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To trade or not to trade? A tough decision on Vince Carter. By Sami Asad from WeaksideRejection
01.19.2009 - Updated on 01.19.2009
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A year ago on "Inside the NBA", Magic Johnson and Charles Barkley made a notion towards Vince Carter’s best days being behind him, citing his knees being shot from his high flying exploits above the rim.
A year later, Carter along with Devin Harris have formed one of the top backcourts in the league, while doing this for a team in unexpected playoff contention.
Carter, once questioned for his desire and maturity, was expected to want out of New Jersey this season. Instead, he’s assumed the leadership role and ran with it.
While all of this sounds positive, the fact remains of Vince not being 22 years old. He’s 32, and the Nets without him still have a solid core of Devin Harris and Brook Lopez.
What’s worth noting is Lopez’s play with Carter absent from the lineup. In a December 31st game against the Pistons, Vince Carter was ejected early in the game, making Lopez more of a focal point. Along with Devin Harris, the two would show a nice synergy on the pick and roll. All while it gave Lopez confidence to be more aggressive down on the block, resulting in frequent trips to the line. Lopez would finish with 23 points, 12 rebounds, and 2 blocks
The same could be said in the recent match up against the Boston Celtics. Boston simply blew the Nets out of the water for the second time in one week. The poor play resulted in Devin Harris and Vince Carter being benched early, while Brook Lopez stayed on the floor and continued to show his promise. He would finish with 28 points and 10 rebounds.
With a month to go until the trade deadline, Rod Thorn and Kiki Vandeweghe face a tough decision on whether to deal Vince Carter thinking he’s at his highest value. The Nets franchise is one of constantly losing money. Bribing fans with job opportunities in order to put butts in the Izod Center seats.
With the Nets in the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff contention, trading Vince Carter would be a very tough sell to the remaining fans at the Izod Center.
We Trust In Rod
Regardless of Kiki Vandeweghe having input on the situation, Rod Thorn has the final say on what deals get done. Nets fans should have confidence in Thorn’s ability to make a good trade, and not give in to any general manager.
It will take a package that includes at least one solid young player at the two guard position, coupled with cap flexibility.
Thorn, while faced with a tough decision, is also in a great position of leverage. If Thorn dislikes the offers he’s hearing, he can also fall back on the idea of "I want to see where this roster goes this season". Something he couldn’t say if the Nets were in the position of a team like the OKC Thunder.
A lot is going to ride on Carter’s performance in the next month. It would certainly behoove the Nets to make sure VC gets his shots. All it takes is a hot streak a week before the deadline to get a rival GM to pull the trigger on a deal.
Does anybody remember Mark Cuban?
Will Vince Carter be traded before the deadline? Will Rod and Kiki keep Carter on for a playoff run? Let us know in the box below. |
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Posted by
Nilla Shake
on 01.26.2009 | We Need Caron Butler. He’s the one thing that the nets are missing and need in order to be a top team in the East. if we got him, even if we lost Carter, we would have a great point guard, maybe an allstar shooting guard, an all star small forward, a great three point shooter, and a young, talented center. . | Posted by
melo boy
on 01.26.2009 | one thing to remember is carter is an all star. Developing players wont have a chance with him on the team. no offence but carters cold and wants to spark up again. back when the nets were good, he was good but now he was quiet . | Posted by
tommy k
on 01.23.2009 | do not trade carter, get Caron butler. carter, Harris, butler, Lopez, and yi. Caron is the spark the nets need, the enegy and talent that is lacked. Caron will rebuild the nets like Garnett rebuilt the Celtics. hayes, anderson, simmons, and even williams would be a descent bench with new look nets or some can be traded for butler. us long time net fans need another great player to root for and get excited about. butler would bring a whole new fan base just like yi. do what it takes to get butler . | Posted by
Osbourne Cox
on 01.20.2009 | Well, for the short term, it definetly would be better to keep Vince. At 32, he’s still in the best age, and finally mature enough to be a leader. Come playoff time, they will need a guy like him, a veteran who’s been around for some time now, who has the experience that a team needs to execute late in tight games. (I’m not saying he’s a clutch player though). With the current roster, they could be even capable of an upset in the playoffs. Just remember what the Hawks did last year with the C’s. The Nets could do similar, or maybe even better. And of course, there’s the fact, that Mr. Carter is a fan favourite, who still can get some bored fans into the arena.For the long term, I think, they should trade VC. If not before the deadline, then in the offseason this summer, hoping that his value will stay the same, and won’t decrease because of any incident that might happen. If they could get a young two-guard, who’s a solid or even good shooter from deep, a Ben-Gordon-like player, and maybe draft picks and/or some cash (which would be a help especially in these times) they definetly would benefit from it in like 2 years... so all in all, I think the Nets will keep him to see what happens in the playoffs, and if they get swept, Vince will wear some other jersey in 2009/2010. Greetz from Germany! . |
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