By FRED KERBER
HOUSTON – The rest of today. Tomorrow. Wednesday. And then Thursday up to 3 p.m. Eastern time.
Get through that and then we can put all trade talk away until the end of the season.
“We have nothing going on right now,” Kiki Vandeweghe said for the umpteenth time again yesterday.
And then maybe Vince Carter’s name will stop being the No. 2 name to appear in area sports sections after Alex Rodriguez. Carter has handled all the rumors and reports with class. Swears none of it bothers him. Says it might have when he was a young player back in Toronto. But having gone through it once before, he just shrugs it off.
Carter says he doesn’t even want to try figuring out all the whys and wherefores that go into a trade. But figure at this point, if the Nets were to deal him with the playoffs so seemingly realistic, the trade would be strictly based on economic reasons. What passes for a Net fan base now would take another hit. Trade Carter and look at the schedule. Pick any game. Bring the family. There would be plenty of good sections still available.
And Carter, who has sacrificed for the team’s development, knows he would be a bonus wherever he goes – or stays.
“I’ve been trying to do my best this year,” he said. “I think I’ve played pretty good basketball. And I feel like I can add to what they need. But you never know.”
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Yi Jianlian could be available to play Tuesday against the Rockets. The second year forward certainly believes he is ready while coach Lawrence Frank is holding all assessments until after the morning game-day shootaround.
“It’s going to take at least a good week just to get the rhythm and timing back. Let’s remember the finger he hurt was on his shooting hand. That’s going to take a little getting adjusted to as well,” Frank said.
Yi, who has been working out in New Jersey for a couple weeks, said he feels fine and “I should be able to play.”
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This is now a case that is going to be turned into a “Law and Order” episode with Jack McCoy seeking the death penalty. Sean Williams was arrested Sunday for violating terms of a restraining order that banned him from the Boston College campus. Williams, who declined comment, nodded his head affirmatively when asked if he had been invited to the B.C.-Duke game. So he went but violated the restraining order. Williams, you’ll recall, was bounced from the B.C. team in ’07 for repeated team violations (read: marijuana). So by showing up he was guilty of trespassing, a misdemeanor. He faces a court hearing later this month.
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Carter gave a round of support to Stromile Swift, whose back with the team but still dealing with the death of his mother.
“We’re going to help him out. He means a lot to our team. It’s another athlete, he gives us shot-blocking, jump-shooting,” Carter said. “He was playing great basketball before this situation.”
Swift said some days are better than others.
“It’s hard, man. I just try to take it one day at a time. Some days are okay. Some days it’s real hard. But I’m hanging in there,” he said.
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Devin Harris said his weekend was as expected – “it was all pretty laid back (but) there was so much stuff to do.”
Harris competed in the skills competition and then played in his first All-Star Game. And he got the NBA goodie bag including designer shoes and a personalized PlayStation3. Next up after Houston: another return to Dallas.
“Obviously I’m excited to go back to Dallas and but more importantly is for us to get off to a good start (against Houston),” said Harris who said the worst he expects from his old team’s crowd is a mixed reaction.
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Trade history: Under Rod Thorn, the Nets have been more apt to deal in the off-season. But they have made deals, some significant, around the deadline before. Look at last year:
Jason Kidd, Antoine Wright and Malik Allen for Harris, Trenton Hassell, Maurice Ager, DeSagana Diop, Keith Van Horn’s amazing expiring contract and first rounders in 2008 and 2010.
And two weeks before Jason Collins for Stromile Swift.
In 2006, they got Boki Nachbar for Marc Jackson and Linton Johnson.
In 2005, they got Cliff Robinson for a couple second rounders.
That pretty much was in under Thorn. The previous trade deadline deal goes all the way back to 1998 in a deal that did nothing for both teams: the Nets sent David Benoit, Kevin Edwards, the late Yinka Dare and a first rounder (Matt Harpring) to the Magic for an injured Rony Seikaly and Brian Evans.
The previous year, 1997, the Nets and Dallas basically swapped teams at the deadline.
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Useless fact of the day: We’re in oil country, so, a cruise liner such as the Queen Elizabeth II gets about six inches to a gallon of fuel.