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When the Nets' brass said last month that it would be satisfied with the status quo with regard to the team's nucleus, the hoop gods or lottery fairies must have been listening.

The Nets opened the 2008 NBA Draft Lottery last night in the No. 10 slot and finished that way after all the pingpong balls stopped bouncing, while another long shot -- the Chicago Bulls, who had a 1.7 percent chance of winning the big prize -- came away with the first pick in the June 26 draft.

Continue reading "Nets in search of a perfect 10" »

Rod Thorn, a tad too modest to admit that he is a master poker devotee, understands odds.

So let one thing be clear if a 100-to-1 long shot comes through for him tonight: Should he and the Nets be lucky enough to land one of the top three picks in the NBA Draft lottery, Thorn is going to grab his chips and cash out.

Because he knows he'll never beat the odds like this ever again.

Continue reading "Holding pattern for Nets" »

The Nets are shoring up the financing of their planned move to Brooklyn, with an estimated $100 million in sponsorship deals announced yesterday.

The new sponsors include Anheuser-Busch, Izod and Foxwoods Resort Casino, said Barry Baum, a spokesman for the team.

Continue reading "Nets say they have $100M in Brooklyn sponsorships" »

If the Nets have any covert plans to throw half the roster overboard and see which parts remain afloat, they're not ready to share such a bold strategy.

In fact, you get the distinct impression that they have an escalating affection for the status quo, with plans that include little more than re-signing their own free agents and developing the players currently on their 34-48 roster.

That's what Kiki Vandeweghe tried to peddle yesterday, when the Nets officially announced him as the team's new general manager, and while he probably knows that this is the least attractive option to his fan base, he may have said it for no other purpose than to protect or enhance his players' market value.

"Our main objective is we'd like to keep everybody," Vandeweghe said, referring specifically to free agents Nenad Krstic, Boki Nachbar and DeSagana Diop. "We like the guys we have, we like our free agents and we'd like to be able to keep them.

"The way the league is structured now, you've got so many young players you've got to focus on improving on the guys you got."

Continue reading "Kiki likes status quo as new Nets GM" »

EAST RUTHERFORD -- A man who accused Richard Jefferson of grabbing him by the throat in an incident in a Minneapolis club in January this year had too much to drink, the Nets forward said in a radio interview.

Speaking on Sirius satellite radio late Wednesday, Jefferson said he was attending a birthday party for teammate Vince Carter when he was approached in the hotel bar by an individual he described as "very rude and very disrespectful."

Continue reading "Jefferson disputes accuser" »

Born: Ernest Maurice Vandeweghe III, August 1, 1958 in Wiesbaden, Germany.

High School: Pacific Palisades (Cal.) H.S.

College: UCLA, reached NCAA Championship game in 1979; Rhodes Scholar finalist.

Pro: 13 seasons with Denver, Portland, New York,, L.A. Clippers; two-time All-Star.

Stats: 19.7 ppg (.525 FG%), 3.4 rpg, 2.1 apg in 810 career games.

Executive: GM, Denver (2001-06); Director of Player Development, Dallas (1999-2001); Special Assistant to the President, Nets (2007-08).

Mentors: Pete Newell, Jerry West, Paul Westphal, and Rod Thorn.

Father: Dr. Ernie Vandeweghe, former Knicks guard, sports physician.

Mother: Colleen Kay Hutchins, Miss America 1952.

Siblings: Sister, Heather, physician at UCLA Medical Center; sister, Tauna, two-sport Olympian; brother, Bruk, bronze medalist at 1994 Goodwill Games.

Uncle: Mel Hutchins, four-time NBA All-Star.

Personal: Married, father of five-year old son, settled in Denver.

Kiki Vandeweghe officially became Rod Thorn's likely heir apparent this afternoon, when the Nets announced that former Denver executive has been given a long-term contract with the title of general manager.

The deal is for four years at a slight wage increase from predecessor Ed Stefanski's old salary ($1.7 million), which will keep Vandeweghe in the organization two years past the expiration of Thorn's contract in 2010 - even though the venerable Nets president, who turns 67 in two weeks, has not given any indication that he is close to retirement.

Vandeweghe, 49, came aboard in late December as Thorn's special assistant, and was given much of the credit for engineering the trade that send Jason Kidd to Dallas for Devin Harris and three other players. He is also expected to be the chief strategist for next month's NBA draft, in which the Nets will pick around 10th and 21st.

But as for his long-term plans to improve a team that won only 34 games, Vandeweghe - who developed a strong reputation as a master re-builder as Denver GM -- was deliberately vague. He only stressed that he and his boss shared a common vision.

"I can tell you just making the playoffs is not where we want to be," Vandeweghe said. "Putting together a solution that just gets you to that place - unless it's a stepping-stone to being a championship-caliber team - is not an interesting solution. . . .

Continue reading "Kiki Stays Aboard" »

The lawyer representing Richard Jefferson characterized a minor assault charge on his client as bogus, and claims that the accuser of the Nets forward was "incredibly drunk" at the time of the altercation at a Minneapolis club last winter.

Defense attorney Joe Friedberg, who admittedly has had only one "cursory" discussion with Jefferson over the incident at the Graves Hotel, added the plaintiff's only motive is to set up a subsequent civil case for financial gain.

Continue reading "RJ's lawyer rebuts assault charge" »