Fred Kerber of the New York Post reports that Kenyon Martin spoke recently about the Finals against the Lakers and the trade of Keith Van Horn to the Sixers. Martin ripped his teammates after being swept 4 games to none by the Lakers. His comments were interpreted to be aimed specifically at Van Horn but Martin insists his comments had no bearing on the trade.

"I didn't trade him. I felt a certain way and I voiced my opinion. I don't think my comments had anything to do with it [trade]," Martin said. "There were rumors before I got here about him being traded, stuff like that. Do I think they thought about it? Maybe. But I don't think because of my comments it totally rested on that."

Martin stressed that he was talking about more than one player after Game 4 when he said some Nets didn't bring their best efforts. "I just spoke a certain way. But I wasn't just talking about him, that's what people don't realize. I wasn't just talking about Keith," Martin said.

Martin was asked if the team lost confidence in Van Horn who was their 2nd leading scorer and leading rebounder in the regular season. "Yeah, I think so, but if he would have come back and proved he could do it, we would have had to ride with him, but that's not the case," said Martin. "I wish him the best in Philly, but I don't know how that's going to go."

Martin loves the changes the Nets have gone through this summer. Bringing in Dikembe Mutombo, Rodney Rogers and Chris Childs and moving Richard Jefferson up to the starting lineup will greatly increase the their team defense. Martin expects to pull double-digit rebounds as the full-time power forward but he does have one concern. The physical toll of playing the "four".

"Over 82 games, it might," Martin said. "But I'm mentally tough. If I have to do it I have to do it. I'm pretty sure if it becomes a problem and the coaching staff realizes it's a problem, they'll make a move. They'll move me back to the 3 and start Rodney or Train [Aaron Williams] or Twin [Jason Collins], one of those guys. I don't think it's going to be a problem, but I could be wrong."