There's another forward the Nets will put on their wish list when the time comes to add some length, though a deal could be problematic.

It's an old name, actually: Charlotte reserve Melvin Ely, whom the Nets pursued during the off-season but decided to put on hold until the Bobcats stopped asking for a No. 1 pick in return.

The 6-10, 260-pound forward is the most improved player on his team -- he's averaging 9.6 points and 6.8 rebounds in 24 minutes per game -- but he will probably become available because Charlotte has one stud (Emeka Okafor) and one promising rookie (Sean May) ahead of Ely on the power-forward depth chart.

Getting the salaries to match is going to be a thing. Ely makes roughly $2 million and, since Charlotte has to take some money back, the Nets would have trouble finding someone in that financial neighborhood. And, even if the Bobs accepted Cliff Robinson, they'd still want the draft pick, and the Nets consider that too high a price -- that was the case two months ago, anyway.