The Nets’ front office was probably doing backflips when they found that Roberts was waiting for them in the early stages of the 2nd round as most draft experts had him going in the 1st round. He has nice size at 6′7″, 200 pounds and he has a lot of big time experience in college. Roberts always seems to be taking good shots as he has nailed 54% of them in his career at Memphis State. Roberts has played in 109 games (100 starts) in his career at Memphis State and he averaged 14.2 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.0 steal per game. Look for him to push for minutes in his rookie season.

The Nets were pleased to see Ryan Anderson waiting for them with this pick as the Nets continued to go big at the draft. Anderson is 6′10″, 240 pounds and he likes to earn his money in the paint. Anderson played in 66 games (all starts) at California and he averaged 18.7 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game. Look for him to log a lot of minutes as a rookie and he could possibly win a starting job right out of the gate.

The New Jersey Nets wanted to get bigger in this draft and Brook Lopez is a good start. Lopez is 7′0″, 260 pounds and he plays a big man’s game. He is only 20 years old but he plays like a player much older and that’s a good thing. Lopez played in 53 games (43 starts) at Stanford and he averaged 16.0 points, 7.1 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.9 blocked shots per game. Look for Lopez to battle for a starting job from day #1 for the Nets. This was a good pick for the Nets.

The Nets have traded small forward Richard Jefferson to the Bucks for forwards Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons. It will be hard to replace Jefferson as he played in 82 games (all starts) for the Nets last season and he averaged 22.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. The biggest reason for this trade was to free up cap space for the 2010 season in which LeBron James could be a free agent. 20-year old power forward Yi Jianlian did show potential as a rookie last season in Milwaukee. He pitched a fit after getting drafted by the Bucks because he wanted to play in a big city and now he has gotten his wish. Yi played in 66 games (49 starts) as a rookie for the Bucks and he averaged 8.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. Look for his numbers to improve as he should get a lot more playing time with the Nets in 2008. 28-year old Bobby Simmons is a small forward who will get a chance to help replace the departed Jefferson. Simmons played in 70 games (21 starts) for the Bucks last season and he averaged 7.6 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. Simmons has now played in 342 games (182 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 10.0 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. This trade might help the Nets in the future if Yi blossoms and the Nets use the cap savings smartly in the future.

The Nets have released center/forward Jamaal Magloire. Magloire was a gigantic disappointment for the Nets this season after signing on as a free agent over the summer. He played in 24 games (2 starts) for the Nets this season and he averaged 10.8 minutes, 1.8 points, 3.4 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. He only shot 30.6% from the floor and 45.2% from the free throw line. The Nets won’t miss Magloire at all the rest of the season.