It sounds simple and logical. The Nets need outside shooting. Chris Mullin is an outside shooter. Chris Mullin was waived by Indiana yesterday. So, might Chris Mullin become a Net?
“I’m a big Chris Mullin fan,” said Nets coach Byron Scott. “And the one thing that has been worrying me is the one thing that he can do: Shoot the ball.”
Scott acknowledged that he wants to talk to team president Rod Thorn regarding any possibility of adding Mullin to the roster for the Nets, a perennial dismal-shooting team. Thorn, however, has reservations about how much the 37-year-old Mullin, who played sparingly last year with the Finals-bound Pacers, has left.
The Pacers, on a major youth kick, announced that Mullin was waived yesterday by mutual agreement.
“I think he felt we had so many young players and with the roster the way it was, he wanted to avoid ending up in the same kind of situation that he was in last year,” said Pacers president Donnie Walsh, who announced the “mutual agreement” ending to Mullin’s three-year run in Indiana.
Mullin, a New York icon for his high school days at Power Memorial and then Xaverian plus his stellar career at St. John’s, averaged just 12.4 minutes last season while shooting a career low .428. He’s a 51-percent career shooter.
“I’ve truly enjoyed my time with the Pacers,” Mullin said, adding, “I feel now is a good time for me to move on.”
And the Nets could be an ideal situation, since they’re close to the city and they need shooting. But would there be realistic playing time? The Nets filled part of the perimeter/small forward void by re-signing Johnny Newman over the summer.
“I like Chris, and his name did come up,” Scott admitted. “I’ve always liked Chris Mullin, just the way he plays the game. Is he somebody we’re interested in? I don’t know.
“I don’t know where his situation here would be better than it was in Indiana. That’s something I have to discuss with Rod, but I’ve always been a Chris Mullin fan. I have not spoken to him. I would love to, but I have not.”
One other free agent, Scott Burrell, is apparently out of the Nets’ mix. While admitting he likes his game and likes him personally, Scott said he had not spoken directly to Burrell and, “He’s somebody we haven’t talked about a lot … he’s a great guy to have on the team but I don’t know if we’ll bring him back.”