How Can I Help You? Brooklyn Nets

Williams will be in a new uniform next season. But will it be a Brooklyn one?

The only thing that's really certain about the Nets' future is that they'll be playing in Brooklyn next season. Best case scenario? Deron Williams and a talented draft pick comes with them and Dwight Howard joins later in the season. Worst case scenario? Neither superstars desire Brooklyn and the Nets' only draft pick is a bust. Sure, Williams and Howard are more important to Brooklyn, but who will be picked by the team at #57???

Williams is obviously the biggest free agent for the Nets. Will he stay or will he go? It's unsure what will happen as of now, but Brooklyn will have to proceed in this draft as if he will not be back with the team. As for the their other two point guards, Jordan Farmar was solid and will likely exercise his player option to stay with the team while Sundiata Gaines, an unrestricted free agent, will find a home elsewhere. DeShawn Stevenson is another Net you can kiss goodbye. I don't think the team will resign Kris Humphris either. He will command too much money, and the team has high hopes to invest it elsewhere. Gerald Wallace has expressed interest in being brought back so I expect him to go to Brooklyn with the team. They should also try and keep Gerald Green who was a beast after being called up from the D-League. Finally, look for Brook Lopez to get a new contract, at least for trade bait.

Here are some solid bets for being on the Brooklyn depth chart when the team opens up in New York:

PG: Jordan Farmar
SG: MarShon Brooks, Anthony Morrow
SF: Gerald Wallace, Gerald Green
PF: Jordan Williams
C: Brook Lopez

Yikes. There's a lot to do here. Obviously, point guard is a huge issue. And center. But who knows? With Williams and Howard, those are suddenly non issues and these team looks like a contender. However, they can't bank on that. The Nets seem solid on the wing, so expect a PG or big man to come at the 57th pick.

J'Covan Brown from Texas would be a nice pickup for this squad. He'd be bringing scoring right away although he's still raw. An ideal situation would be to have him learn under Williams, and maybe, he could one day become a starting point guard. Maalik Wayns and Scoop Jardine are two Big East guards (Villanova and Syracuse) who took a big step forward this past year. Wayns has extreme quickness getting to the basket while Jardine took a break scoring and became more of a facilitator last year. Both are solid options.

Ware would jump from the beach to the Brooklyn bay.

The guy I like here is a sleeper pick: Casper Ware. The Long Beach St. product has often been considered too small to play in the NBA. People said that to Muggsy Bogues and Earl Boykins, but they wound up having successful careers. Aside from size, Ware has all of the tools capable to play the point. He excels at running an offense, can attack the basket or pull up and shoot, and above all, is a leader. If Williams jets from the Nets, Ware could be up for the task for helping their loss.

There's going to be a lack of centers at the end of the draft so unless someone drops, New Jersey should steer away from that position. That's fine with them, especially because they have Lopez, if they trade Lopez it will likely be for Howard, and (Jordan) Williams can play center also.

With that in mind, here's a few power forwards that could intrigue the Brooklyn brass. Quincy Acy and Kyle O'Quinn bring physicality and rebounding on a nightly basis. Mitchell Watt is a versatile scorer who dominated at Buffalo. Herb Pope has a wide array of post moves and would enjoy playing close to home.

Personally, I think Ware is the way to go. A lot of teams will pass on him (they all may ver well pass on him), but if he is taken, he will compete hard to get himself better and his team better. That's a point guard trait that can trump size.

Up next, I discuss if the San Antonio Spurs have one more championship run in them, and what they should do with pick #59.