The Nets are setting themselves up

When a team has been terrible for an extended period of time, things need to change. Typically, this involves firing a coaching staff and/or a front office. Very rarely does the change come from the ownership, in terms of a dramatic new vision and dynamic for a team that is an afterthought, if anything at all. And let's face it, the New Jersey Nets have been an afterthought since they randomly won the Eastern Conference in 2002 and 2003.

However, this mindset began to change with the introduction of Mikhail Prokhorov as the new owner of the Nets. From the beginning, he had a vision - he wanted to build a team around a couple of transcendent players, he wanted to move the team to Brooklyn so as to better market the Nets brand, and he wanted to set the Nets up as a global team.

In purchasing the Nets, Prokhorov also personally funded a loan for $700 million to build their new arena in Brooklyn. The remainder of the funding would be acquired through the banking system, making it where the taxpayers of Brooklyn did not have to be taxed any further for the construction of another owner's private playground.

Next, Prokhorov set about revamping the front office and coaching staff with his goals in mind. He named a new general manager in Billy King, who had been the general manager of the Philadelphia 76ers from 1998 until 2007, and a new head coach in Avery Johnson, who had been the Coach of the Year for the Dallas Maverics in 2006, and had reached the NBA Finals previously. With a staff set, the Nets could now focus on gaining a legitimate superstar to build around.

With their impending move to Brooklyn, their primary target became Carmelo Anthony, a native of New York who wanted to play in front of his hometown crowds. However, he had no interest in playing for the Nets, and wisely, the Nets moved on, trading for a top three point guard in Deron Williams. Coupled with a burgeoning star at the center position in Brook Lopez, the future for the Nets on the court looks bright indeed.

Yet, their future off the court may be even better. With Prokhorov, the Nets are looking to expend themselves internationally, to be the franchise that fans in Europe, Africa, and Asia follow. Already, they have played the Toronto Raptors in London this year. They have a basketball clinic scheduled for Russia during the next offseason, and already played exhibition games in China. Add this to the amount of foreign born players on the nets roster, a Russian language website and a television deal to broadcast Nets games in Russia, there is a solid foundation. Yes, the NBA can limit what teams can do in terms of international promotion, but the Nets are on their way.

Perhaps this vision can save a franchise from falling to the ranks of irrelevancy, which is where teams like the Pacers or the Grizzlies find themselves. By focusing on areas outside their present neighborhood and to keep from spending their entire advertising budget in a futile attempt to wrestle away the stray Knicks fan, the Nets can legitimately make something of themselves, and tap into a fanbase that has been waiting for someone to pay attention to them.

Well played thus far Prokhorov. Hopefully this will translate into success.

The NBA has a looming problem

In the wake of the Carmelo Anthony trade to the Knicks, a pattern has begun to develop. At this point, players have begun colluding amongst themselves, agreeing to play for a specific teams in order to build a few 'super teams'. Now, there is nothing illegal about this on the dies of the players, but if the owners were to get together in order to lower salaries, it would be a severe issue. Nothing quite like a double standard.

When did this all begin? In terms of athletes intentionally creating the 'super team' concept, it leads back to the Boston Celtics in the 2007-08 season, when Ray Allen and Paul Pierce pleaded with Kevin Garnett to join them in Boston. With the formation of the 'Big Three', the die had been cast.

Fast forward to this past off-season. LeBron, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh meet several times, and decide to partner up in Miami to create their own Super Team, only their version is a younger, more dynamic group with three players entering their prime. It doesn't matter that the Heat no longer have anything resembling a surrounding cast to support them, as there was no longer any room under the cap. They have their version of the Big Three scoring roughly 68.6% of the team's points. The fourth leading scorer? Udonis Haslem, who is out for a long time at 8.0 points per game. Behind him? We find Eddie House at 6.9 points per.

Now, the New York Knicks are joining the party. After picking up Amare Stoudemire through free agency, they picked up Carmelo Anthony, who forced the Denver Nuggets to trade him. So who is the third piece? None other than Chris Paul, who joined Carmelo and Amare in toasting to playing together in New York during Carmelo's wedding. Paul happens to be a free agent after next season, so don't expect him to sign an extension in New Orleans.

The NBA is rapidly becoming a collection of the haves against the have nots. Why play in a place like Toronto or Sacramento, when you can force that team to deal you to a team like Miami or New York? Why attempt to build something in an area that truly enjoys basketball, but happens to be in the middle of nowhere? After all, image is so much more important than the game, right?

This is something that David Stern needs to look at during the collective bargaining agreement. The league may become nothing more than six to eight teams loaded with superstars, while the rest of the teams either have to fold or play in obscurity. A hard salary cap would help to fix this issue. So would creating a franchise type tag in the NBA. But regardless of what they determine the answer to be, this needs to be fixed. And soon.

Shut up Carmelo Anthony

For the entirety of this season, Carmelo Anthony has been trying to force a trade from Denver. His target - the New York Knicks. He is threatening to not sign any extensions with any other team if he does not go to New York, despite the fact that the Knicks have practically nothing to offer Denver in trade.

Denver's options here are limited. They have tried signing Carmelo to an extension (3 years, 65 million), which he refused. A potential deal with New Jersey fell through when, despite the absolutely egregious amount of talent that the Nets offered, the Nuggets dragged their feet at pulling the trigger. At this point, it appears that Anthony will get his wish to be a Knick, but only through free agency.

Now, this poses another potential problem for Anthony. The collective bargaining agreement for the NBA ends after this season. As such, no one is sure as to what the financial landscape of the league will be next year. His steadfast refusal to sign an extension with Denver, or to accept a trade to a team other than New York, would potentially cost him millions of dollars. In an interview with Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post, Hockman asked, “If they trade you somewhere, and you don’t sign the extension, you’re screwed …” Before Anthony could answer, Hochman attempted to correct his statement by saying, “Well, not necessarily screwed…” But, Melo flashed a smile and said: “Screwed.”

So, to make certain that is truly understood, Anthony feels screwed because he would either have to accept a ridiculous sum of money from a team he may not want to play for, or go to his desired destination for potentially less money. Well, too bad. It's called life, Carmelo. People are stuck at places they don't want to work at because it pays their bills. And while I understand not wanting to live in New Jersey (seriously, that team is terrible, the people on Jersey Shore are indicative to what is in northern New Jersey, and that area smells of burning tires and garbage) $65 million would allow me to purchase a place with a lot of air fresheners.

This is the bed that Carmelo Anthony has made by trying to force his way out of Denver. It's time that he accepts the consequences of his actions.