Forget about those days where the Nets were perennial contenders in the Eastern Conference with Jason Kidd, Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson because these days are gone!  President Rod Thorn and G.M. Kiki Vandeweghe are already thinking in the future and although the Nets are going to experience some fairly severe growing pains in this season, this was the right move for the franchise.

Now without Vince Carter, the leader of this franchise is now Devin Harris. It might be a surprise that a player who was the fourth offensive option in Dallas a couple of years ago is now the face of this franchise, but Harris earned the right with his stellar performances last season. Head Coach Lawrence Frank realized the quickness and explosiveness of Harris and built an offense around the point guard's ability to drive, dish and hit layups over his opponents. The result was 21.3 points per game, 6.9 assists per game, 1.65 steals per game and an All Star nod. However for this season, without Vince Carter, Harris will be the Nets' biggest threat and the opponents will send an extra player to limit him. Last season, he ended with a not looking good number of 3.07 Turnovers per game and the Nets will need to find a way to at least keep these ugly numbers.

Behind Harris, the Nets have a young core of players that can develop and turn into really good players in the future. Probably the best pick of the last season draft (taking in account that the Nets had the 10th selection) was Brook Lopez, who showed that he can be a special player in this league. We are talking about a 21-years old kid that is a legit 7-footer player playing at the center position. Granted you won't find many players with these characteristics in the present! Lopez hit over 53% of his field goals last year, grabbed 8.1 rpg, scored 13 ppg, blocked nearly two shots per game and hit nearly 80% of his free throws (another unusual aspect for a 7-footer player - just ask Shaq and Howard about this). We can expect him to develop his game and I wouldn't be surprised if he can put 15 points and 10 rebounds in each game this season.

Although the departure of Vince Carter was a big blow for the Nets, they didn't trade him for nothing. In fact they received one young player with some talent named Courtney Lee, who was a little-known rookie at the beginning of the year with a residual role in the Magic's bench, but he finished the season averaging 8.4 points per game, while shooting 45 % from the field and 40.4 % behind the arc and turned into a decent defensive player. With his quickness, if Lawrence Frank finds a way to combine him with Harris, the Nets backcourt can be a nightmare for the opponents with their quickness and explosiveness in fast transitions.

The Nets have a solid and deep rotation in the backcourt. Rafer Alston will be a solid backup of Devin Harris, if he accepts his new role in this team. In the last 7 seasons, Alston averaged always more than 30 minutes per game, so this will be a challenge for him. Last season, he played well in Orlando by shooting 41.3 % from the field and averaging 12.0 points per game, but he is an inconsistent player who takes a lot bad shots. Terrence Williams brings some defensive toughness for the Nets' porous perimeter defense. Jarvis Hayes and Keyon Dooling both can hit 3-pointers from the corner and taking advantage of the opponent's pressure in Harris leaving them wide open. The Nets surely don't have the best backcourt of the league, but they have talent and depth to be solid during the season.

The biggest problem for the Nets is their frontcourt besides Brook Lopez. The Nets don't have a single reliable scoring threat down the post that can score double digits points every night. Their best talented big player Yi Jianlian is yet to prove that he can be an effective player. He has a good jump shot, but he needs to stop shooting long 2-point field goals and to start attacking the rim. This will be a decisive season for him. It's impossible for a team to rely only in jump shots and the Nets must avoid being such one dimensional team.

Josh Boone, Sean Williams, Tony Battie and Bobby Simmons complete the frontcourt, but none of them is a capable offensive threat and this is will be the biggest problem for the Nets for this season. Their lack of interior scoring will turn the Nets into a one dimensional team. Probably the Nets will attack the next off season to secure a prolific Power Forward, but until then the Nets will struggle in this department.

The Nets ended last season with a 34-48 record, but they had a solid start (15-17 record at the end of the year) that kept them in the playoff picture later. A similar record this season will be a great accomplishment,  as the Nets are exclusively focused in preparing the future. Probably they would wish to fold this season, but Lawrence Frank has some talent to develop and this will be the primary goal for them.