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Future Nets rookies MarShon Brooks, Jordan Williams and Bojan Bogdanovic said a quick “hello” and “goodbye” to the media at the team’s practice facility on Monday morning.

Following the press conference, Brooks and Williams were whisked away to Santa Barbara’s Peak Performance Project, where point guard Deron Williams has been organizing team workouts for the contracted players. Brooks and Jordan Williams might not do a lot of scrimmaging with their new teammates, but coach Avery Johnson and some of the Nets training staff will be observing and mapping out a summer plan for the impending lockout.

“They train and test them, different parts of their muscles,” general manager Billy King said. “Give them a plan.”

Meanwhile Bogdanovic, who signed a three-year contract with Istanbul’s Fenerbahçe Ülker prior to last week’s NBA Draft, is flying back overseas to return at a yet-to-be-determined date. King said Bogdanovic’s contract has an “out” after two seasons, but the team hopes to have him when they move to Brooklyn for the 2012-2013 season.

“As an organization, we’re going to try and push that out after one,” King said. “We knew that going in.”

Under the NBA’s current collective bargaining agreement, a team can only contribute $500,000 to a player’s buyout from a foreign team, but that’s something that could be changed by the time Bogdanovic is ready to return.

Even though fans have to wait for a possible lockout to see the rookies play—and in Bogdanovic’s case, they’ll be waiting longer—King believes this class adds more fuel to the Nets’ growing fire.

“When you go into the draft, you have ideas and thoughts on what you want to do,” he said. “If we could have scripted it, it would have ended the same way. I know coach and the staff worked really hard to figure out who might be there and if we could get these guys. For us to get Bojan, MarShon and to get Jordan, it’s pretty special because I think they all can provide something we’re trying to build.

“They’ll compete for minutes right away,” he continued. “MarShon, obviously can score and being a four-year guy, he’s going to compete right away. And Jordan, being a rebounder, that gives him an edge. It’s not like we need scoring from him. We need him to be who he is, so I think they’ll both have a chance to compete for minutes.”

{AUTHOR_BOX}Brooks Brings Honesty

In a culture that holds bloviating punditry in higher regard than perhaps it should, we often confuse speaking one’s mind with being honest. But the absence of an internal filter and the ability, courage, and confidence to express one’s true feelings in any setting are not one in the same. Simply dropping bombastic quotes might endear you to a few fans. Being frank and even vulnerable, on the other hand, can humanize you to anyone.

MarShon Brooks came off as being very human on Monday.

Prior to the draft, there might have been a growing perception that the comparisons to Kobe Bryant were giving Brooks an inflated opinion of himself. Draft night, however, wasn’t nearly as flattering, and Brooks didn’t hesitate to share his disillusionment with the media on Monday.

Brooks, 22, was projected to go before the Celtics selected him with the 25th overall pick (Boston immediately dealt him to New Jersey for JaJuan Johnson and a future second-round pick).

“It’s not frustrating,” Brooks said of being taken 25th overall. “It’s more so disappointing. I felt like I still have a lot to prove. I’ve always been the underdog so I’m used to that. I’m just humbled to be in this situation. It’s going to make me play that much harder.

“Honestly, once I got past Minnesota in the 20s, I got really, really nervous,” he added. “My agent and my mom were trying to keep me cool headed.”

The reason behind the disappointment was pretty simple: Brooks reportedly looked damn good in the pre-draft workouts.

“Let’s just say in the draft process,” Brooks replied after letting out a slight groan, “I played really well.”

Not everything went right for Brooks in the draft, and at the same time, not everything went wrong either. He landed on a team with a definite at his shooting guard, plus he was actually born in Long Branch, NJ and, when he wasn’t living with his mother in Atlanta, spent summers at basketball camps at the state’s Monmouth University. Brooks wasn’t even disappointed to be traded from the 17-time Champion Celtics because, he said, he barely had a minute to consider playing for Boston before he was dealt to New Jersey.

Perhaps the best thing about being on the Nets—especially for someone who lacked great teammates for four seasons at Providence College—is waiting for Brooks in Santa Barbara.

“I think that was the first thing that came to my mind,” Brooks said of playing with Deron Williams. “Especially with the season I had at Providence, not winning too many games; me, honestly being one of the only scoring threats on the team, where I’m catching the ball at the top of the key and I’m looking at the defense and… it’s basically three or four guys on me. I think it’s going to make life a lot easier on me, playing with somebody like Deron that can set me up and actually get me some open shots this year.”

Like Deron Williams, Brooks came up playing point guard but was asked to move to shooting guard, small forward and even power forward while playing for the undersized Friars. He said he feels having a playmaking background has helped him with his ball handling, but was also up front about the areas where he can improve.

“I would say I’m a scorer that can shoot,” said Brooks, who made about a third of his 3-point attempts as a collegiate player. “Shooting’s definitely not my strength. I get to the rim a little bit better than most shooting guards.

“I got to put more effort in defensively,” he continued. “I played a lot in college and, like I said, I was playing power forward for most of our game. I was probably playing 20 minutes per game at power forward, so I think I struggled. I think I would do a much better job of guarding people that’s my size and I’m looking forward to it.”

Brooks admits he wasn’t defending the opposition’s best scorer in college. However, he says he was mainly asked to “stay out of foul trouble” because he was responsible for scoring the basketball (Brooks averaged 24.6 PPG as a senior and once scored 52 points in a single game). As a rookie he presumably won’t play 36.5 MPG, as he did in his final season at Providence, so it’s not a stretch to envision him defending some elite scorers for brief stretches. Brooks says he was the “defensive stopper” in high school and predicts “defense shouldn’t be a problem” for him in the NBA.

As King mentioned, Brooks will have a chance to play immediately and that means he’ll be fighting for minutes with his former camp counselor, shooting guard Anthony Morrow.

“He was actually my camp counselor at Georgia Tech when I was in high school,” Brooks said. “I look forward to talking with him, meeting with him, reconnecting with him and competing as well.

“I was a skinny kid,” he continued. “He was a skinny kid. I was the best player on my team and he was the best player on Georgia Tech, so we kind of clicked right away. It’s just weird that I’m in this situation fighting for minutes with him, but it should be fun.”

Brooks and agent Seth Cohen will be in touch with the Nets over the next few days until the collective bargaining agreement expires. After that, all he knows is that he just has to “be ready.”

Of course, every rookie likes to tell the press just how ready for the NBA they are, but Brooks wasn’t afraid to admit that, well, he’s afraid.

“I got to be ready because I’m scared, first of all,” he said. “I don’t know what to expect with the whole NBA practices and how tough it’s going to be.”

What Brooks does know is that he’s happy to be drafted by the Nets. The team had a -4.2 Player Efficiency Rating at the shooting guard position, according to 82games.com, which is a fancy way of saying that the Nets shooting guards, on average, were outplayed by their counterparts. And to his credit, Brooks wasn’t afraid to make one bold statement before leaving.

“You guys will be seeing me over the next 10 years with this organization and I just look forward to be a part of it,” Brooks said.”

Less Jordan Williams Means More Jordan Williams

Connecticut native Jordan Williams played two seasons at Maryland at well over 260 pounds, but has lost a lot of fat and added some muscle since declaring for the NBA Draft.

“When I left Maryland I lost about 15 pounds, something like that,” he said “13, 15 pounds. I just decided to change my body. My body in college, I had a lot of weight that I really didn’t need. My body didn’t look right. Going into the whole NBA process, I just focused on certain things on my body. You know, eat the right things. When you get to be a professional, you start realizing your body is everything. You have to treat your body very, very well. And I think just eating the right things and working out, being consistent was very, very important for me. And now my game is much more versatile. I can play longer.”

“It just gives you more stamina,” King said of Williams’ weight loss. “It gives you more flexibility… A lot of times it’s not losing the numbers of weight, it’s just your body fat decreasing.”

During ESPN’s broadcast of the draft, some comments were made about Williams’ motivation for losing the weight, but King is happy as long as his players are at their healthiest.

“I think [ESPN's] Jeff Van Gundy made the statement [during the NBA Draft broadcast], ‘Why didn’t he do it [in college?],’” King said. “Well, it’s easy in college if you’re being successful and coach isn’t pushing you to play the minutes. When it becomes your job, you focus in on it. He’s not the first guy who’s done it and he won’t be the last.”

Jordan’s weight loss theoretically will let him attack the boards with more energy than he did in college. Considering he grabbed 11.8 RPG as a sophomore, that could mean big things in the NBA.

“To me, rebounding is more so how much you want it,” he said. “My dad always told me before every game to try and get every rebound. So before every game I would tell myself to get every rebound. Even though you know you’re not going to get every rebound, you can try.”

Who is Bojan Bogdanovic?

Growing up in the Balkans, Bojan Bogdanovic knew he wanted to score. He just happened to do it on the soccer field as opposed to a basketball court. But, as he was growing to his full height of 6-8, some basketball coaches saw him playing soccer and offered him the chance to hit the hardwood.

Bogdanovic, who has played basketball professionally since he was 15, agreed to the switch, but has managed to keep the same mentality from his soccer days. When asked what position he played in soccer, he grinned and said, “Striker, like in basketball.”

For those who don’t know, strikers are counted upon to score, which is what Bogdanovic has been doing for Crotia’s Cibona before signing a three-year deal with Fenerbahçe.

“The two years in Cibona, I was the best scorer, so, you know, my forte, as you say in English, is to score,” he said.

In 24 games last season for Cibona in the Adriatic league, Bogdanovic averaged 18.9 PPG while hitting 34% of his 3-point attempts and 45.2% of his overall field goals.

But King thinks the 22-year-old forward will be able to do more when he gets to the NBA.

“For his size, I think he’ll be a good defender,” King said. “He can create his own shot. Create shots for other people. He can handle the ball. I was very intrigued and our European scout, Danko Cvjeticanin, who I’ve known—he’s worked for me every year I’ve been in the NBA, except one—and he really was high on him.”

Bogdanovic scored 17 points while being defended primarily by Andre Iguodala in the World Championships last summer, and even though his Croatian team was blown out by the Americans, he says it gave him a good sense of what’s in store for him in the NBA.

“I was very excited,” he said. “It helped me a lot. I was able to see where I was at against the best players in the world like Kevin Durant, so that helped me a lot.”

Nets fans won’t be seeing much of Bogdanovic next season, but the two parties could be reunited at a time when both the team and the player could be significantly improved.

No Summer League, No Problem for King

King doesn’t seem to mind the absence of a summer league this year because of the work that Deron Williams and his teammates are putting in on the other coast, which is why it’s good that Brooks and Jordan Williams will be joining them Tuesday.

“Summer Leagues are great for playing games, but I’ve had a lot of guys that are MVPs of the Summer Leagues and then they come back and didn’t play as well,” he said. “If guys are willing to work, it doesn’t matter if you have a summer league or not, they’re going to get better.

“I think they got the message and that’s evident by them going to Santa Barbara,” he continued. “They worked. Actually, Johan [Petro] has been in here [at the team facility in New Jersey] quite a bit when he’s been in the States. These guys, I’m not worried about. As he said, MarShon got a trainer to make himself better for his senior year, so he’s not going to slack off now that he’s coming to the NBA. Jordan realizes that he’s got to continue to work… I think all of our veterans and young guys are going to come in excited and anxious.”

Beaubois Has Surgery

Mavericks guard Rodrigue Beaubois had surgery today, the team announced, to address “lingering symptoms” relating to his left foot injury. The official release says he is “expected to make a full recovery.”

Keep in mind, Beaubois will be important for the Mavericks if they are unable to re-sign point guard J.J. Barea.

Check Out: Blogger Etan Thomas

Etan Thomas wrote an interesting blog post for HoopsHype.com. The topics range from the “blessing” it is to play in the NBA to the “Christmas List” collective bargaining proposal the owners gave to the players.

Definitely worth a read.

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