Considering that Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov took over the New Jersey Nets a few months ago, many reasoned that the franchise could become a real competitor rather sooner than later as Prokhorov stated that he would invest large sums of money into the Nets' roster. Moreover, the team's move from Newark to Brooklyn was finally approved, thus opening possibilities to secure a larger market share in the tristate region. However, the franchise failed to sign any of the first tier free agents like LeBron James, Dwayne Wade or Carlos Boozer.

Thus, the Nets were faced with either accepting that no miraculous franchise turnaround was going to happen or overpaying for second-class go-to-guys. As of now, it looks like team is settling for small tweaks and continuing to build around a young core while maintaining the option of adding a big time freeagent in 2011 or 2012. That said, GM Billy King did make some adjustments as New Jersey acquired Anthony Morrow and Travis Outlaw in free agency. Morrow signed a three year deal worth $12 million and is expected to strengthen the Nets outside shooting as he converted on no less than 46% of his shots from beyond the arc for the Golden State Warriors in 2009-10. Whether he is being overpaid or not is in the eye of the beholder as he is fairly one-dimensional and brings hardly any other benefits than his 3-point shot. Travis Outlaw on the other hand is a 25-year old forward who had some solid years in Portland before being traded to the Los Angeles Clippers last season. Similarly, it is debatable whether he is worth spending $35 million over the next five years, but at least he is a serviceable wing player who put up 9.1 points and 3.6 rebounds in just 21 minutes per contest in last year's NBA campaign. Considering that the Nets have a great young center in Brook Lopez as well as former All-Star guard Devin Harris and number three overall pick Derrick Favors on their team, they could very well improve significantly in 2010-11 despite missing out in the LeBron James sweepstakes.

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