Shareef Abdur-Rahim to the Nets!!!

[EGarrett]

Marc Stein at ESPN is reporting that Lawrence Frank flew out to Portland today for a long talk with Shareef Abdur-Rahim.

It's been said that Reef is willing to play for $5 million or so, which apparently matches the Net's cap room.

Considering that Shareef hates sharing the PF position with Zach Randolph, and he's never really been in a winning situation in his career, the chances of him going to the Nets next year are very high.

To review, their starting five next year would be:

C Krstic
PF Abdur-Rahim
SF Jefferson
SG Carter
PG Kidd

That would be a fantastic line-up. Shareef is in the prime of his career at 28, and he puts up around 20 and 10 when he plays PF.

The question is...would this Nets team be BETTER than the old line-up, that went to 6 games in the NBA Finals? (Collins, Martin, Jefferson, Kittles, Kidd)

...and would this team be the best team in the East?

I answer yes on both accounts. But then again I'm a Nets homer.

[iG®]

That would be great if it happens. Maybe even the best line up in the league.

[End Boss]

I really like the idea of having sheef over all the other options.. he's a proven contributor and has the least associated risk.. plus with the nets we're basically looking at a run with kidd and then another rebuilding phase.. kidd gave us 2 visits to the finals so it was a gg run but he's worth holding on to coz they can still go all the way.. sheef is ready now, and if we're to fully capitalise on kids remaining time then we need to strike now

I think the starting lineup with sheef beats the snot out of the old lineup (mostly because of carter) although it may have some chemistry issues.. any issues between jefferson and vc probably haven't had a chance to play themselves out yet.. although both can shoot and penetrate (hopefully vc doesnt feel the need to push even further out... the man needs to penetrate more)..

nj + sheef still has size issues and doesn't have the depth of the finals contender nj of olde.. but hey.. atleast we'd be dealin with a team that can get past the 1st round

[Bang]

This is worse than the old lineup because Kidd was better back then and Shareef is inconsistant and can't seem to ever make the playoffs.
Miami and Detroit are clearly better teams than NJ even with Shareef Abdur-Rahim. Don't be surprised if the Shareef curse strikes anyhow.

[-BHZMAFIA-]

Of course they would be better than the old lineup. THe reason why I say that is because Carter is definitely an improvement from Kittles which mainly set the two teams apart. I think this may be real good for the Nets and they could possibly become Eastern Conference Champ contenders next season if they can sign him.

[Indy]

Kidd is aging, Carter is inconsistent and not a winner, Jefferson is pretty good, Shareef is awful. As a fan of a team in the East, I welcome Shareef coming to NJ. I don't see that as a threat in the least bit.

That team would be at each others throats, and win nothing. Plus they would let up 100 points every single game. They won't be any better.

[maes]

Nate McMillan wants Reef badly on the Sonics, and Sonics could easily offer more than $5M.

Unfortunately, the Sonics have so many free agents (including the GM...argh) that it's possible any big names will get signed before Seattle gets their foundation settled.

[Do']

just a lil'bit better

[cyanide]

It'd be a nice lineup on paper, but that depends on chemistry and whether these aging Nets can stay healthy.

[Amphatoast]

this line up would be better than the pacers line up
miami is a really big IF if you think about it... sure that have shaq and wade.. but they both prone to injuries and the supporting cast ( damon jones and haslem) are somewhat in question..

[Jackal_]

Shareef in NJ is not enuff. You need someone that is willing to step up and carry the team. What they wanted in Vince, but as previously said he's not consistent. Again, Shareef is a good acquisition for the nets, he fills in that big man spot which was left empty when Kenyon Martin left.

[John WB]

I rather the Nets pick up Tyson Chandler or Stromile Swift.

[AlwaysWhat,NeverWhy]

Kidd is aging, Carter is inconsistent and not a winner, Jefferson is pretty good, Shareef is awful. As a fan of a team in the East, I welcome Shareef coming to NJ. I don't see that as a threat in the least bit.

That team would be at each others throats, and win nothing. Plus they would let up 100 points every single game. They won't be any better.

But then again, if that was the Pacers' lineup, you would be title favorites, no?

[End Boss]

anyone who says kidd was substantially less influential last season than he has been in previous years is mad.. what drives kidd's game is his high basketball IQ, and barring further injury this guy is going to be good to the last drop..

regardless of who nj get to fill the PF position they will be an eastern conference contender... and indiana should feel threatened..

[AlwaysWhat,NeverWhy]

I think the Nets don't need an inside scores, but an inside player with a good mix of rebounding, blocking, bruising, and substantial scoring ability.

I can't think of any FA that fits the bill, though, at this moment. Maybe Dalembert, but he'll not sign for just the MLE.

[-BHZMAFIA-]

I rather the Nets pick up Tyson Chandler or Stromile Swift.

The only reason why they won't be able to pick up Swift is because Swift wants so much money thats why if he does get signed, theo nly teams that may be able to sign him is the Hawks. There is no way Swift would take 5 mil, when he can get that in Memphis as well. Same for Chandler.

[fgrep15]

How come suddenly all the Nets players are inconsistent and not winners? Shareef is not an inconsitent player, I don't know where that came from, yes he hasn't had much sucess in his career, but he's not been put in very good situations to suceed.

They can definately be a very good team. They won't be as good defensively, especially on the interior in comparison to when they had Kmart, but they'll be very talented.

Vince was consistent last season was he not? The Net's don't need one guy to carry the load when they have 3 guys who are capable 20 PPG scorers, and Carter has averaged 27+ PPG.

[-BHZMAFIA-]

How come suddenly all the Nets players are inconsistent and not winners? Shareef is not an inconsitent player, I don't know where that came from, yes he hasn't had much sucess in his career, but he's not been put in very good situations to suceed.

They can definately be a very good team. They won't be as good defensively, especially on the interior in comparison to when they had Kmart, but they'll be very talented.

Vince was consistent last season was he not? The Net's don't need one guy to carry the load when they have 3 guys who are capable 20 PPG scorers, and Carter has averaged 27+ PPG.

Exactly, when Rahim is giving the chance, he puts up good numbers. Rahim's career averages are 19.8ppg and 8.1rpg. The last couple of seasons he has been averaging 16 and 7 on a disfuctional team after being traded from Atlanta. Everybody is always getting on Carter for some reason, but the guy was playing some of his best basketball last year after being traded. Sure Kidd is old, but if he was dried up, I don't think there would've been teams after him last season such as the Warriors and he is still capable of getting triple doubles as he showed that last season with him being hurt. They will definitely be a top team in the East I think, no matter how bad their defense is. The Suns were one of the best teams in the West with no defense weren't they?

[End Boss]

The most tripple doubles in the league no less.. 3 more than the nearest player

[Indy]

this line up would be better than the pacers line up

Oh my gosh...

Thank you for that laugh.

[Carmo]

It is a good starting line-up but their season will end up the same as last season because of their lack of depth. I reckon if they got someone who is a good up and coming player on the bench to have some legs off the bench. Otherwise they will just tire out and they wont make it past the first round of the playoffs.

[-BHZMAFIA-]

this line up would be better than the pacers line up

Oh my gosh...

Thank you for that laugh.

Hate to stop the laughing, but it could possibly be a better lineup than the Pacers. I won't do any comparisons such as "Kidd > Tinsley", but I would consider them a better offensive lineup than the Pacers, can't say the same about the defense as the Pacers have Artest. But Kidd, Carter, Jefferson, Rahim and Kristic isn't that far from Tinsley, Jackson, Artest, O'neal, Foster.

[baller status]

I think that the Nets could very well possibly go far in the playoffs with the addition of Rahim. i think that they could be compared as an eastern conference phoenix suns type of team. with all 5 starters being capable of scoring, they will easily be a 100+ avg team. rahim is less physical than martin was, but the lineup as a whole is much better than the team that went to the finals in 03. my prediction is that they will be in the top 4 in the eastern conference.

[NNpF]

I answer yes on both accounts. But then again I'm a Nets homer.

Same here

This line-up is easily better than the previous line-up, but will it be enough to get them into the finals again is a question mark.

I have no doubts Kidd, Carter and Jefferson will perform even better than they did last season if they can all stay healthy. I just hope Shareef doesn't come into New Jersey thinking he's going to be the second or even third scoring option.

If he was unhappy playing behind Randolph at PF I don't know how happy he'll be with Carter and Jefferson getting most of the shots, and they will obviously want Krstic to get his fair share of touches so he can improve his game.

If Shareef can come in to New Jersey knowing his role as a player there is no reason they can't return to the finals.

If he comes in to New Jersey thinking he's number one there is no way this is going to work.

[Boyk]

Besides Kidd, is someone going to play some Defense???

lol, Nets would be better off with Swift or Chandler.