PHILADELPHIA -- They just made a stop in Philadelphia, so why not be the first to throw it out. Can the New Jersey Nets make a run at the 1972-73 76ers' all-time futility mark of 9-73?
The Nets are the NBA's only winless team at 0-6 after Friday night's 97-94 loss to the 76ers and every day another player seems to get hurt. Call them the New Jersey Gnats the way they're dropping like flies.
OK, so it's way too early to think these Nets are going to make history for basketball badness. And, besides, Nets guard Rafer Alston gets upset when somebody calls his team the NBA's worse.
"That does (hurt) because you know you have a lot of pride,'' Alston said. "It hurts to be considered the worst ... when you know you have a lot of basketball and life in your game and there's a lot of pride in each man.''
Of course, being bad might be all that bad for the Nets, who had just nine healthy bodies entering Friday's game, a number that dropped to eight when guard Courtney Lee was lost with a strained left groin.
The Nets have tried to clear as much salary-cap room as possible for next summer's big free-agent class, and could have around $24 million. Add in a bushel of lottery ping-pong balls, and there's a good chance of a very high pick to go along with all that money.
That was the formula the Denver Nuggets used early this decade when they tore down the team and went 17-65 in 2002-03. The result was landing Carmelo Anthony, the No. 3 pick in the 2003 NBA draft, to go along with a bunch of cap room, and that has helped the Nuggets make the playoffs the past six seasons.
The general manger of the Nuggets then was Kiki Vandeweghe. The general manager of the Nets now is Vandeweghe, although he doesn't have the same say he did then due to New Jersey president Rod Thorn.
"It's sort of a similar situation,'' said Vandeweghe, comparing those Nuggets with these Nets. "Players are getting a little bit older, great players with longer-term deals, and we weren't winning. So we had to try to figure out a way how you're going to win. What's the best way to go?
"So we tried to redo (the Nets) as quickly as possible. That's what you want to do. How can we win quickly? So we were lucky to be able to move all of the long-term deals and the bigger contracts, which was difficult to do in this economic environment. You try to get as much flexibility as you can.''
Starting with the All-Star break in 2008, the Nets dealt their three big stars in Jason Kidd, Richard Jefferson and Vince Carter. And they haven't picked up any guys since then with big money.
Wait a minute. They did get one. That would be Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, who is in line to buy the team and hopes to finalize a move to Brooklyn.
The Nets hope the lights of New York City will be enough to tantalize a big-name free agent to come their way. LeBron James? Dwyane Wade? Chris Bosh?
For now, though, NBA bylaws say the Nets still have to play this season. If they had all their bodies, perhaps the Nets wouldn't be the worse team in the NBA. But take away ailing Devin Harris, Yi Jianlian, Jarvis Hayes, Tony Battie, Keyon Dooling, Chris Douglas-Roberts and now Lee, and there's not much left.
"We've got I guess five of our first eight hurt,'' said Vandeweghe, at least expressing some relief that most of those players are expected back within a few weeks.
But there's much less relief for Nets coach Lawrence Frank. He's got a won-loss record sinking faster than the Dow Jones average did last fall.
There is speculation Frank won't end up being long for New Jersey. But he said he can't be worried about his job security.
"I can't control (that),'' said Frank, who calls it a "challenge'' to press on with all the injuries but won't use them as an excuse. "This organization has been great to me. I just have got to continue to do the best job that we can and can't worry about the things I can't control.''
Frank's Nets did fall apart in the second half Wednesday to Denver, losing 122-94 after leading 51-50 at the half. But they battled hard on the road Friday, leading by as many as eight points early in the fourth quarter before their lack of manpower finally caught up.
Count Nets forward Trenton Hassell as a player who is standing behind his embattled coach.
"He's a good coach,'' Hassell said. "You can't really worry about that as a player. You've got to keep on trusting what he is doing and believe in him because he is the leader of this team.''
Also count Hassell as one who, like Alston, doesn't believe his team should be known as the New Jersey Nots.
"I don't think we're the worst team in the league,'' Hassell said. "We just aren't getting the breaks right now. We've been in some tough games, and we've played some great teams. I think we're due.''
Why does one think that perhaps the Nets aren't due Saturday? They play host to the Boston Celtics, who figure to be quite ornery after falling at home Friday to Phoenix for their first loss of the season.
It remains to be seen who the nicked-up Nets might be able to be beat to get out of November with a win. Best bets look to be home games Nov. 11 against Philadelphia, Nov. 17 against Indiana and Nov. 21 against New York.
What should the game against the Knicks, who also will have more than $20 million of room next summer, be called? The Cap-Room Bowl?
But while Nets executives and fans are dreaming of free agents who might come their way next summer, that's not the general view among players. After all, the Nets are in line to have seven of their 15 players become free agents next summer.
"We see it as we've got 15 guys under contract so the future is now,'' said forward Eduardo Najera, who has two years left on his contract after this one. "We're aware there's going to have cap room but, at the same time, there are lot of free agents who are going to try to perform so we stay here.''
A guy who won't be going anywhere for a while is center Brook Lopez, one of the NBA's top young big men who scored a game-high 22 points Friday. But Lopez isn't thinking about the team's long-term future.
He's trying to get a win. And he wants one in a hurry.
"What more can you say now?'' said Lopez, not side-stepping questions about the talk of the Nets being the dregs of the NBA. "We're winless. But we're working really hard.''
The odds say that hard work and getting some players back from injury will get the Nets well past Philadelphia's infamous nine-win total. But can they avoid being the worst team in New Jersey history?
That would be the 1989-90 Nets, who went an NBA-worse 17-65. But they did get the opportunity to pick first in the 1990 draft.
They took Derrick Coleman.
Hmm. Maybe being really bad isn't all it's cracked up to be.
Chris Tomasson can be reached at tomasson@fanhouse.com and on Twitter @christomasson.
