Nets president Rod Thorn: It's very unlikely we would trade Devin Harris

SAN FRANCISCO – Devin Harris knows his name is out there now, circulated mostly by out-of-towners using speculation and third-hand info to conclude that he’s outta here as soon as the right deal comes along.

He’s buying it, anyway:

“Been through it, done it, lived it. I remember how I got here,” the Nets point guard said. “Have I heard it? Yes. Does it bother me? No. Will I talk to anyone (in management) about it?”

A pause. A laugh. Sounds like derision.

“Nah.”

Too bad. Because all he had to do was walk across the gym Thursday and ask the only guy who is capable of putting the uninformed rumors to rest.

“It’s very, very unlikely that we’d trade Devin. I never say never, but it’s very unlikely that he’s going to be traded,” Nets president Rod Thorn said as he watched the start of practice at a health club in the city’s financial district.

“I read the same things you do. There was one thing I saw the other day that was just wrong ­— about we were talking to Washington about trading Devin for Caron Butler? We never had one conversation with Washington about Caron Butler in five years — period.

“But you expect speculation, especially when you have a team that has a record like we do.”

That’s about as definitive as Thorn can get, because someone can make him an offer he can’t refuse at any time before the Feb. 18 deadline.

It’s just that Harris would like to believe that as bad as 3-38 looks, he’s a cornerstone for a franchise that has a bright future if it drafts and trades and invests wisely over the next seven months.

“At this point of my career, I would like to think I am” a key piece, Harris said. “But these are very unusual circumstances. You get a sense that anything can happen.”

Still, without solicitation, Thorn added this for emphasis:

“We value Devin. We think he’s a terrific player,” he said. “I don’t see it happening. But again, you know me — I never say I won’t trade anybody — because you never know what anyone’s going to offer you. That’s why you can never speak in absolutes. But we value Devin.”

Indeed, Harris’ future has been discussed for some time by management. There are some in the organization who are bound to him, because he has been as professional as a leader can be under these circumstances.

But others wonder what the first group has been drinking, carping about how Harris is too injury-prone, too indifferent a defender, and too poor a jump-shooter to rely on long-term.
Basically, the stuff any group of fans would debate.

But Thorn’s statement raises an ancillary issue: Shouldn’t anything and everything be on the table at this point, Harris’s value notwithstanding?

“I don’t think it’s probable that we’ll touch it,” Thorn said of his one untouchable — the 2010 cap space — “but because there are no finites to this game, you never say that you won’t ever touch it.

“If you can get a player this year who would be a really good building block going forward” and use expiring contracts and next year’s cap space to get him, “then you always do something like that.”

A mere building block? Or a star?

“Well, a player who could make a material difference,” Thorn said. “Now, the probability of that is not high. But there will be trades, and you’re already starting to hear about them. There are teams trying to get under the luxury tax, teams trying get under the salary cap.
Some teams are just figuring out that they’re not very good, so they say, ‘Let’s get started over again.’ And then you have the four or five teams that think they can win the championship, and figure they need just one more player.

“So you’re liable to see a lot of different things happen in the next four weeks. It will be very active, I believe.”

One thing that won’t happen: The Nets won’t be fielding many calls about the availability of Brook Lopez, who has averaged 24.4 points and 9.8 rebounds (.575 shooting) in his last five games.

“We’re not getting much there,” Thorn said of solicitations from his peers. “They know better than that.”