What could have been...

I am sad, distraught, angry, and worst of all, disillusioned.

This New Jersey Nets team had such a great run. They were the model franchise. The players were classy veterans, the brand of basketball was exciting. The core was intact, intense, and still developing.

Now, in one fell swoop, it is all over. Bruce RATner has purchased the team and destroyed it. He's taken a once vibrant franchise and smothered it.

I will not complain. I will not tell you how terrible an owner RATner is or how he should be held accountable for his actions, but never will.

Instead, I will let you know what my vision was. What I saw transpiring this off-season. I will inform you of what could have been.

Assume that Rodney Rogers, Hubert Davis and Brandon Armstrong were all let go as free agents and the Nets still drafted Christian Drejer in the second round of the draft.

The following steps are what I imagined happening before the beginning of the end.

Step #1: Sign Kenyon Martin to the max right away (7 years, $103 million). The core would have been set and in place for the next six years. Jason Kidd, Martin, and Richard Jefferson would have been together and signed.

Step #2: Trade Kerry Kittles, Aaron Williams, and No. 22 overall for Shareef Abdur-Rahim. The Nets would have acquired a post presence, a proven scorer, and an effective rebounder. A guy who has ability, but has never succeeded as "the man." A guy who would have embraced and flourished as the fourth option, the best fourth option in the league.

Step #3: Offer Brent Barry the full mid level exception guaranteed for four years right away. Barry would have accepted this deal and would have provided much needed shooting off the bench and a veteran presence to spell Kidd at PG.

Step #4: Do whatever is needed to sign Karl Malone to a one-year contract for the veteran minimum. Malone would have been an upgrade over the lost Aaron Williams on the bench and would have provided another hungry veteran who could have helped keep the Nets focused on another Championship run.

Step #5: If Mourning proved serious in making a comeback, do whatever necessary to insure he came back healthy and prepared. He would have been the 11th or 12th man off the bench, whatever the team had gotten out of him would have been gravy, but that gravy could have the difference in the playoffs.

Nets Roster C. Jason Collins PF. Shareef Abdur-Rahim SF. Kenyon Martin SG. Richard Jefferson PG. Jason Kidd

SG. Brent Barry PF. Karl Malone SG. Lucious Harris PG. Zoran Planinic PF. Brian Scalabrine C. Alonzo Mourning PF. Nenad Krstic SF. Christian Drejer

It pains me to think about how good this team could have been.

This roster still would have had the "Big Three," they would have as a good a fourth option as there is in the league, they would have had a deep bench with shooting, veteran guile and youth.

This is the Nets team I envisioned before RATner came and ruined it all.

Oh, what could have been, we'll never know.