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Lucious re-signs!
Lucious Harris has re-signed with the Nets for what is believed to be a 2-year, $5 million dollar contract. This answers the question on what the Nets are going to do about getting a shooter, though they still have potentially one spot left. Currently, the Nets are committed to 14 contracts: Kidd, Mourning, Martin, Jefferson, Mutombo, Collins, Harris, Kittles, Rogers, Slay, Planninic, Marshall, A-Train & Scalabrine is expected to sign a 1-year, $788,000 deal. Gone from last season are Anthony Johnson & the long-dormant contract of Jamie Fieck. Byron Scott has said he likes to keep the roster at 14, and the Nets are over the salary cap already...but are they done assembling their 03-04 roster? Time will tell...
 This is purely a fan page, with no affiliation to the Nets or the NBA. I've been a Nets fan since they drafted Derrick Coleman, then picked up Kenny Anderson the next year to have their first pair of All-Star starters (in 93-94). Last year, I took advantage of a great ticket plan they offered (6 games @ $10 each, plus a free ticket to the Phoenix game!), and this year finally had enough money to get a bunch of tickets (13, including a splurge on a lower-level seat to the home opener). The games have been a lot of fun, especially watching the fast-paced game they have played. My Nets paraphanalia collection has grown exponentially, I will soon post pictures of some of my stuff.
Those first couple of seasons were fun to watch. I had become a basketball fan watching the showtime Lakers win their last championship on TV, and decided to turn my attention to someone closer to home. The lottery picks of Kenny A & the DC Hammer, in addition to the skillful shooting of Petro made it exciting to watch a team on the rise.
This brief upturn turned sour with John Stark's flagrant foul on Anderson, which resulted in a broken wrist. The tragic death of Drazen Petrovic later that year cemented the downward spiral, which saw Coleman's "Whoop-de-dam-doo" attitude permeate the team, and Kenny Anderson never quite regained his pre-injury form. A number of bad draft choices followed (remember Ed O'Bannon? Yinka Dare?) along with coaches who couldn't handle the job (Butch Beard, John Calipari), and then the Nets jinx: the injuries. Last year, it was so bad that they actually signed Stephon Marbury's cousin to a contract, to help replace the injured Marbury, Martin (I saw him break his leg last year...my first thought wasn't "I hope he's ok", it was "oh no, not again"), Kittles, Williams, Van Horn, Feick, McIlvaine...you name it, they were probably injured for a good number of games. 345 games lost due to injuries last year. People were getting signed to 10-day contracts and getting hurt the first day they were here; it was that bad.
But now Jason Kidd has come to town (interesting fact: Coleman was traded for Shawn Bradley, who was traded for Sam Cassell, who was traded for Marbury, who was traded for Kidd. See, everything happens for a reason!), and there's excitement in the land of the Swamp Dragon once more. I just ordered my playoff tickets for the first two rounds, here's to hoping I have to buy two more rounds!
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