NETS KEEP FINE-TUNING; DIOP EXITS
By FRED KERBER
Last updated: 6:54 am
July 3, 2008
Posted: 3:12 am
July 3, 2008
The Nets' roster picture is starting to come a little more in focus.
While they officially signed their two first-round selections, 7-foot-0 Brook Lopez and 6-10 Ryan Anderson, to rookie contracts yesterday, they prepared to bid farewell to DeSagana Diop, who is headed back to Dallas with a multi-year, mid-level exception deal.
Elsewhere on the free-agent front, the Nets continued talking with representatives for the players they targeted, such as Washington's Roger Mason, and their own free agents, Bostjan Nachbar (unrestricted) and Nenad Krstic (restricted).
"No offers made [by the Nets], but it does look like we'll be losing Diop," team president Rod Thorn said. "We've talked to all the agents for the players we've looked at and tried to ascertain if there is interest and then how much it would take. What you normally find is almost all players are interested when asking for X-amount of dollars."
Multiple league sources confirmed Diop going back to Dallas for the mid-level ($5.8 million the first year). He can sign July 9, when the NBA free agent moratorium ends.
So drafting Lopez looks even more important for the Nets, who signed the Stanford center to his rookie deal - two years guaranteed for $4.354M, potentially worth $9.843 over four years. Anderson will get $2.544M over two years with a four-year potential of $6.197M.
The Nets are expected to sign second-round pick, Chris Douglas-Robert, after the moratorium.
Now the Nets hope to finalize matters with Nachbar and Krstic, both represented by Marc Cornstein. They also have spoken to Mark Bartelstein, the agent for Mason, James Posey and Kwame Brown. The Nets have shown interest in all.
"We talked with Kiki [GM Vandeweghe] and the Nets about Roger. There's interest and we talked about the others as well," Bartelstein said.
Said Cornstein: "We had our initial conversations. Both players have a special feeling toward the Nets. ... I think the Nets have a genuine interest in keeping both."
