Nearing the End; Closer to Change

Many of you will get your wish tomorrow night. The Nets could officially, finally and mercifully be eliminated from the playoffs.

It would have been a great story if the Nets returned from this trip with something to play for, if the final games were meaningful. Any chance of that all but ended when the Nets had one of the worst fourth quarters I've ever seen and the worst one Devin Harris had ever experienced.

Bostjan Nachbar hit a three-pointer 29 seconds into the fourth. Who knew that would be the last basket the Nets would hit?

Over the next 11:30, they attempted 19 shots - jumpers, three-pointers, layups or dunks - and hit none of them. LeBron James scored more points in the last 4:23 than the Nets did in the last 14:15.

Everyone in the locker room remained upbeat despite the Nets' monumental collapse. They said they were trying, attacking, going hard to the basket and just didn't get any calls. That they didn't lay down - like they have other times this season.

I would tend to agree, but still you have to be dejected, emotionally and mentally spent after this. Only Harris, the new kid on the block, said what everyone has been thinking.

"We have problems everywhere," Harris said. "It's not just defensively. When you go 1-for-20 in a quarter, that's problems both ways. Obviously if you can't score and you can't stop anybody you're going to lose."

That's the Nets' season, the reason this group as constituted cannot take the floor in October. Of course, the Nets will have new faces via draft picks or free agency and could lose some of their own: Nachbar, DeSagana Diop or Nenad Krstic.

But the only way they will change greatly is if they change the core and that means Vince Carter, Harris or Richard Jefferson. As some of us wrote today, Jefferson is the one the Nets will look to move first. for many reasons.

One is he's proven he can play all 82 games and score the ball better than he ever has. So maybe that will raise his trade value. Another reason is the Nets won't win if they're three best players all play on the perimeter. The experiment is over.

Another, and the Nets will never admit this, but this is my feeling, you're not going to win when Jefferson is your No. 1 option. He's not even one of the top five small forwards in the East. I rank in no order Paul Pierce, Andre Iguodala, LeBron James, Hedo Turkoglu and Caron Butler ahead of Jefferson, and I may be missing someone.

Carter's contract and his ability to carry a team make him valuable to the Nets, so I expect him back.

They're not going to trade Harris, the point guard they acquired for Jason Kidd, unless somehow the Nets wind up in the top three in the draft and have the opportunity to take a Derrick Rose. What they probably will do, however, is look to move backup Marcus Williams, instead.

Comments

[Jeff]

This team and franchise needs a fresh start. I say move Carter and Jefferson and make Harris the face of this franchise along with whoever they get in those trades. This franchise needs to be fumigated, just like the Knicks. Hand over he keys to Harris and Kiki and lets see what they do with it.