The Nets have a lot of young talent and the trade that sent Vince Carter to the Magic loaded them up with even more youth. Can the Nets finish the season over .500? Can Courtney Lee develop into an All-Star? Will the Nets miss Vince Carter? Will Brook Lopez finally get his cookie? Here is the 2009-10 NBA Preview of the New Jersey Nets.

Additions/Subtractions – The Nets made a big trade in the off-season that sent Vince Carter to Orlando for Courtney Lee, Tony Battie, and Rafer Alston. Lee will be in the starting line-up, while Alston will add depth at point-guard by backing up Devin Harris. I like Battie off the bench, he was an asset for the Magic and Celtics. I love the drafting of Terrence Williams, he was a very good player at Louisville and can help this team as a rookie. He’s a big of a goof ball, but this team needs some characters.

2009-10 Expectations – The Nets have went 34-48 the last two seasons and have finished above .500 since 2005-06. Brook Lopez, Devin Harris, Courtney Lee, Yi Jianlian, and Terrence Williams could be one of the best sets of young talent in the league. A few years from now, they could be competing in the East, but they are still all pretty green and they need some more experience under their belt. The expectations of this team is to possibly finish around .500 and make the playoffs as one of the last seeds. Lawrence Frank is one of the longest-tenured coach in the NBA and I don’t expect that a rough season would end in getting fired, but if the ownership change happens, anything can happen.

2009-10 Prediction – The young talent on the Nets will start to mature this year and lead this team to a better record and a spot in the playoffs. I do worry about Rafer Alston coming off the bench, if he embraces the back-up role, he can help, but if he doesn’t, he’ll end up in the doghouse or on another team.

2009-10 Win Total – 42-40