Jason Kidd played many of his high school basketball games at the Oakland Coliseum and with the Nets looking to move the point guard, the Golden State Warriors are one franchise, which may be willing to take on his gigantic contract.  He would make the Warriors good youthful nucleus that much better and could possibly end their decade long playoff drought.

New Jersey Nets Owner Bruce Ratner's penny-pinching wishes may cost the Nets one of their two stars in Kenyon Martin or Jason Kidd this summer.

Thorn, the man perhaps most responsible for turning around a woeful Nets franchise, has one season left (2004-2005) on his contract, and some players have expressed concern about whether the extremely popular CEO will want to return if in fact new ownership is not committed to winning like the previous regime was.

Thorn politely declined to discuss his future.

"I'm under contract and I expect to honor my contract," Thorn said.

Patrick Ewing turned down an offer to become an assistant coach with the New Jersey Nets yesterday, and many are wondering if it's to get a shot at returning to the club that drafted him 19 years ago.

"The Nets offered me a good position," Ewing said over the telephone yesterday, "but I didn't think at this point in time it was the right move for me to make."

Ewing, who completed his first season as an assistant coach with the Houston Rockets, spoke with Knicks president Isiah Thomas three weeks ago about possibly rejoining the Knicks. However, there are no vacancies on Lenny Wilkens' staff, and Ewing is reluctant to take a front-office position with an undefined role. The last thing Ewing wants is to become a glorified mascot for the franchise.

Also, Ewing has said on several occasions that his goal is to become an NBA head coach, and his chances could be hurt if he moves into the management side of basketball.

The Nets have started their offseason plans by first getting a GM. Ed Stefanski, the Nets' senior VP for basketball operations, has been promoted to general manager, team CEO Rod Thorn announced yesterday.

"He does a terrific job. He's one of the most astute judges of talent in the league," said Thorn. "I think he'll do a great job. He's basically doing it now."

Stefanski, who handled the team's scouting duties for four years before his VP post, was largely responsible for the 2001 draft night trade that brought the Nets Richard Jefferson, Jason Collins and Brandon Armstrong for Eddie Griffin, one of the greatest deals in the franchise's history.

On Monday, the New Jersey Nets have made a qualifying offer to All-Star power forward Kenyon Martin.

A restricted free agent, Martin will be eligible to talk with any team during the first two weeks of July. The Nets will have 15 days to match any offer he receives, team president Rod Thorn said Tuesday.

Could one of Gotham's finest be helping to coach it's cross city rivals?

With assistant coach Larry Drew headed to New Orleans to rejoin Byron Scott, the Nets have apparently talked to Patrick Ewing about joining coach Lawrence Frank's staff, but not at any price. They also haven't discussed a contract extension beyond next season with Frank, whose option for 2004-05 was picked up earlier this month.

When asked if the Brooklyn (have to get used to saying that) Net's superstar Jason Kidd will return next season, Nets GM Rod Thorn replied, "I can't say for certain anybody's going to be on our team, [But] I'm not shopping anybody."

Some time within the next week, Kidd - who did not return phone messages Monday, nor did his agent, Jeffrey Schwartz - will undergo arthroscopic surgery to repair the left knee damage that plagued him all last season. If severe damage is found, it could affect his ability to start next season on time, not to mention his trademark quickness beyond that.

Next season is also the first of five he has left on the free-agent contract he signed last summer. Cost for those five years: approximately $90 million.

"That's a big red flag," one Eastern Conference general manager said Monday about the effect of all that on Kidd's marketability.

"Even though he's a great player," the GM said, "it's tough to pay a point guard who relies on speed and quickness $20-something million when he's 35, 36."

If they cannot move Kerry Kittles and his sizable contract, the Nets could very well lose Kenyon Martin.

Several team sources told the New York Post that the chances of Jason Kidd, Kenyon Martin and Richard Jefferson returning are not good without clearing some cash.  Meaning ... 'Kerry, step into my office.'

Saying he does not know the chances of bringing back all three of the Nets' "Big Three" stars, CEO Rod Thorn said about Martin, "We want to keep him. I'm hopeful. I'm sure I'll continue to have conversations regarding a lot of different players, but as far as shopping people or as far as we're going to do this or that, I'm not sure what we're going to do right now."

"Anything is possible regarding anybody," one Nets exec said.

If Kittles cannot be moved, the option of trading Kidd could become a reality.

Kidd is likely to have knee surgery.  "We'll know in the next couple of days, but he'll probably end up having surgery," said Thorn.

Martin has a close relationship with Nugget GM Kiki Vandeweghe and landing in Denver is thought to be a distinct possibility for the star forward.

As owner Bruce C. Ratner takes the reins, the new cost-cutting directive for Nets management could have an immediate and serious impact on the team's talent level.

Concerns are mounting that the Nets may not be able to retain star free-agent Kenyon Martin.

In an effort to free up cash and avoid losing frontline talent, the team is likely to buy Lucious Harris out of his $2.5 million deal for $1 million and may also look to do the same with Rodney Rogers and the $3.35 million final year of his deal.

With interest from the Nuggets and Grizzlies in Martin, there have been some talks about deals for Nene and Stromile Swift, respectively.

Martin's camp is making it clear that he wants to stay.  "Kenyon wants to remain a Net. It's no secret his goal has been to remain in New Jersey," said Brian Dyke, Martin's agent. "Beyond that, I really have no comment."  But the issue is that the Nets may not get ownership's approval to match if another team makes the maximum offer to Martin.

The New York Times says that there could be some logic to the Nets dumping Kidd and the $90 million left on the remaining 5 years of his contract.  Besides this truckload of cash on the books, Kidd is 31 years of age, relies on speed and quickness, and will likely have off-season surgery to repair his knee.

The Nets are downplaying the possibility of dealing away the future Hall-of-Fame point guard, saying that this is all part of the off-season due diligence process to prepare the organization for any different scenario.

Meanwhile, Kerry Kittles and his $10 million + contract are being shopped around the league.

In order to afford the maximum contract that free-agent Kenyon Martin will demand, Nets management has begun to explore the possibility of trading away Jason Kidd and his large contract.

The option came from the team?s brainstorming on the impending Martin free agency and is still considered unlikely.  Nonetheless, the Nets are at least contemplating the possibility of dealing away the premier point guard and may be testing the market to determine his trade value.

"We are not shopping anybody around," Nets CEO Rod Thorn. "We talk about guys all the time. People talk to us. So to say we are shopping him or Kenyon or anybody else is not true."

Several league sources say incoming owner Bruce Ratner intends to pare down much of the team?s sizable payroll so where the Martin signing fits in to all of this remains uncertain.  

There is a rumor that the Nets may look to do a sign-and-trade of Martin to Denver for Nene.