Nets and Barclays Center CEO Brett Yormark said that the team sold "roughly 500 new season tickets on Tuesday, turning in a one-day, seven-figure haul," according to Stefan Bondy of the N.Y. DAILY NEWS. It was the "best day Yormark could remember in his seven years with the Nets, and perhaps record-breaking." It came on the day G Deron Williams "decided to return and a day after the Nets secured six-time All-Star Joe Johnson in a trade that won't be official until July 11" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 7/4). In N.Y., Tim Bontemps noted Tuesday's success "continues what has been an impressive run since the team officially was unveiled as the Brooklyn Nets within the shadow of their new arena, Barclays Center, on April 30." Yormark said, "I think we are hitting our stride now, and I would hope this momentum will continue, and I anticipate it will" (NYPOST.com, 7/4). Also in N.Y., Harvey Araton writes it was Williams' decision "to stay after the Nets banked their foreseeable future on him that instantly established elusive franchise legitimacy" (N.Y. TIMES, 7/5). ESPN N.Y.'s Ian O'Connor wrote Nets GM Billy King "just finished off a move worthy of a Sinatra tune." Williams "will stick around for a long time, and so will the bold GM who signed him" (ESPNNY.com, 7/3). In N.Y., Mike Lupica writes, "First Joe Johnson and now Williams re-signs. If [Magic C Dwight] Howard joins them, this becomes as big a week as any sports team could have around here" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 7/5).
PERFECT MARRIAGE: ESPN’s Mike Greenberg said, “No team may ever have needed a free agent as badly as the Nets needed Deron Williams." Greenberg: "When you take into consideration what was at stake for their franchise ... the entire perception of the franchise completely changes. I think you can't overstate the significance to the franchise of the decision that Deron Williams made.” ESPN’s Mike Golic said Nets Owner Mikhail Prokhorov and investor Jay-Z “want to win in New York and knock the Knicks off the backpage." Golic: "They want to be the team in New York now. I'm sure part of that was Prokhorov saying, ‘Do what you have to do, spend what you have to spend.’” Greenberg: “Guys like Prokhorov and Jay-Z aren’t going to be irrelevant” (“Mike & Mike in the Morning,” ESPN Radio, 7/4). ESPN.com's J.A. Adande said with Williams, Johnson, F Gerald Wallace and C Brook Lopez, the Nets are a "playoff team, and that’s an improvement and something to sell to the fans in their locale of Brooklyn” ("Around The Horn," ESPN, 7/3).
BROOKLYN, BROOKLYN TAKE ME IN: TNT’s David Aldridge said of Williams staying with the Nets, “Moving to Brooklyn and a new arena were huge aspects of this. If they stayed in New Jersey ... he would probably be going to Dallas right now. That the fact that he’s going to New York and has a chance to really be the focal point of a team moving into a brand new building with an owner who thinks globally and has global visions for the Nets, I think that combination took over and was big in the decision” (“NBA Gametime,” NBA TV, 7/3).
