Billy King’s season-ending session with the media Wednesday covered everything from his recent hand procedure to next week’s surgery to remove a calcium deposit in Brook Lopez’s right arm.

That’s not the only cutting expected to happen with the Nets this offseason.

To King, the Nets' general manager, the stated goal next year is to make the playoffs. It should be. The Nets have a superstar now, and having Deron Williams healthy is a great first step to that end. But there needs to be a roster overhaul to go from a 24-win team to one that sees the postseason.

There is no doubt overall that the Nets made strides from last season. They built a foundation for the future as they doubled their win total from a year ago. They probably should have had a few more wins, but injuries, trade rumors, a lack of execution late and a dearth of playmakers led to another disappointing season. The two biggest issues were a lack of talent and all those injuries. You can’t help one, but you can fix the other.

If Williams were healthy at the end of the season, maybe the Nets would have hung around the playoff race a little longer. Otherwise, it comes down to having the right players and the right talent, and the Nets need some upgrades in that area.

"We got a star, so you’re not worried about a star,” King said. “We’re now in the process of building a team. You have pieces that you like, a nucleus that we like so you start trying to build around that.

“I think we need to get more athletic at some of our wing positions, just because, if you’re watching these playoffs, you see what Carmelo [Anthony] can do, you see what LeBron [James] can do, you see what Dwyane Wade can do, Paul Pierce. You’ve got to have a lot of guys who can guard those guys. It can’t be. You’ve got to have two or three guys you can throw out there. You need 6-foot-6, 6-8 athletes, I think.”

In other words, the Nets are looking to replace Travis Outlaw and trade him -- if they can -- and probably won’t re-sign Sasha Vujacic. King apparently got a laugh out of this blog entry about who could be staying and who could be going. But it’s clear the Nets don’t want to bring back too many players from a team that lost 70 percent of its games.

This is where King, coach Avery Johnson, assistant general manager Bobby Marks and the Nets’ scouting departments come in. They have to find players who are available and can make an impact, or at least help them on a more consistent basis, than those on the current roster.

The Nets have two draft picks: No. 27, which they acquired from the Lakers, and either No. 35 or 36 in the second round. King did well in Philadelphia either trading for or picking Andre Iguodala, Kyle Korver, Willie Green, John Salmons, Lou Williams and Thaddeus Young. King probably believes he can pick a sleeper. But banking on finding someone that late who can help right away is risky. So King may try to trade up, or try to package the picks with some players currently on the roster to move up or get a veteran who can help them now.

If the postseason is the immediate goal, the Nets can’t necessarily wait for players to develop. That goes for Deron Williams’ sake, too. He already has said he could see himself staying with the Nets, but that’s with the understanding that they are are going to make some major changes and improvements.

“I don’t think I’ve wavered in saying I expect [Williams] to be back,” King said. “My thought process hasn’t changed from the day we traded for him to him making those comments. When we made the trade and spent time talking to him, and the more I’ve gotten to know him and the more we talked, I felt like that’s the goal we’re working for -- to build something special here.”

Williams plans to help the Nets get there, either through recruiting free agents or by giving King some suggestions on who he thinks could help them.

Re-signing Kris Humphries remains a priority, but there is plenty of other work for the Nets to do. You don’t go from 12 to 24 to wins to the playoffs without making some major changes, and that means cutting out some players who can only take you so far and replacing them with those who can lead you where you want to go.

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Follow me on Twitter: @Al_Iannazzone

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Al Iannazzone covers the Nets for The Record (Bergen County, N.J.)