With a troubled economy, the NBA is bracing for a difficult financial season and clubs are getting creative in order to sell tickets.  None more so than the Nets.  The team is offering fans a 10-game plan that comes with reversible jerseys that have the name of a Nets' player on one side and an opposing team's player on the other.  

Fans can make their choice from among Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Shaquille O'Neal, Dwyane Wade, Dwight Howard, Vince Carter, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce or Ray Allen.

"I don't think it has ever been done before," said Chris Granger, the NBA's senior vice president for team marketing and business operations. "I don't think any team has ever given premium items as part of a promotion that highlights someone from another team."

Nets' president and chief executive Brett Yormark explained the reasoning behind the team's promotion.

"We cater to the casual NBA fan, that's our core audience," Yormark said. "So when you think about every arena selling opposing player jerseys at the concession stands, and when you think about attendance always being greater when you have the key matchups and the best players in town, why wouldn't you do it? It gives the fans another added benefit, not only to embrace their favorite local player, but also a member of the opposition that they also came out to see."

The Nets denied Eduardo Najera permission to play for Mexico in the FIBA Americas tournament because his abdomen injury has yet to heal.

Five months after he underwent surgery to repair a sports hernia, Najera agreed with New Jersey's decision.

"They were right. I wasn't ready," the forward told the Star Ledger. "I learned from the best that I have to slow down, especially with my age and this injury. I want to play so bad; I was under a lot of pressure to play, and I felt like I let them down. But my loyalty has to be to the Nets, and luckily they kicked some sense into me. The doctor and trainers -- and Kiki and Rod -- all said they don't think it's a good idea to risk being reinjured."

Najera is one of Mexico's most beloved athletes, so it wasn't easy for him not to represent his country.

"Oh, I can't tell you -- it was extremely hard to say no," he said. "But I explored every option. The interest in the team was so high. The media was pushing for it. I was supposed to compete, and this could be the last year I can play for the national team at a high level. But it basically came down to not being ready physically. And if I didn't re-injure the abdomen, I'd injure something else.

"This injury has been the toughest to recover for me. This has been such a pain in the butt. Getting old really sucks. You don't heal as fast as you used to. And obviously my brain is programmed like a professional athlete -- I just want to go. I'm used to pain, but you've got a threshold and you have to pay attention as you get older. So I'm trying."

Courtney Lee is determined to become the kind of player the Orlando Magic will regret trading away to the New Jersey Nets.

"I'm going to be a man on a mission," Lee said Thursday afternoon after a training session at the IMG Academy. "I just hope they'll be happy for me when I grow into the player that they wish they had. I'd like them to one day say 'I wish we would have kept him.'"

Orlando dealt Lee in a package that included Vince Carter.

"I'd like to be Dwight Howard's teammate again -- in the All-Star game," Lee said. "They [Magic] have a history of trading good players [Ben Wallace, Tracy McGrady, Corey Maggette, Mike Miller] who did well afterward. I hope that's me. My goal will be to go out and dominate every game, but especially those games [when I play the Magic]. I'll be jacked up for sure."

Lee had high hopes for his future with the Magic.

"The trade shocked me. After the Finals, Dwight and I were talking about things we had to do to get back and win a championship together. He joked about us being the next Shaq and Penny [Hardaway] with the Magic," he said. "I know it's a business, and trades happen, but it's not something you forget, even when you look forward like I am."

Brian Windhorst of the Cleveland Plain Dealer wrote recently that a number of teams are set up more favorably than the Knicks heading into the famed summer of 2010.

"Ask any NBA executive outside New York and he'll probably tell you the Heat, Nets and Clippers all will have more attractive situations than the Knicks when it comes to the roster next summer," Windhorst wrote.

"All that said, my feeling is the only place LeBron would consider leaving for at this juncture in his career would be New York. Key word there being 'consider.'"

Nate Robinson was arrested for driving with a suspended license, apparently after being pulled over in the Bronx because his car's windows were too dark.

Nets' rookie Terrence Williams was also in the car with Robinson.

Dwyane Wade, who has been giving his opinion on a variety of topics lately, believes that the Nets will be contenders for top-level free agents next summer.

"I think guys know that they will be in the mix because they're setting themselves up to be there. And also, it's not a bad (area to play) at all. So there's going to be some chatter about the Nets when they come around," Wade said Thursday, according to the New York Daily News. "I know right now the main chatter is about the other side - New York - but I'm sure the Nets are going to get some love as well."

The Nets are expected to be as much as $23 million under the salary cap after the 2009-10 season.

New Jersey has traded away the massive contracts of Jason Kidd, Richard Jefferson and Vince Carter in the last nineteen months.

"It's a good organization," said Wade. "Over the years they've shown it's a class organization. And when the time is right they're going to get the players they need to get. So I think people around the league see that. They've had success, especially when J-Kidd was here. So everyone knows this organization wants to be great."

Magic center Dwight Howard says Courtney Lee is still hurting over his trade to the Nets back in June.

Lee started for Orlando in the NBA Finals against the Lakers, playing a major role for the club as a rookie.

The Magic traded him to New Jersey as part of a package for Vince Carter.

"He's hurting," Howard said Thursday, according to the New York Post. "He's not just upset, he's hurting."

Howard added that Lee was ready to get back in the gym and work on his game with his Magic teammates this season.

"He was ready to get back in the gym and work on it and he got traded so he's hurting," Howard added.

New Jersey forward Bobby Simmons believes that Lee will get over the pain once he gets comfortable with the Nets.

"Once he gets here, his mindset will change," Simmons said. "Once he gets here and meets the guys on the team, he'll be fine."

The Nets lost assistant coach Brian Hill to the Pistons, and could lose another coach in the coming days.

The New York Post is reporting that assistant Roy Rogers has an offer on the table from Rutgers.

The Nets traded Vince Carter to the Magic in June, but Brook Lopez still believes they can compete in the Eastern Conference.

"Our goal is to be a very good playoff team. We have really good young talent, but also a little bit of experience," Lopez told HoopsHype.com. "So it's a good combination and I think we can go somewhere."

Lopez added that New Jersey's trade with Orlando earlier this offseason was difficult for him to swallow because he is very good friends with Ryan Anderson.

"It was difficult for me just because Ryan Anderson was my best friend on the team and helped me with the transition to the NBA. You just have to take it professionally. He's going to a championship contender where he can play more to his strengths," Lopez added. "As for myself, it allows me to have a bigger role next season."

Last month Richard Jefferson called off his wedding via e-mail and now sources claim that he banned his former fiancee from their shared apartment.

Jefferson told doormen that she wasn't even allowed to enter the building to retrieve her belongings, according to the New York Post.

Kesha Nichols' friends have also told the Post that Jefferson has retracted the six-figure settlement he claimed he would give her.