Wade, James On Brooklyn, Lopez

Two years ago, the Nets were desperate for a franchise player to be the cornerstone for their move to Brooklyn. The 2010 free agency class was stacked with LeBron, Wade, Bosh and others, but ultimately fell short of getting even on of those star names on their team. Instead, they got Outlaw, Petro and the like.

Wade and James both acknowledged previously that they liked to potential of Brooklyn. They knew it would be a great thing to be a part of, but time was not on their side. They reiterated that again yesterday, saying that they wanted something at that time, thus forming the Miami Heat Big Three.

“They had a very great presentation when I was in the meeting with them,” said Wade. “It was very exciting to think about Brooklyn, to think about being the first. I knew what they were embarking on was going to be exciting, ... But at that time that was two years away.

So the Nets tried to obtain Carmelo after, and ended up with Deron Williams, whose actions and words indirectly threatened that he would leave the Nets empty-handed his free agency. Thankfully, he resigned and the Nets were able to start Brooklyn off with the right off-season.

“Once they [were] able to get Deron Williams down there I knew they had the right centerpiece ... and having Brook Lopez already, he’s one of the best centers in our league. There’s excitement [about it] around the league. It’s great for our league. Its great for fans of our game, and obviously it’s great for Brooklyn.’’

Did anyone else catch that? "... having Brook Lopez already, he's one of the best centers in our league."

Since the Nets move to Brooklyn, Lopez has been getting more and more publicized praise by both players, analysts and coaches alike. That is, without a doubt, an encouraging statement for our young center.

James commented that the Nets now have a "cool factor". How many times are we going to here this? It's already been more than the amount of times the New Jersey Nets were called that.

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