combine involved Syracuse guard Dion Waiters essentially going underground once he completed the weights-and-measures process.

Waiters, a 6-4 combo guard with a knack for making pressure jump shots, suddenly cancelled workouts and interviews, setting off speculation he’s been made a promise by a team with a lottery pick.

Toronto Raptors general manager Bryan Colangelo (8th pick) confirmed as much to the Toronto Star, saying, “His agent has told me there’s a promise to another team.”

Certainly everyone has the right to decide what’s in his best interest, but it’s curious that a player seemingly outside the top five wouldn’t want as much exposure as possible.

— Reported by Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer

Deron Williams to Lakers not likely

deron williams

Will Lamar Odom join the Lakers? Probably not. What about Deron Williams? Ditto.

Lakers fans won’t want to hear it, but their off-season remodeling project remains as difficult as ever.

Williams, a likely free agent this summer and one of the NBA’s top point guards, was cognizant of the Lakers’ limited purchasing power. They have very little to spend on free agents because they are so far over the luxury-tax threshold. Their biggest tool is the $3-million “mini” mid-level exception.

“I know they don’t have any money to just go out and sign me. It’ll have to be some kind of [trade],” Williams said Wednesday at the E3 Expo, where he promoted the video game “NBA Baller Beats.”

Williams, 27, has a player option for $17.8 million next season with New Jersey. He averaged 21 points and 8.8 assists this season.

— Reported by Mike Bresnahan and Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Times

Philadelphia 76ers may chase Kris Humphries

kris humphries

If the Sixers do agree to let Elton Brand walk under the NBA’s amnesty clause, they will be in position to add a power forward from the crop of potential free agents in the 2012 class. Amnesty allows a team to pay a player his salary – something even wealthy team owners don’t look upon favorably – while it comes off the team’s salary cap.

The power forward who has risen to the top of that list is believed to be New Jersey unrestricted free agent Kris Humphries. Just 27, the 6-9, 235-pound Humphries averaged 13.8 points and 11.0 rebounds for the Nets in the recently completed season.  He shot better than 48 percent from the field.

He is a very good offensive rebounder – something the Sixers sorely need – and he is an improving defender.

The Sixers will almost certainly have their name mentioned in connection with Humphries because, if Brand comes off the books, they’ll have plenty of cash below salary cap, which should be in the range of $58 million when it is determined later this summer.

— Reported by John Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Blog)

Jason Kidd not retiring from NBA yet

jason kidd

As would befit a 39-year-old point guard who just finished posting 16 points, a game-best eight assists and seven rebounds in a key playoff game, Jason Kidd isn’t ready to hang up his sneakers.

“I’ll land somewhere early, I would think,” Kidd said regarding his upcoming free agency.

He’s heard everything from going home to Oakland to play with Golden State to backing up Deron Williams — wherever it is that Williams ends up playing. That seems likely to be either in Brooklyn with the Nets or in Dallas with the Mavericks.

Kidd said he essentially will try to help recruit Williams as a free agent this summer. He could envision himself next season as Williams’ backup.

— Reported by Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News

UNC basketball hires Hubert Davis as assistant coach

Former University of North Carolina guard, 12-year NBA veteran and ESPN analyst Hubert Davis is the Tar Heels’ newest assistant men’s basketball coach, head coach Roy Williams announced today.

Davis has spent the past seven years with ESPN as a highly regarded college basketball analyst and co-host of College GameDay. He is replacing Jerod Haase, who spent nine years on Williams’ staff at Carolina prior to being named the head coach at UAB.

“I am very excited, thankful and honored to re-join the Carolina basketball program as an assistant to Coach Williams,” says Davis. “I loved being a part of college basketball during my time at ESPN by attending practices and games and developing relationships with players and coaches. Now I will have the opportunity to do this on a more personal level at a university and with a basketball program that I have loved my entire life.”

The Burke, Va., native played in 137 games as a Tar Heel from 1988-92, during which time UNC went 102-37, won the 1989 and 1991 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournaments and played in the 1991 Final Four. He scored 1,615 points, an average of 11.8 per game, and holds the UNC record for career three-point percentage at .435 (197 of 453). He scored in double figures 80times, had 23 games with 20 or more points, including 25 against Kansas in the 1991 national semifinals.

Davis averaged 21.4 points and earned second-team All-ACC honors as a senior. He scored in double figures in 32 of 33 games that season, including 20 games with 20 or more points and 30 or more in four games. He netted a career-high 35 points at Duke on March 8, 1992.

As a junior, Davis made 64 of 131 three-pointers, a percentage of .489 that is second-best in UNC history. He shares the UNC single-game record for three-pointers, as he made eight at Florida State as a senior.

“I am ecstatic to announce that Hubert Davis will be joining our program as an assistant coach to replace Jerod Haase,” says Williams. “Jerod was phenomenal as a player and assistant and I am elated that I can fill this spot with Hubert. I helped recruit him to Carolina in 1988, coached him in the World University Games in 1991 and have always admired him on and off the court. I knew the day would eventually come when I would need to replace staff members as they moved on. For the last four or five years Hubert has alwaysbeen on my mind in case a spot did come open. I didn’t know if I could get him to come back, but I knew I wanted him to be the first option. Coaching is about teaching, relationships and passion and I feel Hubert is the perfect choice. Our student-athletes will benefit greatly from what he adds to our staff.

“I really was overjoyed by the interest from former players and I knew I wanted the hire to be a former Tar Heel. I considered several current college coaches as well as people wanting to get into college coaching – it was a fabulous group. Guys like Shammond Williams are not in college coaching now, but is going to be great when his time comes. We also had interest from NBA assistants, so it truly was a diverse group, but Hubert is taking the job and I know all former Tar Heels will be extremely happy.

“Again, I am ecstatic to make this announcement and look forward to working with Hubert. My entire staff and team are excited about Hubert and his family being with us.”

The New York Knicks selected Davis in the first round of the 1992 NBA Draft. He played in 12 seasons in the NBA, scoring 5,583 points, an average of 8.2 per contest. He made 728 three-point field goals and prior to the 2011-12 season was third in NBA history in three-point percentage at .441.

— UNC Basketball Info