The 1988–89 New Jersey Nets season was the Nets' 13th season in the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

. The Nets had the fourth overall pick in the

1988 NBA draft The 1988 NBA draft took place on June 28, 1988, in New York City, New York. The length was reduced from seven rounds in the previous year to three rounds. This was also the first draft for the Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat, prior to their i ...

, and selected Chris Morris from the

University of Auburn Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

. During the off-season, the Nets acquired Walter Berry from the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Southwest Division ( ...

, and acquired Mike McGee from the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

. Before the start of the season, the team acquired

Joe Barry Carroll Joe Barry Carroll (born July 24, 1958) is an American former professional basketball player who spent ten seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). After retiring from basketball, he became a wealth advisor, philanthropist, artist, a ...

and

Lester Conner Lester Allen Conner (born September 17, 1959) is an American professional basketball coach and former professional basketball player, who played for numerous NBA teams. On the floor at the collegiate level the 6'4" Conner was a "swingman," playing ...

from the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...

, while Berry was later on released to free agency midway through the season. The Nets held an 18–29 record at the All-Star break, but struggled for the remainder of the season, posting an 8–27 record, and finishing fifth in the Atlantic Division with a 26–56 record.

Roy Hinson Roy is a masculine given name and a family surname with varied origin. In Anglo-Norman England, the name derived from the Norman ''roy'', meaning "king", while its Old French cognate, ''rey'' or ''roy'' (modern ''roi''), likewise gave rise to ...

averaged 16.0 points and 6.4 rebounds per game, while Morris averaged 14.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game, was selected to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team, and finished in third place in Rookie of the Year voting, and

Buck Williams Charles Linwood "Buck" Williams (born March 8, 1960) is an American former professional basketball player and former assistant coach for the Portland Trail Blazers. He was well known for his rebounding ability and trademark goggles. Williams, ...

provided the team with 13.0 points and 9.4 rebounds per game. In addition, Carroll averaged 14.1 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game, while McGee contributed 13.0 points per game, second-year guard

Dennis Hopson Dennis Hopson (born April 22, 1965) is an American basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the Lourdes Gray Wolves men's basketball team. A prolific scorer while playing at Ohio State University, Hopson's stellar ...

provided with 12.7 points per game, and Conner contributed 10.3 points, 7.4 assists and 2.2 steals per game. Following the season, Williams was traded to the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

, and McGee was released to free agency.

Draft picks

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

:z – clinched division title :y – clinched division title :x – clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

Awards and records

* Chris Morris,

NBA All-Rookie Team The NBA All-Rookie Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1962–63 NBA season to the top rookies during the regular season. Voting is conducted by the NBA head coaches who are not allowed to vote for playe ...

2nd Team

Transactions

* June 23, 1988: Dwayne Washington drafted in the NBA expansion draft by the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Southe ...

. * July 1, 1988: Released

Dudley Bradley Dudley Leroy Bradley (born March 19, 1957) is an American former professional basketball player who played nine seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Bradley played collegiately for the North Carolina Tar Heels and was selected ...

. * July 19, 1988: Signed

Anthony Bowie Anthony Lee Bowie (born November 9, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player. He is a former NBA shooting guard, most renowned for his stint with the Orlando Magic. With the Magic, Bowie became one of the top bench players, of ...

as a free agent. * August 10, 1988:

Orlando Woolridge Orlando Vernada Woolridge (December 16, 1959 – May 31, 2012) was an American professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1981 to 1994. He was known for his scoring ability, especially on slam dunks ...

signed as an unrestricted free agent with the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

. * August 29, 1988: Traded

Dallas Comegys Dallas Alonzo Comegys (born August 17, 1964) is an American former professional basketball player. College career Comegys played collegiate basketball for the DePaul Blue Demons in the NCAA Division I from 1983 to 1987. Professional career Co ...

to the

for Walter Berry. * August 30, 1988: Signed Kevin Williams as a free agent. * August 31, 1988: Waived

Otis Birdsong Otis Lee Birdsong (born December 9, 1955) is an American former professional basketball player. He spent twelve seasons (1977–1989) in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and appeared in four NBA All-Star Games. A guard who attended Wint ...

. * October 4, 1988: Signed Frank Johnson as a free agent. * October 31, 1988: Traded a 1991 2nd round draft pick and a 1996 2nd round draft pick to the

for Mike McGee. * November 1, 1988: Waived

. * November 2, 1988: Traded Tony Brown, Frank Johnson,

Tim McCormick Timothy Daniel McCormick (born March 10, 1962) is a retired American professional basketball player from Detroit who played eight seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He currently is a pre- and post-game analyst for the Detroit Pi ...

and

Lorenzo Romar Lorenzo Romar (born November 13, 1958) is an American basketball coach and former player. He is the head men's basketball coach at Pepperdine University, a position he held from 1996 to 1999 and resumed in 2018. Romar also served as the head me ...

to the

for

and

. * November 23, 1988: Signed Ron Cavenall as a free agent. * December 27, 1988: Waived Ron Cavenall. * January 30, 1989: Waived Walter Berry. * January 31, 1989: Signed Bill Jones as a free agent. * February 7, 1989: Signed

Corey Gaines Corey Yasuto Gaines (born June 1, 1965) is an American professional basketball coach and former player. He played five seasons in the NBA, and was a four-time Israeli Basketball Premier League Statistical Leaders#Assists leaders, Israeli Premier L ...

to the first of two 10-day contracts. * February 27, 1989: Signed

as a free agent. * March 3, 1989: Waived Kevin Williams. Player Transactions Citation:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1988-89 New Jersey Nets season New Jersey Nets season New Jersey Nets seasons

New Jersey Nets New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

20th century in East Rutherford, New Jersey Meadowlands Sports Complex