(The trade) gives us the ability to remain under the luxury tax and to sign a player ? whoever that player may be, if there is a player that would fit our needs. |
[Carter was placed on the injured list by the Raptors after injuring his heel Dec. 9 in a loss at Detroit. He was eligible to return for New Jersey's contest Tuesday at Charlotte, but Thorn said the Nets don't want to take any chances. New Jersey also plays at home Wednesday against Cleveland, and then has four days off before resuming the season Dec. 27 at Detroit.] He sat out his five games but there is still a little inflammation, ... We only have the two games this week, and then we're off [for awhile] so it makes sense to give him some rest now. We want to make sure it's not chronic. |
[Carter, acquired Friday in a blockbuster trade with the Raptors, is still recovering from a strained Achilles heel injury and probably won't suit up for New Jersey until Dec. 27, Nets president Rod Thorn said Monday.] He probably won't play until after Christmas, ... We want him to be 100 percent. |
[The Nets are waffling about claiming Campbell off waivers -- but not because indications are the veteran center wants to be elsewhere.] All things being equal, you want people that want to play for you, ... The determination is, what does he have left in his game? |
[Today's] the day. I'm going to take as much time as allowed and make an informed decision based on all the information available. I've got to see what our options are, and then we'll go from there. |
After consulting with several noted specialists, we felt that rescinding the trade is our best course of action. |
All things being equal, you want people that want to play for you. The determination is, what does he have left in his game? |
And if you talk to our three best players, they all think we have a good team,' ... If you talk to Jason, his attitude is as positive as I've heard since then. When your better players think you have a good team, that's a very positive thing.' |
As far as we were concerned, we had a good season, with a real nice run at the end. But now, things start over. |
As he pointed out, there's a history of things with him - not just the fight. But I think there will be a lot of teams that will have an interest in him at some level. |
Barring injury, barring something crazy happening, I definitely think we're a playoff team. I think we're a team that certainly has a good chance to get home-court advantage in the first round. |
Before, teams would load up on (Carter). Now it is much harder to do that. |
Campbell's the best big [man] available, so I feel he can come in, play minutes for us and help us. We're not going to punt the season and give up. We still have a very good opportunity in our division, We've got a couple of top-flight players here and we feel he can be an asset to us. |
Don't have any plans to trade him. I'd never say we wouldn't trade anybody but I don't have any plans to trade him. We have indicated (to other teams) that we probably are not going to trade him. |
From an offensive standpoint, it's probably the deepest team we've had since [2001-02]. |