Josh Newman, SNYNets.com

On Wednesday at PNY Center, the Nets will take a look at point guard Kris Rosales (Hope International), point guard Isaiah Canaan (Murray State), shooting guard Warren Niles (Oral Roberts), shooting guard Trevis Simpson (UNC-Greensboro), power forward Tyler Griffey (Illinois) and power forward Gregory Echenique (Creighton)

On Thursday, it will be point guard Trevin Parks (Johnson C. Smith), point guard Lamont ‘MoMo’ Jones (Iona), small forward Kevin Parrom (Arizona), small forward Jordan Aboudou (Chalon-Sur Soane), power forward Richard Howell (North Carolina State) and center Vander Joaquim (Hawaii).

Of the 12 players scheduled to appear in East Rutherford over the two days, Canaan is currently rated the highest, slotted as the No. 28 overall pick by DraftExpress. The Nets own the 22nd overall pick, but do not have a second-round selection as of now.

There are some local ties with these prospects. Echenique played one full season in 2008-09 at Rutgers before transferring to Creighton in January of 2010. He also starred for then-head coach Dan Hurley at St. Benedict’s Prep. The 6-foot-9, 260-pound Echenique’s inclusion in Wednesday’s workout was first reported by SNY.tv. 

Jones, the 2013 MAAC Player of the Year, and Parrom both hail from the Bronx. Jones spent part of his high school career at now-defunct Rice High School, while Parrom spent three seasons at St. Raymond’s High School before finishing his prep career at South Kent School in Connecticut.

Jones, whose inclusion on Thursday was first reported by SNY.tv, has a busy week ahead. As of now, he is scheduled to workout for the Boston Celtics on Wednesday, the Nets on Thursday and the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday Monday. He previously worked out for the Washington Wizards on June 7.

Josh Newman is SNYNets.com’s Field Reporter. Follow him on Twitter for up to the minute news and banter on all things related to the Brooklyn Nets and the NBA

Rogers previously worked as an assistant coach with the Nets for two seasons from 2008-10 and also served as an advance scout.

Kidd also remains hopeful that Lawrence Frank will join him as an assistant coach as well, but the team is still waiting to hear from him.

Reblogged from ZagsBlog.com:

By JOSH NEWMAN
Special to ZAGSBLOG

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - The fact that Jamal Olasewere put together a tremendous resume consisting of individual and team accolades over four years at LIU-Brooklyn is indisputable.

The 1,490 points, 110 games played, three NEC championships, three NCAA Tournament appearances and the 2013 NEC Player of the Year as a senior are all a part of the 6-foot-7 small forward's legacy, but can the resume and the game he has cultivated help deliver him to an NBA roster?

Read more… 403 more words

Reblogged from ZagsBlog.com:

By JOSH NEWMAN
Special to ZAGSBLOG

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - When Nurideen Lindsey played basketball at Overbrook High School, the alma mater of Wilt Chamberlain, he says he did so not with visions of becoming a professional, but because he wanted to stay off the streets. That, plus one other very good reason.

"I never had any idea that I would be working out for an NBA team," Lindsey told SNY.tv after working out for the Nets.

Read more… 474 more words

If Watson opts out of the second year as expected, he will become an unrestricted free-agent on July 1.

This has been out there already, but league source confirmed that C.J. Watson will opt out and become a UFA, but could possibly return #Nets

—
Mike Mazzeo (@MazzESPN) June 13, 2013

Moke Hamilton, SNYNets.com

No surprise here. Watson is one of the league’s more productive backup point guards, in my opinion. Personally, I am a bit surprised that the Nets were able to sign him for a minimum deal last summer. I expect him to fetch more on the open market this summer, but time will tell.

One small correction should be made to Mazzeo’s account. Mazzeo cites his source as saying that the Nets can only offer Watson another minimum salary deal since they do not have his Bird rights. Half of that is true. Since Watson played only one season with the Nets, the team does not have his Bird rights or his “early” Bird rights. However, the Nets could use what is known as the “non-Bird” exception to re-sign Watson.

The non-Bird exception is available to a team that wishes to re-sign a player that is neither a Bird free-agent or non-Bird free-agent. Yes, it is somewhat confusing, but we saw the exact same situation with the New York Knicks and J.R. Smith last summer.

Using the exception would allow the Nets to re-sign Watson for a four-year deal worth a total of $6.1 million. Watson would be eligible for a first-year salary of $1.43 million, which is actually 20 percent higher than what his minimum salary would be. It may not seem like a major difference, but once the agents and front office people crunch the numbers, the Nets may have a little advantage here.

The biggest issue with Watson is playing time. He sees himself as a fairly productive player and may want some assurance from coach Jason Kidd that he will be given adequate playing time if he is to re-sign. Let’s see how this one plays out.

The Nets currently own the 22nd overall pick in this month’s draft—scheduled for Thursday, June 27. For the first time, the draft will be held at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.

Here are the invited prospects:

1. Mark Lyons, 6’2″ point guard from Arizona.
2. Nurideen Lindsay, 6’3″ combo guard from Rider.
3. Jamal Olasewere, 6’7″ small forward from Long Island University.
4. C.J. Leslie, 6’9″ small forward from North Carolina State.
5. Tony Mitchell, 6’8″ power forward from North Texas.
6. Keith Rendleman, 6’8″ power forward from UNC Wilmington.

For what it’s worth, Yahoo! Sports published an updated mock draft on Thursday, and of the six prospects invited to New Jersey for the workout, only Tony Mitchell is expected to be drafted in the first round. Yahoo! has him going to the Utah Jazz with the 21st overall pick.

Josh Newman, SNYNets.com

Doing a media tour following Kidd’s introduction as the franchise’s 18th NBA head coach, General Manager Billy King told Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts of WFAN on Friday morning that Kidd would coach the Nets’ entrant in the Orlando Summer League, which runs July 7-12 at the Magic’s practice facility, Amway Center.

Ten teams will play five games in six days beginning July 7, which will close with Kidd’s unofficial coaching debut against the Detroit Pistons at 5 p.m.

Rarely, if ever, does a team’s head coach lead a summer league squad, but King and Kidd are dealing with a special set of circumstances.

Kidd was hired late Wednesday evening and was done so without any previous coaching experience. The future Hall of Fame point guard retired on June 3 after 19 mostly brilliant seasons, the last of which came as a member of the Knicks. His coaching the summer league team will allow him to gain some experience sitting in the lead chair before training camp opens on October 1 at PNY Center in East Rutherford.

The summer league roster is not set yet and the only confirmed participant is second-year forward Kris Joseph. The 6-foot-7 former Syracuse star was called up from the D-League’s Springfield Armor, signed to a 10-day contract on April 2 and signed for the remainder of the season on April 12. He appeared in four regular season games for the Nets as a rookie.

Among other topics covered on Friday morning, King believes that backup point guard C.J. Watson will decline his $1.1 million player option for next season and hit the open market as an unrestricted free agent. The possibility of Watson returning exists, but King said he and Kidd have already discussed ideas for a replacement. Watson averaged 6.8 points in 19 minutes per game over 80 contests in his first year with the Nets.

Aside from Deron Williams, the only other point guard on the roster beyond Watson is Tyshawn Taylor, who just completed his rookie season and will more than likely be on the summer league roster.

Josh Newman is SNYNets.com’s Field Reporter. Follow him on Twitter for up to the minute news and banter on all things related to the Brooklyn Nets and the NBA

Jim Mancari, SNYNets.com

You get the Brooklyn Nets, of course.

With Jason Kidd taking over as the 18th head coach in Nets’ history, it was inevitable that several questions from his introductory press conference would focus on Brooklyn’s All-Star point guard Deron Williams.

This is a relationship that will be closely dissected during Kidd’s first season as head coach. Williams will be a huge factor in whether this experiment works out.

“I have a lot to learn about coaching, but when I played the game, I felt like I was the extension of the coach,” Kidd said. “Now I look to Deron to be that guy.”

Williams appears eager to learn from his new 10-time NBA All-Star head coach.

“The goal is to be an extension of him and learn from him,” Williams said. “I think his leadership is definitely something I can learn from and improve in, and I look forward to doing it.”

Kidd will rely on Williams to be the coach on the floor. As fellow point guards, Kidd will put his trust in Williams—who Kidd kept calling one of the best point guards in the league.

“It starts with your leader, and when you look at Deron…that is your best player, and also he’s the one that is going to relay the message as much as the guys who are hearing me talking.”

But wait just a second? Wasn’t Avery Johnson a point guard as well? Why didn’t he and Williams connect?

And think about the similarities between Kidd and Johnson.

Kidd played 19 years in the NBA, and Johnson was right up there with 16 seasons. Both became head coaches at the age of 40 the year after retirement, though Johnson was at first an assistant with the Dallas Mavericks in 2005 before head coach Don Nelson resigned during that season. Finally, each player won one championship: Johnson in 1999 with the Spurs and Kidd in 2011 with the Mavericks.

But here’s the thing: While Johnson was certainly a talented NBA player, Kidd is arguably a top-five point guard to ever play the game—he is rightfully mentioned along names like Magic Johnson, John Stockton, Oscar Robertson and Bob Cousy.

As a former All-Star himself, Kidd can relate to Williams on a level that Johnson was unable to. And although Johnson was a point guard on an NBA championship team, he was never his team’s best player. He was never the focus of an opposing team’s scouting report. He never had to deal with the day-in, day-out scrutiny or pressure that comes with being a franchise player.

Kidd has and that, along with his well-renowned personal relationship with Williams, will help him connect with Williams in a way few other coaches—including Brian Shaw—would have been able.

“I have no problem taking directions from him,” Williams said. “He’s one of the smartest to ever play this game. We’ve had a lot of great conversations over the years.”

Williams said he was caught off guard when he heard the news that Kidd had been named head coach. Though they played against each often—Williams with the Jazz and Kidd with the Mavericks—the two developed a close relationship while playing for Team USA as part of the “Redeem Team” that took home the gold medal in Beijing in 2008. Kidd served as a reserve point guard to Williams and Chris Paul.

“He was a guy that I was ready to pass the torch to because I saw myself in him in the sense that he was a guy that can fill up the stats sheet,” Kidd said about befriending Williams. “He loves the competition. He works extremely hard, so that’s where it all started.”

Now, it continues.

Kidd mentioned a few times that he would like to use his players in different positions so that Williams is not the only one taking the ball up the court. He mentioned Joe Johnson and Gerald Wallace as alternatives, with the goal to pass the ball ahead and run as much as possible.

“I think Gerald can be easily a point-forward because of the talent,” Kidd said. “He’s athletic, he understands how to play.”

Williams agreed that ball movement is key.

“If you look at the teams that have won championships the last 10 years, I don’t think many of them thrive on just one-on-one basketball,” Williams said. “It’s about ball movement. It’s about sharing the basketball, having fun and playing.”

While it seems like a match made in heaven, the dynamic between Kidd and Williams will take time to evolve. It will be a learning experience for both parties, and both must be patient and listen to each other.

“I was a player, and I felt like I could do everything,” Kidd said. “So it’s always going to be where we can communicate, and we can agree to disagree sometimes. That’s what a coach understands, too.”

But what is most important is that Kidd already has the respect of Williams—his star player.

“I think it’s huge brining back one of the best players, arguably the best player ever to play in a Nets uniform,” Williams said. “To now have him as your coach, he’s already the face of the franchise. I think it’s an exciting time for everybody.”

Now the duo needs to get to work to develop their chemistry and means of communication. It’s not going to happen overnight, but it will be fun to watch how these two All-Stars mesh.

Hopefully, for Nets fans, Williams, with Kidd, can help to lead the franchise to higher heights. Just like Kidd did back when he became a Net for the first time.

Now, in his return, Kidd hopes to replicate the success he had the first time around. He traded his ankle tape for a whiteboard and has traded Richard Jefferson for Williams.

One way or another, the Brooklyn Nets became a lot more interesting—and probably a lot better.

Jim Mancari is a Contributor to SNYNets.com. Follow him on Twitter @JMMancari.

Moke Hamilton, SNYNets.com

Hello, Brooklyn.

Hello, Coach Kidd.

When Kidd was introduced as the 18th head coach in Nets franchise history and the first head coach hired by the Brooklyn Nets, he thanked Billy King for the opportunity.

But months before that—months before he says he even imagined retiring from the game and walking into a head coaching job—Kidd told the world about someone else he thanked.

Nets head coach, Jason Kidd

It was February 27, and Brooklyn native Mark Jackson was visiting Madison Square Garden for the first time as a head coach. Jackson, who coached his Warriors to a win in Brooklyn earlier in the season, was admittedly nervous about making his coaching debut in an arena that he had played in as a high school student, college player at New York’s Saint John’s University, and NBA Rookie of the Year as a member of the New York Knicks.

“When we played Mark [Jackson] in New York, I went up to him before the game and I said ‘thank you,’” Kidd said.

“He did give guys an opportunity to kinda crack the door open for guys who are playing to be able to go into coaching because of the success that he’s had.”

Indeed, Jackson cracked the door. But together, Billy King and Jason Kidd kicked it down.

Kidd, then a New York Knick, announced his retirement on June 3. A mere 10 days later, he was introduced as the full-time successor to Avery Johnson.

The move was a major surprise and a major risk. It is one that Kidd says came up in a casual conversation with his agent, Jeff Schwartz. According to Kidd, Schwartz made initial contact with King after he and Kidd decided to seek bench opportunities for the Hall-of-Famer.

The rest, as they say, is history.

And history is what Kidd hopes to make in Brooklyn.

Billy King and Jason Kidd

“It’s an exciting day for the Brooklyn Nets to have a chance to introduce Jason Kidd as our next head coach,” King said.

“When this process started, in talks with Mikhail [Prokhorov] and ownership, we were looking for a coach that’s gonna bring leadership, that can help build us to where we want to get to and show us the direction to help our players compete. We really wanted to resemble Brooklyn—somebody who plays hard and teaches hard for the guys to play hard.”

“And Jason had everything that we were looking for.”

Apparently, then, one thing that King was not looking for was a winning track record as a head coach.

And you know what?

Good for him.

NBA front offices are so often full of conservative executives and basketball people who are so afraid of making a mistake that we rarely see bold and courageous risks. Kidd’s hiring comes as a complete shock to most because of the coaching culture that has permeated the league. The retread coach is the norm. The carousel is regular. The mold is the rule.

But rules, as they say, are meant to be broken.

Or, in this case, shattered.

Any player that has ever played with Kidd will attest to his being a great teammate and a leader on the floor. If there is one major challenge that he will face, it will be more about his personality than his basketball acumen.

To succeed in this league, a head coach needs to be fiery and passionate. Charisma, presence, command—it’s all necessary. But those are qualities that can be developed. Kidd is a man of few words. He comes across as quiet and gentle. He seems introverted.

But what Kidd does have is something that is much more difficult to attain. He has the universal respect of the league’s players for what he did, as a player.

An NBA champion and one of the greatest to ever do it, every player in the NBA has seen Kidd compete on the floor. They have seen Kidd leave it on the floor, and this past season, they literally saw him walk away only after it became apparent that there was nothing left for him to give.

Today’s generation of NBA players know Jason Kidd. And the next generation of NBA coaches—Monty Williams, Jacque Vaughn, Aaron McKie and Tyronn Lue—are all players who can connect with and relate to their players in a way that George Karl, Mike Dunleavy, Larry Brown and Lionel Hollins may not be able to.

But what Kidd has going for him, perhaps above all, is the diverse perspective of a player who has played point guard for and succeeded under a vast array of NBA head coaches that include Cotton Fitzsimmons, Danny Ainge, Scott Skiles, Byron Scott, Lawrence Frank, Avery Johnson, Rick Carlisle and Mike Woodson.

And under each of them, Kidd enjoyed team success, having made the playoffs in all but his first two seasons as an NBA professional. That last time one of Kidd’s NBA team’s seasons ended after just 82 games was April 1996. Bob Dole was gearing up for a run at the White House and Michael Jordan was leading his team to a 72-10 season.

Kidd has been there and he has done that. For 19 years. That is his trump card and he will play it with his players the same way he played it with Billy King.

Kidd is a winner and that will not stop now.

From a marketing standpoint, the Kidd hire is a stroke of brilliance. The Knicks, at least for now, are the second most talked about team in the city. Ideally, the Nets would have wanted to hire a coach who would make a splash, one who was a proven winner and one who has won big, as a coach.

Two out of three ain’t bad.

(Photo: Brad Penner, USA TODAY Sports)

Yes, a stroke of brilliance. By hiring Kidd, King did exactly what Donnie Walsh nearly did for Knicks fans back in the Summer of 2008 when he came very close to hiring Mark Jackson as the team’s head coach—he loudly proclaimed the Nets to be a franchise, of the fans, for the fans.

“Excited” would be an understatement.

Sure, there is no guarantee that this will work. There is no guarantee that Kidd will replicate the success of Mark Jackson. In fact, statistically, chances are, he is much more likely to end up like Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas—two other Hall-of-Fame point guards who did mediocre jobs, at best, of coaching the Los Angeles Lakers and Indiana Pacers, respectively.

“Chance are,” at least.

One other things about chances, though… They are rare. Especially in this league.

Rod Thorn took a chance on trading Stephon Marbury for Kidd back in 2001. That worked out quite well.

This is an opportunity Kidd has been preparing for.

Yes, chances, especially in today’s NBA, are quite rare. But anyone around the league will tell you, if you are going to roll the dice, there are few better to roll it on than a proven winner like Kidd.

“We’re gonna grow together and that’s what’s gonna make this special,” Kidd said.

Yes, there is a chance that this will be special. Only a chance. But with Kidd, and for the Nets, this is a chance well taken.

Josh Newman, SNYNets.com

That USA squad included a still-improving Jason Kidd, who had just finished his fifth season in the NBA. A relationship grew from there and as the years went on, King got to know and observe Kidd, eventually concluding that the future Hall of Fame point guard was a hard worker and had the attributes that would eventually make him a successful coach.

Nearly 14 years after that first meeting, King, now the General Manager of the Nets, sat on a makeshift stage on the Barclays Center concourse for one of the most important days of his career as an executive.

His introduction of Kidd as the 18th head coach in Nets NBA history caps a whirlwind week that didn’t see the former New Jersey Nets star turn into a legitimate candidate until the end of last weekend despite zero coaching experience.

“I now have the opportunity to share my experiences and help a team from a different seat,” Kidd said. “This is a great challenge and so I’m looking very forward to this.”

“Does he have a learning curve? Yes, but I think if you know Jason, he doesn’t just take something and say, “I want to be good at it,” he wants to be great,” King said.

Kidd, who led a previously wayward, dormant franchise to back-to-back NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003 and is generally considered the best player in the franchise’s NBA history, had visions of becoming a head coach as his career began to wind down with the Dallas Mavericks from 2007-12 and the Knicks this past season.

A conversation with his agent, Jeff Schwartz, at a wedding in Sea Island, Georgia took place recently. The topic turned to retirement and what Kidd would do with himself. Schwartz called around asking various teams if there were coaching opportunities and Kidd even received an email from Mavericks owner Mark Cuban asking if he wanted to come back and learn the business side of the NBA.

What ensued was a quick courtship after Indiana Pacers assistant coach Brian Shaw had emerged as the favorite for the job. Kidd and King met Monday about the head coaching position and by the time King met with Shaw on Wednesday morning, the wheels were already in motion to hire Kidd.

“I’m a rookie, I go from one of the oldest players in the league to now a rookie coach and so I’m very excited about this challenge,” Kidd said. “I think here in Brooklyn, we have a special opportunity to achieve that status and that is to be a championship-caliber team.”

Kidd praised good friend Deron Williams several times during the press conference, saying the franchise point guard is and needs to continue to be the leader of a roster that is built to win now. Williams is 28, Joe Johnson, 31 and Gerald Wallace, 30 as all three of those guys, plus budding 25-year old All-Star center Brook Lopez, are signed long-term.

Unless King can pull some offseason magic and get someone to take on the remaining three years and $30 million of Wallace’s deal via trade, this is the roster Kidd has to work with for better or worse.

If nothing else, Kidd sounded like he had a plan on Thursday. He wants this team, which was nothing short of a slow-tempo, methodical group last season, to push the ball more and get out in transition. He sees Wallace as something of a point-forward and would like to get even more out of Lopez. The bottom line is Kidd, a true visionary with the ball in his hands in his time in East Rutherford, would like to see more creativity and versatility from the roster.

“I think you have to start with structure, understanding we’re here to build something and for that, you have to have structure and it starts with your leader,” Kidd said. “You look at Deron, I think he is one of the best in the league at that. My message is gonna be simple. You have to play hard, you have to play defense and we’re gonna grow together. That’s what’s going to make this special.”

Josh Newman is SNYNets.com’s Field Reporter. Follow him on Twitter for up to the minute news and banter on all things related to the Brooklyn Nets and the NBA