You may have gotten a glimpse of the future last night. Key words being may have.

Derrick Favors was given his first NBA start in the Nets' win over the Bulls. It wasn’t just a one-time thing. But it may not be permanent because the Nets are still involved in trade talks for Carmelo Anthony and Favors remains a central piece of the discussions.

A source recently said there has been “movement” on the Anthony talks. The Nets believe they’re in good shape to get him, but so do several other teams.

Still, the Nets have the most to offer by themselves. They're trying to deal straight up with Denver, but could involve other teams because of their contract situation, flexibility and assets. Either way, they may need to do more, to acquire better players

Money won’t be an object for the Nets this summer, be it for a coach or players. That’s what Mikhail Prokhorov taking over means.

The Nets have to use that money wisely and by that we mean they can’t overspend for the likes of Rudy Gay and David Lee. Also, the Nets have to make sure when they go shopping they find a leader.

They were lacking in so many areas during this 70-loss season and leadership ranked right up there.

Back around the time Vince Carter came back to East Rutherford to do his basketball camp last summer we wrote about how hard it would be for the Nets to make up for his leadership. They didn’t and still haven’t.

Devin Harris said all the right things, but he got hurt in training camp and missed most of it. He never was appointed official

The Nets season ended in fitting fashion. At least they had a night out on South Beach. At times, they played like they had a night out on South Beach.

This was a game you thought the Nets would win, especially since the Heat were without Dwyane Wade, Udonis Haslem and Jermaine O’Neal. But how many times have the Nets not taken advantage of a team without some of its top players? Whatever the number is, add one now.

The Nets should have avoided their 70th defeat. But they were down 13 at the start of the fourth quarter as they played like there was some good times on Ocean Ave or Collins. But hen the Nets put up a fight and made it interesting.

They didn't lose until double overtime, 94-86, and the game wasn't decided until Yakhouba Diawara banked in a three. The last time the

MIAMI –- The Nets’ season ends here, fittingly. It’s one of the places their season ended before it really began.

Miami ranks right behind Minneapolis in that regard. Both places are where the Nets saw their season and any chance having success blow up. Both games ended in last-second shots.

If the Nets beat the Wolves in the opener, they don’t set the record for most losses to start a season. If Dwyane Wade doesn’t bury them in Game 10, then Lawrence Frank still would be coaching, which cannot be minimized.

Honestly, the young players would have gotten more out of this season if they had a coach coaching them. But if it means the Nets wind up with the No. 1 or No. 2 pick -– John Wall or Evan Turner -– then fans and members of the organization

The Nets are playing for pride, playing to get as many wins as possible -– they got No. 11 last night -- and trying to improve for next season. For many of the Nets, that’s happening in practice and on their own time.

One interesting and significant thing happened after today’s shootaround ended, after all the rotation guys either left or went to the weight room. There were three players shooting on three different baskets.

They were Tony Battie, Trenton Hassell and Bobby Simmons. Respectively, they’re the first, second and fourth-oldest players on the team.

Battie and Simmons are inactive just about every game. The Nets’ easy 115-87 victory over New Orleans last night was Simmons’ 36th time declared inactive and the 33rd for Battie. But they haven’t

OKLAHOMA CITY – There were several times in this game when it appeared the Nets were done, especially with Courtney Lee hampered by a sprained right thumb.

The Nets shooting guard has been lights out lately. But Lee couldn’t hit a shot. He actually made two -– both layups, including one at the buzzer.

So when the Thunder were up 16 with two minutes left in the third and 15 with the fourth quarter nearing the midpoint, it looked like the Oklahoma City Thunder were on their way to another win and the Nets another loss.

That wound up happening, but the game was much closer than anyone would have guessed. The Nets lost 104-102, making that their third tough-luck loss on this four-game trip.

“The guys are learning that we’re not good enough to play without a

BOSTON –- The way it was snowing back home, some people probably questioned why the Nets would bother making the flight here and waste fuel on another loss. But the Nets wound up with the perfect storm.

Rested from two days without practice –- one because of the snow -– and facing a team that is in somewhat of a slide, the Nets came into the building where they enjoyed some monumental victories the past decade and had their most impressive in this one. The 104-96 win over the Celtics on Saturday doesn’t compare to when the Nets hoisted the Eastern Conference championship trophy here in 2002 or when they won their final regular-season game in 2005 to make the postseason. But it was significant all the same.

After blowing an 18-point lead last week against Memphis,

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- For a half, the Nets didn’t play like a team that should be trying to avoid the NBA’s worst record ever. Their second-half play made it seem unavoidable.

With Devin Harris running the offense beautifully and Brook Lopez dominating inside, the Nets clicked and led by 18 points in the first half. It tied their second-biggest lead of the season.

Naturally, it didn’t last.

The offense stalled. Lopez became the forgotten man and the 18-point lead was gone as quickly as you can say five-and-fifty-one.

Store this 104-94 defeat to Memphis under another game the Nets will rue if they end up matching the 1972-73 Sixers with nine wins or sit alone with eight victories or fewer.

That’s a growing list.

You can throw the prior two in there when they

EAST RUTHERFORD – The Nets were busier the last two Februarys than this year, but they also were talking about moving Jason Kidd and Vince Carter.

Your phone will ring for those two players. They moved Kidd the week or so before the deadline in 2008. But when you’re trying to deal the likes Bobby Simmons, Josh Boone, Tony Battie and Trenton Hassell you’re not going to have teams beating down your door.

All are serviceable and professional players, but don’t have the star power those former Nets did and quite frankly don’t have the appeal.

The trade deadline hits at 3:00 p.m. today and there’s a good chance the Nets will stand pat. Something may happen after the deadline, in the form of a player being bought out for the right price. Otherwise nothing