<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">"There are no guarantees in professional sports," Nets GM Rod Thorn said Tuesday when asked about his reaction to criticism from Jason Kidd and the veteran center Alonzo Mourning, who signed lucrative multiyear deals with the Nets before last season. "If you want guarantees, sign a one-year contract." Thorn's comments came after Kidd, at the Nets' media day on Monday, said: "We know we're not going to win a championship this year or next year. I mean, not with the caliber of guys that we have right now." Had either been told that Martin would be traded one season after the signed contracts, it is doubtful either would have signed with the Nets. Even Thorn, on July 16, the day after he traded Martin to Denver for three first-round draft choices, acknowledged that the team would be worse this season. </div> Full Story (Must Register)
I agree with Rod Thorn 1,000%, I like J.Kidd just as much as everyone else but its time for the Nets front office to start taking the playing cards out of Jason Kidd's hand to speak. Jason has helped all the cards all summer, from the rumored complaining to trade demands etc. He knew when he sign for over a 100 mill chances where the Nets wouldnt be about to afford to keep all the key parts at the going rate of free Agency. If we would have kept Martin then we would have just lost RJ next summer which still meant no championship run after this year. I would always keep a quality bigbody over a quality wing player. But Nets management felt different based on what RJ brought to the table during the 2nd half of the year last season. Either way, it was going to be hard to keep all three. The Nets have made plenty of moves to keep kidd happy over the past 3 seasons his been here(aka bringing his boy Rodney Rogers etc) but the Nets last season bent over backwards by bringing Zo here just to keep kidd from walking to San Antonio. So at the end of the day alot of the negative finanicial moves the Nets have made somehow surrounded around keeping Kidd happy. So he should be the 1st one stepping up to take one for the team & back management up in their decision to go in another direction. He doesnt have to hole heartebly agree with them but stop being the one to bury the teams front office with the media. Because every time he keeps killing the Nets inj the Media, the more & more it makes them look like fools to the national public especially Rod Thorn. Meanwhile, Thorn has been the man guy going to bat for the moves to keep Kidd, happy. If Kidd doesnt want to play here that badly then make your official trade demand already. Stop making comments like "No, I havent expressed my desire to be traded yet, but we wont be winning around here for a while". Well how is that going to left team spirit & moral for the season before the year even starts & the guy who surpose to lead you to victory is pretty much saying you guys are trash. And me & K-Mart are what carried you to the chip every year. Whether he feels this team has no chance at a title or not should be kept between him & management in him expressing his concerns about the team,not media. We all know that aint know World Championships landing in Jersey this year. Heck, the media in every local tri-state paper, in every espn preview lets us no that, but it start to take affect when your star player starts talking that way. So Iam happy Rod Thorn is stepping up & making some bold statements, just to let Kidd Know his place a bit. He is still a Nets player(at least until, he gets traded), so stay a player let the front office make front office decisions, shut up & go to war with what you have on this team. Kidd try to call the shots in PHX as well, so this is nothing new for him. See because everybody always talks about how good Kidd has been for the Nets, well the Nets have been just as good for Kidd. See him being in Jersey & the new start he got allowed people to somewhat forget about a past off-court situation he had right before he came to NJ. I like Kidd but its just time to stop complaining & play ball.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Need4Sheed:</div><div class="quote_post">Him and the Phillies GM Ed Wade are pretty much in the same category, what nimrods.</div> Rod Thorn has excellent basketball sense, he has just been handcuff by new management/ownership to make the moves that he made this offseason. Bruce Ratner clearly took all power away from Thorn this year.
I don't know if I agree with you completely there, Henecy. I agree to a large extent that, as a player and a PROFESSIONAL, Kidd should keep some of his comments out of the media. I do agree with you that when the leader of a team is clearly unhappy and is making it public, it does not do well for team morale. Having said that, I do think the Nets screwed him over to a large extent. I don't blame any of this on Thorn, I feel just as bad for Thorn as I do for Kidd and the fans of NJ. I place all of my frustration on Ratner. Ratner is a punk and a shame to sports fans everywhere, and Kidd has every right to be pissed off at him. Yes, it is a business, and yes, he should still play to the best of his ability for his current employer. And yes, the Nets bent over backwards for him to try and keep him in NJ. But that was a different organization. This new Nets team with Ratner at the wheel is totally different, and THAT is who Kidd is mad at. I understand it would have been difficult to keep Kidd, KMart, and Jefferson together forever. But Ratner didn't even allow Thorn to try. He gave away a perennial all star for three picks, a solid vet in Kittles for a 2nd rounder, and waived or not re-signed other worthy players. I'm a fan of Eric Williams, I think he will be a great addition to this team, but it's clear that Ratner is dismantling a good basketball team to fatten his pockets. Kidd has every right in the world to be pissed off, he signed with the Nets thinking that they would be just as committed as him to winning. The more and more I think about it, I don't blame him for speaking out publicly. I am a Celtics fan and I pretty much dispise the Nets, but moreover, I am a sports fan and I think Ratner's ownership is a true shame and feel bad for NJ fans. Sports fans deserve better.
^Iam not saying that Kidd doesnt have the right to feel like he got the raw end of the stick by not walking to SanAntonio last year, I simply feel its time to get past it, if he isnt going to officially demand a trade, because at this point all his comments are doing is taking away from team moral. Everybody, knew how he felt in July, the day the trade first happen, so is there really a need to still here him complaining in Oct. especially with it being training camp. Training camp, no matter what happened during the offseason or the past season, so be looked at as a fresh start with everything pointing toward the future. At this point, K-Mart aint coming back he is a nugget now, time to let him go. And my other point was simply saying that Kidd if he felt that the RJ/Kidd/KMart combo was garuntee to stay together, then he was being a bit unrealistic when he signed for a 100+ mill. You cant spend a 100 mill on one player, 90 mill on another, close to 80 mill on another all during back to back seasons. So Kidd had to expect that at least one of the three was going to be gone or high chance of leaving, when he signed his deal. So how much complianiong can you do realistically. Thats like a bank robber, holding up a bank, taking all the money. And then the next day sending someone to that bank to rob it again. And complaining when that persons comes back & tells you the Bank doesnt have any money to take. Of course, there isnt any money left because you already got it all.
I feel sorry for Kidd especially. He could have a great chance at winning a championship had he signed with the Spurs. Only if he knew.
i think that kid was told that he was going to be part of a team thats chasing a championship and not rebuilding. thats probably not only the reason he resigned but the reason he's so pissed. kidd knows he could have gone to lots of teams, but he chose the nets...i doubt he would have knowingly gone to a team that was going to be rebuilding.
Yeah he probably was told that the teams main focus at the time was chasing a championship because it was..but I doubt anybody promised for sure 100% that him/RJ/& K-Mart would all get extensions at the going rate. Things in a franchise changes from offseason to offseason in the NBA. Everybody knew that we were getting new ownership two seasons ago, thats why a contract extension offer for K-Mart came so slow during the '03 offseason. So kidd should have realise something right there...
Why doesnt Thorn do everybody a favor and just trade Kidd to some corner of the NBA where he wont cause the Nets problems. After he was accomodated (i think i spelled it wrong)by Nets management and got everything he wanted which included the unneccessary (i think)firing of Byron Scott. Kidd is a serious headcase. He was slacking off when Byron Scott was the coach and the moment Scott was fired the Nets started to go on this huge rampage. Kidd is too much trouble right now. Get rid of him. I cant stand when players start all this whining. In the end playing ball for him is a job and management are his employers. He needs to shut up, go out on the court, do his job and play ball.
In Kidd's defense it's silly to trade a young nucleus when you have them guaranteed for a while. Their trio was amazing, and there was no need to rebuild.
