Submitted by Chris, Jul 18, 2007 14:29

An interesting observation made here by John Hollinger. As one of the few true Nets fans out there I don't disagree with the stance taken here. I think many fans have blinders on when it comes to Thorn's decision making. I am certain I probably am. I am forever grateful for the franchise changing trades he has masterminded. The Kidd and Carter deals where steals then and steals now. No question. And of course he has made his fair share of blunders.

It should be noted that like most GM's/VP's Rod and Ed Stefanski have had their share of up's and down's. The original signing of Zo was highly questionable. No doubt the Rodney Rogers and the Dikembe Mutombo acquisitions never worked out as planned. Those moves were seen as gambles at the time and they simply did not work out.

However, there is no questioning that Thorn's intentions are noble. The Kenyon Martin deal was originally looked upon as a grave sin, a franchise killing free agent blunder, but a few years later how is Rod's decision looking now? Antoine Wright? A questionable pick, there is no questioning that.

When I first read of the Magliore signing and subsequent Adams release I was a bit surprised myself. Adams was everything Hollinger described in this article. Energetic, a spark plug, a decent defender and an overall solid bench player. So, like Hollinger I questioned the move. However, to blame this on Thorn and speak of his inability to build a supporting cast is simply not fair.

First, for every questionable/poor move he has made with the Nets, there are at least 2 that are positive. We can't overlook the fact that Thorn/Stefanski were the one's who drafted Hassan. This was not a lottery pick or even a late 1st round selection. They got him with a late 2nd round pick meaning almost all of the teams passed on him. TWICE! He turned into a solid role player but again, was he what the Nets needed? He was undersized, had no outside shot and played a position the Nets are seemingly overloaded at.

The addition of Magliore, like him or not, was what the Nets needed. A physical presence in the paint, to help alongside the developing Williams and Boone.

Before we go off and cast disparaging remarks on Thorn and company I think we need to remember that he wasn't just about the Kidd and Carter deals. He drafted Nenad Krstic with the 24th pick in 2002? A pretty solid choice I would say. He made an absolutely fantastic draft day steal in 2001 trading Eddie Griffin (whatever happened to that guy) for Brandon Armstrong, Jason Collins and some kid from Arizona named Jefferson. His acquisition of Clifford Robinson for a 2nd round pick was well intended and to Clifford's credit he played well until the 2006 playoff fiasco. The trade of Marc Jackson (yes, another failed experiment) for Bostjan Nachbar is looking better and better. And the draft of 2006 in which he selected both Marcus Williams and Josh Boone is too early to grade.

Although, I agree with Hollinger's article in theory, I'm going to give Rod and company the benefit of the doubt and see how things play out.

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