HoopsHype.com Columns

Resurrecting a moribund franchise
by Ed Odeven / April 25, 2002

Rod Thorn pulled off a brilliant deal by acquiring Jason Kidd from the Phoenix Suns on July 18, 2001. Essentially, the Nets and Suns swapped point guards with Kidd leaving the Valley of the Sun for Jersey’s swamplands and Stephon Marbury heading west in a five-player trade.

Sure, fielding a healthy team played a significant role in the Nets’ dramatic turnaround, but the cornerstone of their successful season has been Captain Kidd, one of the league’s top 10 players. His team-first play, hustle and energy at both ends of the floor mean everything to his team.

By acquiring Kidd and letting Marbury, a flashy player but not a true leader at this stage of his career, Thorn made the smartest move of any hoops honcho during before or during the 2001-02 season.

The Nets responded with a 52-30 regular season, an Atlantic Division title and the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed. A year ago, the Nets went 26-56, a typical Nets' season. That was in Thorn’s first year with New Jersey. The year before he gave Nets fans hope for the future.

Other front-office personnel around the league deserve recognition for their stellar work this past season, too. They should also be considered for the Executive of the Year award:

- Detroit Pistons president Joe Dumars hired Rick Carlisle as coach. That move has paid off as players have responded to his brand of coaching and become one of the league’s better blue-collar teams and a team that thrives on playing defense. Furthermore, Dumars has given the Pistons a jolt of energy by acquiring Jon Barry to strengthen the bench. Dumars also added veteran forward Clifford Robinson in a trade with the Suns.

- Sacramento Kings vice president of basketball operations Geoff Petrie made two key offseason moves: re-signing franchise player Chris Webber and acquiring Mike Bibby to take over at point guard for Jason Williams. Both moves were key pieces to the puzzle for Sacramento.

- Dallas Mavericks coach/GM Don Nelson improved an already balanced, dangerous team by making a major trade with Denver, sending Juwan Howard, Tim Hardaway, Donnell Harvey and a first-round pick to the Mile High city for Nick Van Exel, Raef LaFrentz, Avery Johnson and Tariq Abdul-Wahad. Adding Van Exel and LaFrentz to the mix without giving up a lot proves that Nelson still has an eye for talent, a pulse on which players can succeed in his system.

The Suns, meanwhile, made some terrible moves this past season, moves that took away the team’s top player and severely decreased their levels of competitiveness, talent and experience. The aforementioned trade that brought Kidd to New Jersey is No. 1 on their list of gaffes for 2001-02. The others? Well, getting rid of a proven scorer and a versatile forward like Robinson didn’t help. Nor did the unloading of Rodney Rogers and Tony Delk to the Boston Celtics for Randy Brown, Joe Johnson and Milt Palacio. Milt who?

Other bad deals this season included:

- Getting aging veterans Hardaway and Howard did nothing to help Denver. It was a smart move for Nelson, but a bad move for the Nuggets. Van Exel was not happy in Denver, but losing him and LaFrentz takes away two capable, double-digit scorers and versatile guys who can be counted on to play 30-35 minutes every night.

- For a team that appeared to be on the rise, signing power forward Anthony Mason was a mistake for the Milwaukee Bucks. The team underachieved all season and Mason was a leader of that movement.

- For the New York Knicks, a team short on interior strength and toughness, acquiring Shandon Anderson and
Howard Eisley and parting with Glen Rice in the preseason three-way deal with Houston and Dallas was a
waste of time. Anderson and Eisley gave the Knicks two more small bodies, not the inside bangers they
desperately needed and still need.

Ed Odeven is a sportswriter for the Arizona Daily Sun and a contributing columnist to HoopsHype.com