BY DAVE D'ALESSANDRO Star-Ledger Staff Nobody can ever be sure what motivates a player, but consider this: Antoine Wright is playing the best ball of his career immediately after the Nets rejected him, so to speak. Of course, he says there is no cause-effect here, and his agent confirms it. "What he's doing right now is not a byproduct of the Nets not taking the (fourth-year) option. But the struggle he had in preseason was probably a byproduct of him worrying about it," said Andy Miller, the Bergen County-based agent who represents the Nets wing. "But now that it's past, I think he's at ease with it. My feeling on the whole thing is it's almost a blessing not to have restricted free agency that fourth year. Either they do it because they can, or if they don't, we'll be in a better position." Miller is right about restricted free agency: It is often a dead end for kids, with teams often refusing to bid because they know the original team will match. But for a kid without a great season under his belt, how is unrestricted free agency a better position? Especially with the market often overcrowded with backup wings every summer? "I agree that the end of free agency caused a lot of backlogging in the wing position," Miller said. "And who knows where free agency will be next year? But because he's 22 years old, he's 6-7 and built well, and continues to play well, he'll have a lot of interest. At what level? We don't know what the market will be next summer." Wright has been the most surprising development of the early season, as he was averaging 13 points on 51.7 percent shooting (.462 from 3-point range) entering last night's game against the Hawks. Now the question is when defenses are going to start recognizing him as a shooter. "Probably not for a while," the third-year pro figures. "You know how it goes, my first two years in the league I was in the scouting reports as a driver." Asked why offense seems to come much easier for him this year -- besides the fact that he's become a knockdown guy from 21 feet -- Wright replied, "More movement. A lot more. And there are a lot more reads. One cut can trigger the play being for me, as opposed to the original person." But why does it benefit him the most? "Because moving away from the ball is one of my strengths," Wright said. "That's how I got most of my offense last year, cutting -- just playing off Vince, really. Nary a day passes without some member of Team USA throwing bouquets at the team's point guard, Jason Kidd. It was Carmelo Anthony's turn at Madison Square Garden last night. "It was an honor," he said of playing with Kidd. "I've never been that wide-open a day in my life. He finds you, or he'll get you open. We were joking this summer after we won the gold. I told everyone, 'It's back to reality now. I'm never going to be that wide-open again.' I come back and I've got three guys on me. That says a lot about him. "He's got eyes everywhere. He knows where you're going to be before you do." David Waldstein contributed to this report. Dave D'Alessandro may be reached at [email protected] http://0rz.tw/633hD --

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