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Would Donnie Consider Looking Across the River?

by Chris Alvino on July 17th, 2008 at 11:52 pm

While not as rare as the Mets making a trade with the Yankees, trades between the Nets and the Knicks are few and far between. Despite this, if a deal were to be struck between the two teams, I would not be shocked in the least bit.

The Nets are desperate for guard depth. Behind Harris and Carter, the Nets are pretty thin with Marcus Williams as the back-up point and not much beyond him (unless CDR makes the team). The Nets have signed Jarvis Hayes this off-season, but he is more of a 3 than a shooting guard.

One reason why the Nets are thin in the front court is because they have more than half of their roster spots tied up in bigs that can rotate at the 4 and the 5. Let me try and name them:

Josh Boone
Sean Williams
Eduardo Najera
Yi Jianlian
Stromile Swift……

Let me catch my breath….. okay…

Brook Lopez
Ryan Anderson
Nenad Kristic (a restricted FA whom the Nets can sign and trade to another team).

I think that is all of them. Do the Nets really need all of those guys on their team? Certainly not when they have other holes to fill.

That is where the Knicks can come into play. The Knicks, unlike the Nets, do not have a legit backup center who can come in an rebound and defend. The Knicks came into the off-season with three major needs: 1) a shot-blocker, 2) a true point, and 3) more shooters. With the drafting of Gallo and the signings of Duhon and Roberson (if he ever gets off the inactive list), the Knicks have taken a step forward in filling at least two of their holes.

Now I know that some fans will not agree with me on this, but I consider Nate Robinson tradable, even with Coach Mike’s new system that is geared for a player like Nate. Because of this, I would consider trading Nate to the Nets in return for Sean Williams and Marcus Williams, who is reportedly on the trading block.

Given that D’Antoni apparently loves Nate according to Alan Hahn, I doubt that Walsh would trade him unless it was to get rid of Randolph’s contract. But the trade I mentioned above would give us a budding defensive star at the center spot and a potential solid back-up point under the tutelage of D’Antoni.

Reports have stated that the Nets, who have more than 15 guaranteed contracts already, are looking to make a 2-for-1 or 3-for-2 deal to shed contracts off of their roster. Nate Robsinson is the type of player that they need, and given the fact that he will be a restricted FA next year and might command a sizeable contract extension from the Knicks, it should not be out of the question for the Knicks to deal him for young, promising players to fill holes.

As an aside, the New York Daily News reported this morning that the Nets tried to get Marcus Camby. I guess they don’t have enough defensive centers on their team already. But anyway, apparently the Nets were willing to trade Nenad Kristic, Marcus Williams, and Josh Boone for him. My response is that they can easily have Curry for that package. That is actually a lie. It would be difficult for the Nets to be that stupid.

I am curious to read what everyone thinks about my perhaps far-fetched idea. I am not saying that the scenario I mentioned above would be ideal for either team, but it would not be bad either. Or would it?

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About Chris Alvino

Chris Alvino grew up in Crestwood, NY. He graduated from Regis High School in 2005. There he played both basketball and baseball. Chris is currently a student at Boston College, where he practices with the varsity Women's Basketball Team (... seriously). Chris has been a Knicks' fan for years and can literally talk about them all day long, every day of the week. Chris enjoys writing on this blog and seeing what everyone out there has to say about it. View all posts by Chris Alvino →
  • reddog2669

    keep nate and let him excel in this system. it looks like walsh is going to let D’Antoni prop some players value before trading them. Though did you say Nate for Sean Williams and Marcus Williams? Would the Nets do that?

  • Chris Alvino

    Reddog- To be honest, this was just a hypothetical. They have such a glut of young big men that they would most likely trade from that surplus to get a guard. Marcus Williams is on the block, reportedly. I kind of just paired two of them together. Also, I really like Sean Williams and have followed him throughout his college career at Boston College. Before he got thrown off the team, he was really becoming a serious force, averaging 5 blocks per game as a junior. Last year in a game, he had 8 blocks. I do not know if the Nets would deal him for Nate, but we can’t give Nate away. The Nets would have to give to get.

    That said, the Nets can also look to deal with the Grizzlies, who have a logjam at the point. Maybe Josh Boone for Javaris Crittenton. Or maybe the Rockets would be a match, with them being able to deal Aaron Brooks for Sean Williams.

    Like I said above, there are most likely other trades that both teams can make with their respective players that might be better fits. I just wanted to throw this one out there.

  • philey

    I can see the argumet, but can’t agree.

    1, on the hypothetical that the Nets would even consider this trade w/o asking for David Lee and/or a draft pick (I do not believe Nate’s value is this high), would Walsh really bite at this deal?
    You yourself mentioned Walsh to be a North Carolina man, priding himself on character. And especially after the debacle that was the Pacers or Jailblazers 2.0, would he even sniff at taking not one, but two risky character guys? Obviously both Marcus and Sean Williams have at least kept a low enough profile, but I just don’t see Walsh taking on more character risk after his experience in Indiana.
    **by the way, I think Sean Williams is a force on D, but would he fit into D’antoni’s system? Would his value be that much more valuable in the Knicks system?

    2, I’d rather offer this scenario: what if the Knicks could some how turn Randolph into Camby? The Clippers would interested before, would they still be interested now? Not only is Camby beloved in NY, he is cap friendly (with only two years left) and is a shot blocking force, along with a reliable 15 foot jumpshot. Just a thought. I would even throw in Nate Robinson, since the Clippers are thin at the guard spot as well.

  • Arputter

    I don’t think Nate has that much value…anytime getting him would only get him for one year before signing him and he really isn’t as good as either of the Williams’. I think maybe we could do that deal for Lee. That makes some sense because I believe they both have two more years and then we could re-sign them after bringing in one of the big time free agents if we like what we have.

  • wjchin

    In this hypothetical trade, of course I would endorse it, and if it were offered, Walsh would bite. However, there is absolutely no reason why the Nets should accept this trade. First of all, this does pretty much nothing in terms of adding guard depth for them, as they trade away their primary backup. And to be honest, I think if M. Williams played on a team as bad as the Knicks were last year, he would have posted similar numbers (I would imagine fewer PPG, more APG and fewer turnovers). All this would do for the Nets would be to clear up a crowded front court, but S. Williams is just too good (with the potential to be better) to just give away. While I would not write off the Nets as trading partners if it helped the team win, I just fail to see a match (at least while matching salaries).

  • Loveofthegame05

    The nets would have to be blown away with a great offer to get rid of the promising Sean Williams. The guy is a athletic freak who could one day have game changing defensive presence. He is still a raw player but last year he showed flashes of some offensive ability.

    The nets believe if he can stay away from the mary jane and improve his work ethic then he could possibly become a force to be reckoned with