While getting the #1 pick is a happy predicament for the Nets, there is a bigger “what if” to ponder if the balls fall differently.

Minnesota have two points guards, one a top 10 pick, plus the rights to another highly regarded PG in Ricky Rubio. They could not possibly pass on Wall, even for the highly talented (and better fit) Evan Turner.

So how would that equation look? And factor in David Kahn to boot!

1. The upper-right-hand corner should read F+W-H, not W-H.

2. The 25.5 percent in Hollinger’s figures seems to imply that the Nets have another (largely unprotected) first-round pick from some team currently on the playoff bubble. Is that so? Or is that just Hollinger’s bells and whistles running amok?

F+W/4-H vs f/4

This is certainly a viable option, and it sort of highlights one of the weaknesses of this kind of analysis, and that is that we really don’t know how good Wall is going to be (what W is). It might be that one of the values of going this route is to minimize risk through Wall arbitrage.

That being said, I’m not confident that the Nets could get “major veteran talent” for a fresh-out. “Veteran talent” alone already entails some ability; otherwise, they’d likely have been drummed out of the league already. (Yes, I know there are some perplexing exceptions, but let’s assume, crazily enough, that the Nets wouldn’t go after such folks.) Not to mention making the salaries work, although I’d be the first to admit I’m no CBA expert. That’s what folks like Larry Coon are for.

@Justin: On the off chance you’re serious (and speaking as a non-Nets fan, non-Mavs fan), I think being Harris’s downturn is temporary and/or situational. He’s a point guard, and is going to suffer disproportionately from being surrounded by inferior talent. He’s 26 (going on 27), it’s not as though he could reasonably be expected to wear out soon. This is one of the reasons, incidentally, why in the arena of “holistic” statistics (like adjusted plus/minus), I’d prefer a functional approach to a value-based approach (again, like adjusted plus/minus). Of course, this is just me speaking ex recto: Any such approach would take a long time to develop properly.

If you weren’t serious…that was kind of funny. Like, hurts when I laugh kind of funny.

The Nets could therefore pull a Celtics-style manouever. Reward Harris for his time spent on a tanking team by keeping him, trade Wall for some major veteran talent, and use their new glittering roster to pull one of the much vaunted summer free agent class – putting them instantly into Eastern contention.