ESPN: Raptors in serious talks to send Carter to Nets

[ESPN] Raptors in serious talks to send Carter to Nets

Raptors in serious talks to send Carter to Nets


By Chad Ford
ESPN Insider
The New Jersey Nets and Toronto Raptors are in serious talks about a trade that would send Vince Carter to the Nets, several league sources told ESPN Insider Chad Ford on Friday.


The Raptors would acquire Alonzo Mourning, Eric Williams, Aaron Williams and two first round draft picks in exchange for Carter. According to those same sources, the talks have moved to the point that they could be finalized before the end of the day.


All trades must be approved by the league office and players must pass physicals before they can become official. Carter is currently on the injured list with a strained left Achilles' tendon suffered last Friday and is to miss at least five games. If the trade goes through, it would be the most serious indication yet that the Nets want to keep Jason Kidd and are willing to build a championship contender around him. After the offseason trades of Kenyon Martin and Kerry Kittles, Kidd expressed his displeasure with the direction the Nets were taking. However, with Carter on board, the Nets have a shot at moving back into contention.


According to one source, Kidd was briefed on the trade and thinks Carter will be a strong addition to the team.


A backcourt of Kidd, Carter and Richard Jefferson is a highlight reel waiting to happen. However the Nets will be very thin up front. After the trade, the Nets would have just Jason Collins, Brian Scalabrine and rookie Nenad Kristic to play on the front line. The move has more interesting implications for the Raptors. Both Aaron and Eric Williams are the type of players that Sam Mitchell is after. They are tough, blue collar guys who will play their hearts out. Mourning gives them some size at the five that they desperately need. However, it will be interesting to see how Mourning reacts to the trade.


He's been asking out of New Jersey all season because he wants to play for a contender. Whatever you think about this trade for Toronto, it's tough to say that it turns them into a playoff caliber team. Instead, the Raptors are trying to surround their star young player, Chris Bosh, with solid, veteran players who play the right way. The two first round picks should help them rebuild.


The Nets currently have in hand their own first round pick, the Sixers first round pick (top 8 protected) and the Clippers first rounder (top 14 protected). It wasn't clear immediately which picks would be headed to Toronto in the trade.



Chad Ford covers the NBA for ESPN Insider.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=1948449

 

The Nets would be stupid to give that much up for half-man half-season.

 

they get out of the alonzo mourning contract. ratner fills his stadium in which attendance has been laughable for the last few years.

good deal for new jersey.

 

If this deal goes through, I think it would be fair to say the Raptors are likely not interested in Mo Taylor or Dikember Mutombo anymore.

 

We should then trade the Nets some of our power forwards!

 

You would have to think the NJ would be in need of one of our PF, prefferably Howard, he could help them but not sure what we could get back from them, maybe a 1st round pick?

 

That's tite...don't Carter and RJ play the same position..he can play SG i guess damn I wish he was on the Rockets.

They gave up a lot for him..

But JKidd teams run anyways so yeah that's gonna be cool.

JKidd, Carter, RJ,...not bad I like it. Vs. Nash, Richardson, Amare, Marion, Johnson, Barbosa lol

 

the nets are gonna suck...my wimpy knees...Kidds reconstucted knees???....and well Jefferson's bad shooting.

 

near completion

and the nets will still suck...oh wait they're in the east, they'll win a playoff series.

 

Wow, maybe the Celtics can trade Yogi Stewart to the Nets for Richard Jefferson. Why would anyone trade anything but garbage (let alone serviceable frontcourt players and potential lottery picks!) for half-man, 1/4 a season Carter? Has anyone in the Nets team brass seen this guy play for the past three seasons?

Man, are NBA GMs stupid. I wonder what my Celtics can net for Paul Pierce.

 

Nets made the deal for financial reasons, not winning ones. They're only above Atlanta in attendance. Carter will help them with that.

Evan

 

That may be. But Carter and Kidd, both with godawful contracts, will be done by the time Ratner can move the team to Brooklyn. Wasn't his objective cost-cutting? Besides, the Nets' attendence problems in recent years have been despite the presence of marketable superstars (Marbury, a local product, and Kidd). Gimpy Carter isn't going to change things IMO, especially now with the impending move.

The trade makes the Raptors marginally better (though they won't contend if Bosh is the only player they can build around), and the Nets significantly worse - after all, aren't the Raptors a better team their "star?"

 

*without their star, I mean.

 

Carter has significantly more drawing power than Kidd or Marbury - he's led the NBA ALL-Star voting for a good number of years, and has kept Toronto at the top third of attendance. He'll bring fans and cut the heavy red ink the Nets are swimming in right now, today. He may not be around for the Brooklyn move, but that dosn't mean the Nets don't need revenue today.

Evan

 

I doubt the veracity of this scoop.