<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Shareef Abdur-Rahim and his wife, Dee, land in New Jersey today for two fun-filled days of gym-touring, house-hunting and chin-wagging with Bruce Ratner. But the fact that the free-agent forward is spending more than a day here should not give the Nets the impression they are in the lead for his services, his agent warned last night. "Please don't assume that," Aaron Goodwin said. "Is there a high level of interest in the Nets? Absolutely. And Shareef is going to spend time with upper management and Jason Kidd to get an idea of what they're about. "But it's a big decision. And if he goes to the Nets, he's taking a huge pay cut. He's definitely going to look at it, and (coach) Lawrence (Frank) is a good friend. But he's going to make at least two other trips, too, though we haven't decided who the others are yet." Abdur-Rahim and Frank became close during their days with the Vancouver Grizzlies, with whom Frank was an assistant from 1997 to 2000. Still, the fact that the 28-year-old is spending all this time in New Jersey ? mindful that the Nets cannot pay him as much as others might ? would seem to indicate something, would it not? "That's my whole point," Goodwin said. "He has to take a good, long look. Because if he makes that decision (to play for the Nets), he makes it based on the fact that he wants to play for the organization, not for any monetary reason." Abdur-Rahim's last contract was for $70.9 million, which topped out at $14.6 million. The most the Nets can realistically offer ? assuming Portland is amenable to a sign-and-trade using the Nets' $4.9 million trade exception ? is $36.75 million over six seasons. Does that mean Goodwin will influence his client to go for the money somewhere else? "Not at all," the agent said. "I know it's said all the time, but he's family, and I want what's best for Shareef. He knows whether it's $100 million or $5 million, if he's happy with it, I'm happy with it. Of course, it would put me out of business, but I'd be happy with it." Goodwin laughed, then turned serious, as he conceded there is another thing in the Nets' favor: While money is always a factor, Abdur-Rahim is a grounded individual ? he has one of the longest community-relations r?sum?s in sports ? and he doesn't regard the dollar amount as the top criterion. "That's why he's making the trip," Goodwin said. "Otherwise he would say, 'Nah, not interested.' He'll have other teams offering more. But he wants to make sure he can fit in, and he has (two young children) now, so he is taking his wife to make sure they'd be all be happy in the situation."</div> i just realized he would be takin a paycut. this makes things lil harder
It's ok, Rahim has already cashed in and is looking to win at this point in his career. He's never been on a team with a .500+ record and with the MLE being closer to $5.5Million instead of $4.9Million there's a good chance for the Nets to land him. He would also get to start in NJ, but if he goes to other teams after him, Spurs & Heat, there's no guarantee he can start for either. The Nets could also work a sign and trade with the Blazers if they didn't feel the MLE would be enough. I would actually have to cheer for the Nets since they have two of my favorite Cal players on the same team. Jason Kidd and SAR are the best players to come out of Berkley in over a decade.
well hearin that from you makes me happy. if they sign and everythin goes well, i think they will be a very good team, hopefully one of the top teams.
This would be great for the Nets. I really hope we land him. He is an athletic frontcourt player who can nail a jumpshot in your face, our muscle it out down low.
SAR certainly will have an easier time adjusting in NJ. The Spurs already have a power forward. The Heat have a good player in Haslem. If the Spurs or heat get SAR, he'll pretty much be eiter a back-up player or a starter with shortened minutes. With the Nets, he'll continue to be a go-to guy, as I am sure that the Nets would like to run a inside-out game. Perhaps he'll even turn out be a great passer. My opinion is biased ofcouse
This move makes the Nets offense even more amazing. these guys could get you seventy to eighty points on any given night. Along with Krystic, Oh My God!!! This could give them the Atlantic division next year.
This would be great for the Nets. They don"t have a solid PF and he is an awsome player i hope they get him
This move makes the Nets a lot better than their championship contending team of old, even if Kidd is older... They need a PF and they're set at every position, and SAR is the key man. He can take them to the top. Adding Keyon Dooling to the mix also helps.
i cant imagine how strong they can get if they landed SAR in NJ! he is the perfect fit for the Nets system. he can do damage in the low post and still give u some outside shots, he can run the floor and keep up with our fast break game! if ever we land SAR what do you guys think will happen with J Collins? will he be move back to the starting center or go back as a reserve?? i personally like him to go back to the bench coz for me Krstic is the better center for the team i hope to i see this line up next season C. Kristic PF. Abdul rahim SF. Jefferson SG. Carter PG. J. Kidd can this get any better!!!!! a formula for success!
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The itinerary yesterday was typical for recruitment visits: He toured the practice facility in East Rutherford, met the owner, went to lunch with Lawrence Frank up in Ridgewood, and then checked out some neighboring Bergen County towns and schools with his wife. So now the Nets are in a holding pattern, waiting for Shareef Abdur-Rahim to take at least two other trips just like this one and hoping that he found the environment appealing enough to make New Jersey his home for the next six years -- or as long as it takes the franchise to pack up and move to Brooklyn. "The one thing everyone is missing is there's no negotiation going on here," one Nets official said yesterday, alluding to the finite amount the team can pay the free- agent forward. "Either he likes it and comes, or doesn't like it. That's all there is right now." A limousine carrying Abdur- Rahim and his wife, Dee, pulled into the team's practice site shortly before noon, and they toured the facility for roughly two hours. He didn't stop to address the media assembled outside, nor did owner Bruce Ratner, who left earlier. Nets president Rod Thorn, however, looked confident that the team had put its best foot forward. "We had a nice meeting, and now he will have to look at what all his options are and decide what he wants to do," said Thorn, who took the visiting couple to dinner Wednesday night at a steakhouse in Manhattan. "Obviously, a player's timeline is a player's timeline, but from our perspective we'd like to see what can be done as quickly as possible. In case it doesn't work out, (the team must ensure that) other options aren't gone." </div> Rahim Wine & Dine Update
Yeah, the situation looks pretty good. I have a pretty good feeling we're going to reach an agreement anytime soon. It'll probably be a sign-and-trade though, with SAR's agent of course looking for the best possible financial situation if he decides to play here. Our team would look great on paper, but we need a few things to make the team work. Vince Carter has to be ready to run the break every time Kidd initiates it (something Kerry Kittles did well when he was here). We didn't see much of the fastbreak offense with the Nets last season, and we're probably never going to get the amount of fastbreaks that we did before with this squad, but I hope we can do it a bit more this season.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting giftedvisionz:</div><div class="quote_post">Yeah, the situation looks pretty good. I have a pretty good feeling we're going to reach an agreement anytime soon. It'll probably be a sign-and-trade though, with SAR's agent of course looking for the best possible financial situation if he decides to play here. Our team would look great on paper, but we need a few things to make the team work. Vince Carter has to be ready to run the break every time Kidd initiates it (something Kerry Kittles did well when he was here). We didn't see much of the fastbreak offense with the Nets last season, and we're probably never going to get the amount of fastbreaks that we did before with this squad, but I hope we can do it a bit more this season.</div> Yeah I too also hoop that we can get those fastbreak points of old. So that we can get the lead and possibly keep it. Since we will have players that can score in the half game and hold that lead. As you can remember since it wasn't to far away we would have an awesome first quarter with like 15 fast break points. but we would have problems keeping the lead due to not being able to play the half court game or when the tempo got slow. Because from what i have seen with this team was less fastbreaks and bad defense, but a decent half court game. This team will be great offensively if they get their offense together. But i think defensively they are weaker then the older teams. hopefully they can step it up on the defensive end. But i dont see them running the fast breaks that often because Carter doesnt run as much, SAR and Kristic is not really that fast, so that leaves kidd and RJ. Good luck to this team hopefully we can be back in the finals again
I feel confident on a deal getting done soon between Rahim and the Nets as well the only team that really scares me of stealing him away is Miami. Hopefully, we can get a sign & trade with Portland done soon, leaving the mid-level available for us to start targeting some other key free angent needs like a cheap shooter, a backup for Kidd likely Keyon Dooling. But the only problem I have right now with Dooling is it seems like if we do the sign and trade with Portland for Reef, then the mid-level is going to Dooling. As much as I like him I dont think he is worth the entire mid-level, when even with the acquistion of Shareef we still have alot of holes to fill. We would still need another quality bigman to add to the rotation, cause Reef, Krstic &Collins is a decent rotation, but Krstic & Collins are extremely foul prone,so we need as much frontcourt depth as possible.
SAR really got screwed in portland. the man is a great player. better than randolph in my opinion, but instead he's forced to play SF... if you remember, when he was with the hawks he averaged 21 PPG 10 RPG and was a top ten efficency guy. i think he can still do that. nets LOB next year!
He wont be getting 21 a game hear, we have too many options offensively, I can live with 16ppg from Rahim...as a third scorer behind Carter and Jefferson. Carter giving you about 21 a game, RJ giving 18ppg, and Rahim giving you about 16 pg not to mention Kidd & Nenad who can give you about 13 a pieace, with a quality scorer like Wright off the bench...needless to say we wont be bringing up the rear in Point Per Game like last season, when we were at the buttom in team ranks. But let me not get ahead of my self...*fingers crossed in hopes of land Reef*
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The Nets wanted to impress Shareef Abdur-Rahim on his two-day tour of New Jersey. It certainly sounds like they succeeded. "It went real well, I thought," Abdur-Rahim said yesterday after returning home to Atlanta, where he claimed he hopes to have a decision by the end of the week. "Everyone was so nice, and the area was great. We saw homes and schools. I had no idea New Jersey was so nice. "Not to prolong it, but I have to talk to my agent [Aaron Goodwin] and just see what my options are," added Abdur-Rahim, who stressed the best part about New Jersey may be "Jason Kidd, Vince Carter, Richard Jefferson, [Nenad] Krstic and Twin [Jason Collins]. It is a great opportunity for me." Abdur-Rahim, the 6-9 free-agent power forward who is the hub of the Nets' offseason plans, acknowledged he has not visited anywhere else ? trips to Sacramento and Miami are planned and the Heat are "very appealing." The Nets prefer to use their $4.9 million trade exception in a sign and trade with Portland to obtain Abdur-Rahim, a 19.8 career scorer. </div> JERSEY SCORES ON SHAREEF TOUR
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting shapecity:</div><div class="quote_post">It's ok, Rahim has already cashed in and is looking to win at this point in his career. He's never been on a team with a .500+ record and with the MLE being closer to $5.5Million instead of $4.9Million there's a good chance for the Nets to land him. He would also get to start in NJ, but if he goes to other teams after him, Spurs & Heat, there's no guarantee he can start for either. The Nets could also work a sign and trade with the Blazers if they didn't feel the MLE would be enough. </div> if he went to the Heat he wouldnt start? are u joking?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Bobcats:</div><div class="quote_post">It depends on the situation in Miami.. If Haslem comes back, I think he will be the starter.</div> yeah right. Haslem on his best day isnt as good as Reef on his worst. learn your basketball son
Learn to read. I didn't say anything about Haslem being better, but if he was resigned for the contract he's rumored to sign, he's going to make over 6 million. You don't sign someone for that much to come off of the bench.
