Are the Nets Dumping Brooklyn for Newark?

The short answer: no ... or at least, not yet.

Just days after learning that Nets owner Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards development (which includes the Barclays Center, ostensibly the Nets' future arena) in Brooklyn might be dying comes word that the team is negotiating to play three exhibition games next October at Newark's Prudential Center, the shiny new arena that's also home to the New Jersey Devils.

On the surface, big deal, right? Teams play out-of-market exhibition games all the time -- it's a good way to expand regional interest in the team. But if you connect the dots, those three games might represent something bigger.

If the economy continues to hamper Ratner's ability to fund his Brooklyn plans, he might see the Prudential Center as a fallback plan. The Nets currently play in East Rutherford's Izod Center, which is the oldest arena in the NBA this side of Madison Square Garden. Despite recent improvements, it's simply not a money-maker, not with its limited number of luxury suites, which are a cash cow for almost every other team in the league.

The Prudential Center, meanwhile, is less than two years old and is located a mere 12 miles away, which would allow the team to make a move without abandoning its regional fanbase. It'd be a boon to the Nets, who'd have more revenue streams while waiting for the economy to turn and make an eventual move to Brooklyn more feasible, and it'd be a nice bonus for the city of Newark, which, despite its reputation, is on the upswing.

With that in mind, consider those three exhibition games next fall as an experiment, a chance for the Nets ownership to check out the new arena without making a commitment ... yet. As Matt Moore pointed out earlier this week, the chances of poaching LeBron James in 2010 plummets if the team stays in New Jersey, but if the team is forced to abandon (or at least postpone) their ambitious Big Apple plans, well, moving to Newark might be better than doing nothing at all.