Nets are heading to Brooklyn -- will NJ ever get another team? (Newark Star-Ledger)

Highlighting the best comments from the NJ.com community (Newark Star-Ledger)

Bruce Ratner hit the airwaves today, talking to WFAN hours before the Brooklyn groundbreaking. Not sure about this, but we think it’s the first time he’s spoken publicly since he sold the team to Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov. As a colleague said to me last night, it’s wrong that Ratner goes on these shows when these major things happen and doesn’t talk to the regular guys covering the team. We haven’t spoken to Ratner since last April. Now we know there are worse owners. (In the 'Zzone)

Opponents of the massive Atlantic Yards development project in Brooklyn are protesting the official groundbreaking ceremony. They held a mock funeral Thursday before the official event “to bury the soul of Brooklyn.” The event took place in front of a dive bar that is scheduled to be demolished to make... (New York Post.Nets)

Opponents of project hold mock funeral (Newark Star-Ledger)

They are breaking ground in Brooklyn today for a new arena that the Nets will play in. As part of the publicity campaign, Bruce Ratner went on WFAN and talked about a wide range of topics in a good interview with Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts. You can read about most of it in tomorrow's paper but here are a few out-takes.

This sounds good for Nets fans who are hoping to land LeBron over the summer. Ratner said he thinks Jay-Z will play a greater role with the team in the future.

"Jay-Z has been involved since the day we bought the team, and very involved," Ratner said. "Whether it was advice on players or advice on marketing, aside from being a great musician, he’s a great business person. And he will stay quite involved and I think even more so."

He is hopeful that Rod Thorn will be back as team president. I was kind of thinking that we'd get a definitive answer here, but apparently Ratner has no say in this. It will all be up to new owner Mikhail Prokhorov.

"I certainly hope so," Ratner said when asked if Thorn will return. "He’s a consummate professional, manager, general manager. And overall, in the years that I’ve been involved, he’s done a great job. This year is disappointing for Rod and for me. But he did create a situation where we have a lot of cap space and we’ll get a very good draft choice and I hope he’s back."

Asked if the Nets will undergo some "stupid" name change when they move to Brooklyn, Ratner said, "I don’t think so. I don’t think we’re going to have any stupid name change." So it looks like the Nets will be the Nets for years to come.

Jason Kidd was one of the former Nets to blame Ratner's penny pinching for the team's fall from prominence. Kidd did not mention Ratner yesterday before the Nets played in Dallas but he did cite Prokhorov as reason Nets fans should be hopeful for a bright future.

Here's what Ratner said about the team's greatest player taking shots at him: "Jason is a great player. I have a nice relationship with him. Really, I’m not bothered by that at all. This team, the Nets, was really in large part the creation of Jason, and we’re very grateful for that. I think we'll move on and be great again."

As for what he will most be remembered for by hardcore Nets fans, Ratner again admitted that sending Kenyon Martin to Denver in a sign-and-trade deal was a bad idea at the time. But he did say it probably worked out to be the right decision in the long run.

"I’ve said this before, we should have probably have kept Kenyon Martin," Ratner said. "(But) it worked out. The next two years he basically didn’t play because of injuries anyhow. So even if it worked the other way it wouldn't have made any difference. It may have been worse. We would now have a situation where we would have very little cap space. We’d have a salary probably 16, 17 million dollars a year. Kenyon is a great person, a great player, but I think it was the right decision. I think it’s worked out as the right decision for this team. Because in six years that we’ve been in ownership we’ve been in the playoffs three years. We haven’t made it to the Finals again but I don’t think that would have happened anyhow given Kenyon’s injuries for the next two years."

Finally, there has been talk that the Islanders could move into the Barclays Center. Ratner said that's doubtful and that he's hoping that team's owner, Charles Wong, gets his own arena built on Long Island in the future.

"It’s always an option," Ratner said of the Islanders to Brooklyn idea. "I think it’s not necessarily likely but it certainly is an option. But I think first we have to hope that Charles Wong does get his arena built and the Islanders stay here and that they have a great place to play. For the region, it’s important for the Islanders to stay. It’s important that they have a great place to play. And I believe that if there’s somebody that can do it, I think Charles is the person."

(The InterNets)

New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, Gov. David Paterson expected to attend (Newark Star-Ledger)

DALLAS -- The Mavericks last night ran their winning streak to 13 games. The Nets and their 7-57 record were run out of town. Jason Kidd had 20 points and nine assists, hitting 5 of 8 from 3-point range, and the Mavericks recovered from a lethargic start in beating the... (New York Post.Nets)

Mavs match NBA's longest winning streak this season (Newark Star-Ledger)

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban got a laugh at the Izod Center fans chanting “Thank you, Cuban,” toward the end of a game last season in which Devin Harris badly outplayed Jason Kidd in his East Rutherford return and the Nets won. “I hated losing that game, but the chant cracked me up,” Cuban said. “I always prefer that fans give me a hard time rather than heckle our players.” Cuban still is laughing, but for different reasons. (In the 'Zzone)

Highlighting the best comments from the NJ.com community (Newark Star-Ledger)

Jason Kidd may very well be laughing on the inside, but he continues to say nice things about the Nets.

After the Dallas Mavericks went through a morning workout to prepare for tonight's game against the Nets, Kidd spoke of his former team, which is bringing a 7-56 record into the game.

Like everyone else, Kidd sees some big changes coming to New Jersey and he anticipates that the team will be much better in the not-so-distant future.

"It's a transition stage for them," said Kidd. "They have a plan, and that's to start with a new owner here shortly and go from there...They have the upcoming draft and they'll try to get that team back to the playoffs...They'll get it turned around over there. They've got good people and from what I've heard the new owner is exciting and wants to win so that's what it takes."

Kidd was referring to Mikhail Prokhorov, obviously, the Russian billionaire who is expected to be approved as the new owner sometime in the early to middle part of April. Kidd has already stated publicly that he thinks the downward spiral the Nets have been on started when current owner Bruce Ratner bought the team just after the Nets made back-to-back Finals appearances early last decade.

Kidd has no reason to knock his old team while it's down. Remember, he's the one who requested a trade and Rod Thorn could not have put him in any better position. Look where Richard Jefferson ended up after playing in New Jersey ... Milwaukee! But Kidd now has a chance to win the title that has eluded him so far. The Mavericks are the second-best team in the West and could make a run at the Finals.

"At the end of the day that's all you can ask for, a chance," said Kidd, who is averaging 10 points, 5.5 rebounds and 9.4 assists. "You're not guaranteed to win, but we've worked extremely hard since the summer and put ourselves in this position."

The Nets will see another former teammate tonight, Eduardo Najera. But he will be in an unfamiliar position - on the court.

Since being traded to Dallas in January, Najera has played in 18 games for the Mavericks. He played in only 13 games for the Nets this season, missing time early while he recovered from hernia surgery and then being sidelined later with a bad back. He played in just 40 games over a season and half in New Jersey.

"It seems like week two here I turned the corner and started to feel pretty well," said Najera, who's averaging about 13 minutes a game.

Bobby Marks, the Nets' VP of Basketball Operations, will be taking part in the 14th Annual Fordham Sports Law Symposium on March 26. Marks will be part of a panel discussion on the topic of The Legality and Impact of Age Restrictions into Professional Sports.

The event is open to the public and free and will take place at the James B.M. McNally Amphitheatre.

(The InterNets)

Eduardo Najera is back at home and back playing with Dallas, and yes, his back is fine. The Nets did Najera a favor sending him from the worst team to one of the best in NBA history. (That’s two big favors now because a four-year deal seemed to be a little excessive). But that’s not Najera’s fault. It’s the Nets. Najera is a good guy, who’s playing hard, trying to earn his money with the Mavericks and loving the fact he went from worst to first. (In the 'Zzone)

Devin Harris will get cheered tomorrow and will get to see some of his old teammates when the Nets play Dallas. But there aren’t that many left. There’s Dirk Nowitzki, Erick Dampier, Jason Terry , Jose Barea and technically, Eduardo Najera. On the other side, Jason Kidd has only played with Josh Boone. (In the 'Zzone)

Mikhail Prokhorov won't attend Barclays Center groundbreaking ceremony (Newark Star-Ledger)