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G-League
Rod Thorn, the Nets' president, faced the highly unappetizing possibility of losing his most prized acquisition of the off-season and his most valuable trade exception for nothing.
So Thorn rescinded the sign-and-trade deal he had completed with the Portland Trail Blazers on Aug. 2 for the veteran forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim and used the trade exception to obtain forward-center Marc Jackson from the Philadelphia 76ers for cash and draft considerations instead.
Thorn had until Friday to renegotiate a deal with Abdur-Rahim. But more important, the Nets' trade exception that they used to acquire Abdur-Rahim was set to expire at midnight yesterday. The Trail Blazers would have also received the Nets' first-round pick in next summer's draft, although the pick was lottery protected.
The deal for Abdur-Rahim was put on hold last Thursday after he failed a physical. Yesterday, Thorn would not disclose why Abdur-Rahim did not pass the physical, citing a league mandate.
"Obviously, we weren't aware of it," Thorn said. "And I don't think after all the conversations we had back and forth that the player was aware there was any problem. The guy hadn't missed any games regarding this. And to my knowledge, the team wasn't aware of it."
According to Abdur-Rahim's agent, Aaron Goodwin, Abdur-Rahim had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee in high school. The resulting scar tissue has shown up on every magnetic resonance imaging test done on the knee in Abdur-Rahim's career, Goodwin said.
"It was a little alarming to the Nets," Goodwin said. "But it's not a new condition or anything like that. It's nothing that slowed him down. He's never missed a game because of his knees. There was no basis for their apprehension."
Abdur-Rahim missed 22 games with the Blazers last season after having surgery in mid-January to remove loose particles in his right elbow.
The Nets had agreed to a six-year contract worth close to $39 million when they first acquired Abdur-Rahim. But when he did not pass his physical, the Nets suggested making the later years of Abdur-Rahim's contract nonguaranteed, and conditional upon his health. It was unclear how many years of the deal would not have been guaranteed.
"I think the Nets needed a level of security and Shareef needed a level of security, and neither one was able to reach that," Goodwin said. "They wanted to renegotiate the situation, and Shareef wasn't able to do that. Nor should he have had to do that."
But Thorn said that once it became clear the Nets were going to have problems getting Abdur-Rahim to accept a new deal, he had only two and a half days to put another trade together.
Enter the 6-foot-10 Jackson, 30, who averaged 12.0 points and 5.0 rebounds for the 76ers last season. In Jackson, the Nets obtained a serviceable big man. In Abdur-Rahim, however, the Nets would have added another star.
The 6-9 Abdur-Rahim, 28, averaged 16.8 points and 7.3 rebounds for Portland last season, and has averaged 19.8 points and 8.1 rebounds in nine N.B.A. seasons. If he had joined the Nets, he would have bolstered a roster that already had Jason Kidd, Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson.
Instead, the Nets keep their draft pick and Abdur-Rahim becomes a free agent.
"We certainly had huge interest in Shareef," Thorn said. "And we thought he would have been a terrific player for us."
But Thorn said after considering all the factors, the Nets decided that signing Abdur-Rahim was not worth the risk.
"It's just one of those things that happen," Thorn added. "And hopefully it will work out for everybody."
Howard Beck contributed reporting for this article.
So Thorn rescinded the sign-and-trade deal he had completed with the Portland Trail Blazers on Aug. 2 for the veteran forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim and used the trade exception to obtain forward-center Marc Jackson from the Philadelphia 76ers for cash and draft considerations instead.
Thorn had until Friday to renegotiate a deal with Abdur-Rahim. But more important, the Nets' trade exception that they used to acquire Abdur-Rahim was set to expire at midnight yesterday. The Trail Blazers would have also received the Nets' first-round pick in next summer's draft, although the pick was lottery protected.
The deal for Abdur-Rahim was put on hold last Thursday after he failed a physical. Yesterday, Thorn would not disclose why Abdur-Rahim did not pass the physical, citing a league mandate.
"Obviously, we weren't aware of it," Thorn said. "And I don't think after all the conversations we had back and forth that the player was aware there was any problem. The guy hadn't missed any games regarding this. And to my knowledge, the team wasn't aware of it."
According to Abdur-Rahim's agent, Aaron Goodwin, Abdur-Rahim had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee in high school. The resulting scar tissue has shown up on every magnetic resonance imaging test done on the knee in Abdur-Rahim's career, Goodwin said.
"It was a little alarming to the Nets," Goodwin said. "But it's not a new condition or anything like that. It's nothing that slowed him down. He's never missed a game because of his knees. There was no basis for their apprehension."
Abdur-Rahim missed 22 games with the Blazers last season after having surgery in mid-January to remove loose particles in his right elbow.
The Nets had agreed to a six-year contract worth close to $39 million when they first acquired Abdur-Rahim. But when he did not pass his physical, the Nets suggested making the later years of Abdur-Rahim's contract nonguaranteed, and conditional upon his health. It was unclear how many years of the deal would not have been guaranteed.
"I think the Nets needed a level of security and Shareef needed a level of security, and neither one was able to reach that," Goodwin said. "They wanted to renegotiate the situation, and Shareef wasn't able to do that. Nor should he have had to do that."
But Thorn said that once it became clear the Nets were going to have problems getting Abdur-Rahim to accept a new deal, he had only two and a half days to put another trade together.
Enter the 6-foot-10 Jackson, 30, who averaged 12.0 points and 5.0 rebounds for the 76ers last season. In Jackson, the Nets obtained a serviceable big man. In Abdur-Rahim, however, the Nets would have added another star.
The 6-9 Abdur-Rahim, 28, averaged 16.8 points and 7.3 rebounds for Portland last season, and has averaged 19.8 points and 8.1 rebounds in nine N.B.A. seasons. If he had joined the Nets, he would have bolstered a roster that already had Jason Kidd, Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson.
Instead, the Nets keep their draft pick and Abdur-Rahim becomes a free agent.
"We certainly had huge interest in Shareef," Thorn said. "And we thought he would have been a terrific player for us."
But Thorn said after considering all the factors, the Nets decided that signing Abdur-Rahim was not worth the risk.
"It's just one of those things that happen," Thorn added. "And hopefully it will work out for everybody."
Howard Beck contributed reporting for this article.
