--The Nets hired Kiki Vandeweghe in December to serve as the special assistant to team president Rod Thorn, a job that would keep him employed through the draft. Now Vandeweghe is expected to be on board a lot longer, having been promoted to general manager with a reported two-year, $3 million deal.

"When I got here, I was very excited to work with somebody like Rod Thorn, who I've been an admirer of for a long time. I sat across the table from him and knew I had a lot to learn from him and know I know I have a lot more to learn," Vandeweghe said. "I hope that I've had some input and some positive input as to the roster and the direction. I think both of us really believe you have to pick a direction, you have to know where you stand and do things that fit that direction. Neither one of us likes Band-Aid solutions."

QUOTE TO NOTE
"Just making the playoffs is not where we want to be. All of us want to end up a team that can compete at a championship level, as good as anybody, any given night we can beat anybody. So you give yourself a legitimate chance to win a conference title, to compete at a championship level." -- Kiki Vandeweghe, recently promoted to general manager, on the Nets' immediate goals.

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