29-year old point guard C.J. Watson is going to opt out of his contract to become a unrestricted free agent.  It’s a smart move for Watson as he will get a lot more than the $1.11 million bucks that he was set to make with the Nets in 2013-14.  Watson played in 80 games (8 starts) for the Nets last year and he averaged 19.0 minutes, 6.8 points, 1.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game.  Watson has now played in 385 games (67 starts) in his first six years in the NBA and he is averaging 20.3 minutes, 7.6 points, 1.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.0 steal per game.  If the season started today, 2nd year point guard Tyshawn Taylor would be Deron Williams’ backup in 2013-14.  Look for the Nets to sift the free agent bargain bin for a replacement for Watson.

The Brooklyn Nets have signed 40-year old Jason Kidd to a 3-year contract to be their new head coach.  Kidd had just retired as a player earlier this year.  He played in 76 games (48 starts) for the Knicks last year and he averaged 26.9 minutes, 6.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.6 steals per game.  Kidd was one of the best players in Nets’ history.  He played in 506 games (504 starts) in his seven years with the New Jersey Nets and he averaged 37.0 minutes, 14.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, 9.1 assists and 1.9 steals per game.  Kidd is the Nets’ all-time leader in three pointers made (813), assists (4,620) and steals (950).  He is also #5 in games played (506), #3 in defensive rebounds (2,964), #5 in total rebounds (3,662) and #4 in points scored (7,373) in Nets’ history.  Kidd played in 1,391 games (1,350 starts) in his 19 years in the NBA as a player and he averaged 36.0 minutes, 12.6 points, 6.3 rebounds, 8.7 assists and 1.9 steals per game.  Kidd finished his career as a player #6 in NBA history in games played (1,391).  He is also #3 in three point shots made (1,988), #50 in total rebounds (8,725), #2 in assists (12,091), #2 in steals (2,864) and #71 in points scored (17,529) in NBA history.  Kidd was a great player, but he has never coached anywhere.  The Nets are expecting to win this year, so Kidd is going to be under pressure to produce right from the get go.

Mike Gminski was a decent center for the Nets back in the day.  His best year for the Nets came back in 1986-87.  He played in 72 games (66 starts) in 1986-87 for the Nets and he averaged 31.6 minutes, 16.4 points, 8.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.0 blocked shot per game.  Gminski played in 550 games in his 8 years with the Nets and he averaged 24.8 minutes, 11.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.1 blocked shots per game.  Gminski is still #2 in Nets’ history in games played with his 550 of them.  He is also #4 in offensive rebounds (1,231), #5 in defensive rebounds (2,440), #4 in total rebounds (3,671), #3 in blocked shots (599) and #10 in points scored (6,415) in Nets’ history.

25-year old center Brook Lopez was involved in a lot of trade rumors last summer, but in the end they kept him.  Lopez played in 74 games (all starts) for the Nets last year and he averaged 30.4 minutes, 19.4 points, 6.9 rebounds, 0.9 assists and 2.1 blocked shots per game.  Lopez has now played in 325 games (318 starts) in his first five years with the Nets and he is averaging 33.2 minutes, 17.9 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.7 blocked shots per game.  Lopez is already #7 in Nets’ history in offensive rebounds (908) and he is also #4 in blocked shots (568).

The Nets fired head coach Avery Johnson after a disappointing 14-14 start to the 2012-13 season.  They replaced him with 63-year old P.J. Carlesimo, who led the Nets to a 35-19 (64.8%) record the rest of the regular season.  The Nets then lost a very hard fought seven game playoff series with the Bulls.  For all of Carlesimo’s good work, he got rewarded by the Nets’ front office by get fired by them.  Carlesimo is now 239-315 (43.1%) during the regular season and he is 6-13 (31.6%) in the playoffs in his first 9 years as a NBA head coach.  The Nets are going to be on the hunt for a big time name head coach to take over the team for the 2013-14 season and beyond.

The Nets didn’t get much production out of their rookies in 2012-13.  27-year old forward Mirza Teletovic played the most of the Nets’ rookies in 2012-13.  He played in 53 games (0 starts) for the Nets last year and he averaged 9.4 minutes, 3.5 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.  He only shot 38.4% from the floor last year, which isn’t going to cut it.  Teletovic had 4 games with 10 or more points and 8 games with 5 or more rebounds last year.  23-year old point guard Tyshawn Taylor played in 38 games (0 starts) for the Nets last year and he averaged 5.8 minutes, 2.2 points, 0.5 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game.  Taylor had 2 games with 10 or more points last year for the Nets.  21-year old forward Tornike Shengelia played in 19 games (0 starts) for the Nets last year and he averaged 4.9 minutes, 1.6 points, 1.2 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game.  24-year old small forward Kris Joseph signed with the Nets late in the season.  He played in 4 games (0 starts) for the Nets last year and he averaged 7.5 minutes, 0.5 points and 0.5 rebounds per game.  Joseph played in 10 games (0 starts) for the Celtics and Nets last year and he averaged 5.4 minutes, 0.9 points, 0.7 rebounds and 0.1 assists per game.  The Nets aren’t going to bank on any of these guys being big time players for them any time soon.

The Brooklyn Nets finished the 2012-13 season with a 49-33 record, which had them in 2nd place in the Atlantic Division, 5 games behind the Knicks.  The Nets then got bounced in 7 very hard fought games in the first round of the playoffs by the Chicago Bulls.  Here is a look at the players who made the biggest impacts for the Nets in 2012-13, in my opinion:

TEAM MVP:  Deron Williams - The offense only clicked on all cylinders for the Nets when Williams stepped up his game.  He played in 78 games (all starts) for the Nets in 2012-13 and he averaged 36.4 minutes, 18.9 points, 3.0 rebounds, 7.7 assists and 1.0 steal per game.  Williams had 21 double-doubles for the Nets last year.  He had 32 games with at least 20 points and 22 games with 10 or more assists last year.

BIGGEST SURPRISE:  Brook Lopez - 25-year old center Brook Lopez stayed healthy all year in 2012-13 and he came back with a vengeance.  Lopez played in 74 games (all starts) for the Nets last year and he averaged 30.4 minutes, 19.4 points, 6.9 rebounds, 0.9 assists and 2.1 blocked shots per game.  Lopez had 12 double-doubles for the Nets last year.  Lopez had 36 games with 20 or more points, 13 games with 10 or more rebounds and 28 games with at least three blocked shots for the Nets in 2012-13.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT:  Kris Humphries  -28-year old power forward Kris Humphries averaged a double-double for the Nets in 2010-11 and 2011-12, but he got into the Dog House early in the 2012-13 and he never got out of it…..losing his starting job to Reggie Evans.  Humphries played in 65 games (21 starts) for the Nets last year and he averaged 18.3 minutes, 5.8 points, 5.6 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game.  He had six double-doubles for the Nets last year.  Humphries had 18 games with at least 10 points and 9 games with at least 10 rebounds in 2012-13.

The Nets were down 61-44 at the half, but then they almost came all the way back as they played inspired ball in the 3rd and 4th quarter.  Deron Williams (24 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists) and Brook Lopez (21 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 2 blocked shots) led the way for the Nets last night.  Gerald Wallace also came alive with 19 points, 2 rebounds and 5 assists in this game.  The Nets’ 2012-13 is now over as the Bulls beat them 4-3 in this series.

The Nets walked into Chicago last night and they got a huge win over the Bulls.  Brook Lopez (17 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals and 2 blocked shots), Deron Williams (17 points, 2 rebounds and 11 assists) and Joe Johnson (17 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals) led the way for the Nets in this game.  Gerald Wallace also had a solid game with 15 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists last night.  Andray Blatche (10 points and 7 rebounds in 19 minutes) and Reggie Evans (2 points and 15 rebounds) also had decent games for the Nets.  The Nets have evened up this series at 3 games apiece.

25-year old center Brook Lopez has been taking full advantage of Joakim Noah’s foot injury so far in this series.  He has played in 5 games (all starts) for the Nets so far in the playoffs and he is averaging 37.8 minutes, 23.6 points, 8.0 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 3.4 blocked shots per game.  In his last two games, Lopez is averaging 43.5 minutes, 27.0 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.0 blocked shot per game.  The Nets need Lopez to have another big game tonight in Chicago if they are going to keep their season going.