Sitting alone in that position is Bruce Ratner, New Jersey's cost-conscious owner who has overseen the dismantling of a franchise less than a decade removed from back-to-back Finals appearances. With the Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn bleeding him for millions, Ratner's team paid the ultimate price. First to go was Kenyon Martin, allowed to sign a lucrative free-agent deal with the Nuggets. Then Jason Kidd, shipped off to Dallas. Richard Jefferson was dumped before the start of last season, and Vince Carter was traded out of town before the start of this one. Aside from the Kidd deal -- which returned All-Star point guard Devin Harris -- each one of the Ratner-approved moves were designed not to improve the team, but its bottom line.
"It has been sad to see what's happened out there," said an Eastern Conference official. "You can't be contenders forever, but that team had the kind of core that, with a few good drafts and free agent pickups, could have been a very good team for years."
