Carter won't be next to go

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on February 21, 2008 at 3:00 AM, updated February 21, 2008 at 3:12 AM


One star's gone, but the other is staying.

And no matter what you've been reading, that is the boss' latest edict.

The deals floated on the internet about Vince Carter got Rod Thorn's attention yesterday, and they were just outlandish enough to get the Nets president to flatly deny it with the trade deadline pending at 3 p.m. today.

"We're not going to move him. Not before the trade deadline, anyway," Thorn said of Carter. "I'm not saying we'll never move anybody, but we're not going to move him (now).

"I read a trade today that we're going to give him to the Knicks. If we were trying to do something with our cap, then maybe you consider it. But it's nothing we never even talked about. Someone's floating some trial balloon there."

Thorn added that his team is not likely to make another move today ("We've got nothing going on right now"), and other Nets officials -- who cannot be identified because they don't speak for the club -- said the team is out of the running for both Mike Miller and (by choice) Jermaine O'Neal.

The reason Thorn is so adamant about keeping Carter around is simple: He has not wavered from the mission statement, which is all about making the playoffs. And if Carter is moved for expiring contracts, the Nets would be lucky if they can score 75 points a game.

Still, why the playoff mandate? Why does it make sense at this point, when -- barring an unforeseen growth spurt from Marcus Williams -- they are point-less?

"To me, everywhere I've ever been, since I've been a GM, I believed you always try to make the playoffs," Thorn said. "I think it's important. If you let your team know that you don't care or don't want to make it, that is the wrong message to the players. So I've never done that.

"One year I was coaching in Chicago, and we won the last two games and it put us back one spot back in the draft. But I still say that you try to win every game, and you play as hard as you can. Maybe if you're out of it, you play younger players more, but for the integrity of the game, you play every game to win."

The Nets aren't just point-less, they are captain-less.

But it wouldn't surprise Lawrence Frank if both Carter and Richard Jefferson assume the latter role in tandem.

"We haven't officially appointed a new captain," said the coach, who didn't sound inclined to leave it to a player vote. "Leadership should be earned, not appointed.

"So Richard and Vince are the logical candidates, two of our best players. And it's important for your best players to model the right behavior. So we're going to put the onus on those guys to raise it up, and if at some point we have to make something official, we will make it official. The title is just a title, it has to be displayed every day."

Another country heard from: Phil Jackson offered his take on the Nets-Dallas trade in Sports Illustrated yesterday.

"I was a Devin Harris fan, so I'm happy to see him in the East, personally," the Lakers coach said. "He's a good player, took a lot of charges, an improving player, one of those young kids with good energy. Got the ball back for his team a lot. I know they'll miss him. But this is a trade that brings a lot of veteran leadership to Dallas."