Why the Nets would give up their leading scorer in Vince Carter, a proven NBA commodity who had serious chemistry with Devin Harris and a talented youngster in Ryan Anderson for what they got seems a bit obscene at first.

Sure, Rafer Alston is a talented point guard that showed flashes of brilliance during the playoffs, but the Nets already have a point guard, a good one at that and a more than competent backup in Keyon Dooling that proved during the season that he can be more than an understudy if he has to be. So where does Alston fit? Is Harris going to move to shooting guard to accommodate the loss of Carter? What’s going on here?

The same thing goes for the signing of Tony Battie, who despite being an excellent rebounder off the bench and a trusty veteran, comes in with players like Sean Williams, Josh Boone and cough, Yi Jianlian capable of manning the position and in need of minutes. With that being said, where will he fit in with the Nets?

Courtney Lee however is an interesting player. I think he can definitely be a solid small forward if given about 30 minutes a night and with some more pressure on him. He’s also an excellent three-point shooter that is far more explosive than Bobby Simmons, with much more upside. If he can score a dozen points a game and provide some energy, this trade may not be so bad.

With the drafting of Terrance Williams from Louisville as well, the Nets also continue to get younger and more energetic in addition to having cleared a ton of cap room by trading away high-priced veterans like Jason Kidd, Richard Jefferson and Vince Carter over the past two years.

It’s the end of an era.

But it could be the beginning of something great as well.

However at times, they actually looked like a playoff team and one that had a ton of potential.

Not many teams are in a situation to have two All-Stars while being under .500 and the Nets were pretty damn close to achieving that. As well, they had a host of talented youngsters that appeared to be turning the corner as well.

Now, despite the fact that the team should be happy with what they’ve gotten out of Brook Lopez this season and the flashes of brilliance from the rest of their babies, the Nets again, for the second season in a row will most likely be on the outside of the playoff picture, looking in.

17 losses in their last 23 games will do that sort of thing.

Now, a bigger dilemma than missing the playoffs is presented.

Is Nets head coach Laurence Frank to partially blame? Or is he rewarded for taking a team full of kids and dealing with injuries to his key players and making them at the very least, respectable.

“After the season, all of us get graded and rated,” Thorn said. “All of us. We look at everything at the end of the year.”

Heh, that doesn’t sound very good if you’re Frank.

The team too doesn’t know what to make of the speculation as well.

“It’s things we can’t control. The things we can control are on the floor,” Devin Harris told the AP. “Our effort, the things we do on the floor. And that’s the things we have to focus on. We can’t worry about that. It’s not a decision we make.”

Simply put, Frank was brought in to provide energy and get the team back the finals after Byron Scott could not.

Over the past few seasons, that situation, for a variety of reasons, has not changed.

Will Frank have to pay, with his job, at the end of the season?

“Rod, to me, is the premier executive in sports because he’s very honest,” Frank told Yahoo Sports. “I’ll take Rod Thorn any day of the week, not because he’s supported me, but because he’s always been honest with me. Everyone gets evaluated every year so this is no different than in the past. I don’t need a vote of confidence. What we need to do is play as hard as we can, compete and try to win as many games as possible. Then when the season is over then we’re all evaluated.”