HOOPSWORLD | Basketball News & NBA Rumors

And the Top Pick Is…

Duke freshman Kyrie Irving has declared for the NBA Draft in a statement on the school’s Web site.

“Our whole program is overjoyed with having Kyrie here for one year and that he has the chance now to pursue a dream of being a high draft pick and a great player in the NBA,” coach Mike Krzyzewski said in the statement. “We are totally supportive of Kyrie, his family and his decision. We look forward to continuing to work with him during the upcoming months leading to his entry in the NBA and afterwards while he is an NBA player. He is a great young man, a terrific student, and a truly amazing representative for our program and for Duke. We love him and are very happy for him and his family.

A native of New Jersey, Irving battled a toe injury as a freshman, but still managed to average 17.5 PPG, 3.4 RPG and 4.3 APG in 26 appearances for the Blue Devils. He is presumed to be the top pick of next year’s draft regardless of which team wins the lottery.

There is no word yet on whether or not he’s hired an agent.

But You Know Who Hasn’t Hired An Agent?

North Carolina’s Tyler Zeller and John Henson will return next season, but Harrison Barnes is still “reviewing information,” while determining if he will enter the NBA Draft, according to an Associated Press report. UNC released a statement that said two thirds of its starting frontcourt have returned and quoted coach Roy Williams as saying that Barnes “is not as far along” in deciding his future.

That means the Tar Heels should be an early favorite for the top ranking in the country when next season begins. Even if Barnes does go to the NBA, Bob McAdoo’s nephew James is supposedly the next great Roy Williams recruit at Chapel Hill.

Nets Take Brooklyn and Manhattan

Generally speaking, New York’s pro teams don’t require a lot of billboard advertisement.

Folks know the Yankees, Giants and Rangers play in the Bronx, East Rutherford and midtown Manhattan respectively. Nobody needs a sign to say, “Get on the 7 train to go see the Mets.”

But the New Jersey Nets don’t have that luxury. In the past the team has paid for fans’ tolls on the New Jersey Turnpike and shot instructional videos on how to ride the rails from midtown to their new home at Newark’s Prudential Center—anything to put themselves on New York’s sports map. 

Now the Nets have chosen Times Square for an 80′ x 60′ billboard featuring the image of star point guard Deron Williams taking a jump shot from across the East River and over the Brooklyn Bridge. The message couldn’t be simpler:

“#8 Deron Williams & The Nets” are “Bound For Brooklyn”

“This Times Square billboard tips off our dynamic ‘Brooklyn Bound’ campaign, which will see us doing major outdoor advertising in Brooklyn on billboards and phone kiosks,” said NETS CEO Brett Yormark in an official release. “Deron is arguably the best point guard in the NBA and he will be the face of our campaign as we prepare for the team’s exciting relocation to the Barclays Center of Brooklyn in 2012.”

Never mind that the Nets still have another season at Newark’s Prudential Center and Williams isn’t yet signed for the 2012-2013 campaign, which promises to be the team’s inaugural season at the Barclays Center. The point is the Nets are still taking aim at the bulk of the Knicks’ fan base.

People within earshot of Flushing Ave. in Brooklyn know where the Nets are moving, but wealthy Manhattanites may have no idea. After decades of shelling out big bucks at Madison Square Garden, wouldn’t they like another option?

Well the Nets have invested in their second Manhattan billboard in recent memory (the first featured owners Mikhail Prokhorov and Jay-Z) to find out.

The advertisement will be up until April 19, which is coincidentally around the time the Knicks will be starting their first-round playoff series.

Check out yesterday’s NBA PM for reaction to the Barclays Center tour.

Speaking of the Nets

The Nets had the luxury of being able to deal rookie Derrick Favors for Williams because they already had power forward Kris Humphries at the position. And if Al Iannazzone of The Bergen Record is right, Humphries won’t be leaving any time soon.

A source told Iannazzone that the team plans to re-sign Humphries—who is one of nine players averaging a double-double this season—when his contract expires after the season.

Humphries was in attendance when the team took some members of the media on a tour of the Barclays Center construction site in Brooklyn on Monday, so it makes sense that GM Billy King would see the Most-Improved-Player candidate in the team’s long-term plans.

(side note: Humphries is ranked as the 13th most-improved player using efficiency recap, according to HoopStats.com)

“I think this year’s been a great building year,” Humphries said before Tuesday’s win over Minnesota. “With the arena going up and our team feeling like we have pieces to go in the right direction—obviously there’s going to be some additions and stuff like that—it’s all going to hopefully come together in Brooklyn. Hopefully a lot of us are there to experience that.”

Meanwhile, Humphries has missed four consecutive games with a sprained right ankle and bruised heel, so he may have played his last game of the season. He still wants to play, but sitting could be the smartest decision for his financial future.

“If I was thinking about shutting it down, then [when] my back was hurting a couple weeks ago I probably would have done it then,” Humphries said. “It’s just one of those things where it’s more important about getting healthy and [you] make decisions from there.”

Humphries currently ranks fourth in the NBA in rebounding rate (22.0) and has pushed his Player Efficiency Rating to a career-high 17.91. He’s also improved his field goal percentage to 52.7%, which is a major reason why he’s averaging double figures (10.0 PPG) for his first time as a pro. 

{AUTHOR_BOX}Still Speaking of the Nets

Deron Williams may have hit the game-winning shot and tied a career high with 21 assists against the Timberwolves on Tuesday, but he did so in quite a bit of pain.

Coach Avery Johnson told reporters that Williams was to see a hand and wrist specialist and receive and MRI today. The results of the test have yet to be released, but it’s becoming obvious the more Williams plays, the more he puts himself at risk. As of now, no surgery—only rest—is required, and the Nets and Williams probably want to keep it that way.

“We’ll see where it goes from there,” Williams told ESPNNewYork’s Mike Mazzeeo, among other reporters, after the game. “I want to see what kind of rehab I need to do and not do. And things associated with this injury so I can get back to where it needs to be.

“I like to play basketball,” he continued. “But it’s definitely been a frustrating year and like I said, we were going to take the first three days off and take it day by day and the rest has felt good. I actually hurt it today when Jordan [Farmar] tried to give me a high-five. That’s the one time I hurt it today, so it’s just been a frustrating year in general. I had those couple of weeks off, played a couple of games in between, but I had some time off and it started to feel a little better. I look forward to getting it completely healthy in the offseason.”

Williams’ numbers have all taken a slight dip since he arrived from Utah before the deadline. His free throw mark is down from 85.3% with the Jazz to 79.3% with the Nets and he’s seen a similar decline in his 3-point percentage (34.5% to 27.1%) and overall field goal percentage (45.8% to 34.9%). The result has been a six-point dip in his per-game scoring average.

“It’s just frustrating for me that I can’t do the same things I normally do,” he said. There’s been a couple of games here that I wanted to take over, like I normally do, and I just can’t do. It’s been ongoing for a while now.

“I can’t finish like I finished before either,” he continued. “I just don’t have the same touch. I don’t have the same explosions I’ve had because I haven’t done anything. It’s not he same, you can’t simulate games. You don’t practice for two weeks and then play 40 minutes. It’s tough to do. You should try it.”

Truthfully, nobody should try it. Williams should take some time off, let his wrist heal and take his mind off the NBA while the season winds down. If he’s recuperated by next year, and it sounds like he will be, this rough stretch will be a tiny footnote in his career.

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