Nets passed on Jermaine deal

BY JULIAN GARCIA
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

Monday, July 16th 2007, 4:00 AM

On June 28, the night of the NBA draft, Nets president Rod Thorn said he had received several "interesting" trade offers, one of which, according to sources, was a blockbuster that would have sent Richard Jefferson, Nenad Krstic and Jason Collins to the Pacers for Jermaine O'Neal.

Now, it appears the odds of the Nets making a major deal before the season begins in November are growing slim. Thorn said none of the trades he discussed with other executives just weeks ago are likely to happen, for now.

"They're all dead," Thorn said of the trade talks.

The O'Neal trade discussions could resume again but the Nets have already added a big man to their roster who is expected to make a major impact. After Mikki Moore signed with Sacramento on Friday night, they signed free agent center Jamaal Magloire on Saturday. Magloire is a one-time All-Star who averaged 13.6 points and 10.3 rebounds in 2003-04 with the Hornets. Magloire averaged 6.5 points and 6.1 rebounds last year for Portland.

If Magloire comes close to matching those numbers this season, the Nets could be a major force in the East. Krstic, whom Moore replaced in the starting lineup after Krstic tore his ACL last December, is expected back before the season begins.

The Nets' next move likely will be adding a reliable shooting guard. Eddie House, who had an injury-plagued season for the Nets last year, is a free agent and there's a good chance the team won't re-sign him.

This just in: The Nets are foolish.

Don't they understand that Jason Kidd is old and VC is no spring chicken? Even if they didn't look out through a closing window, are they really going to be building around Nenad Kristic and RJeff? C'mon Nets, get with it. Kidd, VC, and JO would be pretty vicious in that division. If they made some good moves they could trot out a pretty solid lineup:

Kidd/M Williams
VC/Somebody
A Wright/ B Robinson
Boone/S Williams
JO/Magloire

They could sure up their swingman positions by throwing money at a guy like Posey or one of the other FA wingers out there. But it looks like they are going to build around Kirstic instead. Good luck with that.

Thunder wrote:This just in: The Nets are foolish.

Don't they understand that Jason Kidd is old and VC is no spring chicken?

HAHA


By doing that trade, the Nets would be letting go any hope of a bright future which they think they have with RJ and TheNad but really don't for Jermaine. Would be one of the best trios ever but injuryprone somewhat all of them. They were crazy not to go for it

They can't really believe RJ is their future. He's good, but he's not the answer when Kidd and Carter leave. Kristic is nice, but look who will replace him... Jermaine O'Neal. Collins is nothing more than a "throw-in". This would've been a great deal for the Nets. They'd be up there with Detroit, Miami(maybe), and Cleveland.

As everybody else said, I also think the Nets are gonna regret not making this trade. They are in a perfect position to be a contender in the east... and seems like they don't want to be one.

Fools.

Richard Jefferson for Jermaine O'Neal? That should be automatic.