by Dave D'Alessandro/The Star-Ledger Monday April 13, 2009, 10:15 PM Noah K. Murray/The Star-Ledger Vince Carter expects to be with the Nets next year, and says he's trying to build something with the current team for next year. As the horn sounded Monday night in the Nets' 91-87 win over the Charlotte Bobcats, you wondered what Vince Carter would do. Would he walk off the Izod Center floor as he normally does -- as the gregarious pack leader, ceaselessly praising and cajoling and chirping at his young teammates -- or would he hang back for a while? You know, just for a moment. Enough time to take one last look around, to create a final, lasting mental snapshot? "Naaah," Carter said. "That'll jinx you." Without really trying, the Nets' leader had said a mouthful. Jinx? That his way of saying he's superstitious, and that he respects -- okay, fears -- a self-fulfilling prophecy. Especially when they turn out badly -- which in his case would mean he'd be traded out of New Jersey this summer. "If you approach it that way, all of a sudden you say, 'If I didn't do that, it would have been different,'" Carter said, as he prepared for the final home game of the '08-09 season Monday night against Charlotte. "As far as I know, I'll be here next year, that's why I'm trying to do what I have to do for this team -- to keep us together and build something for next year." He has no inside information on this, he added quickly. He only knows what his employers think of him. In fact, you only need to ask them about Vince Carter -- captain, three-position player, age 32, no visible scars -- and they immediately respond with the kind of gushing superlatives you don't hear around 33-47 teams. "Terrific in every way," Rod Thorn said Monday. "Absolutely tremendous," Lawrence Frank agreed. And absolutely satisfied with where he is as a professional, Carter hastens to add. Yes, he acknowledges that the holy grail will be more elusive with a team that is currently one of the youngest in the league, but he said that the NBA title is obtainable here. He said it with a straight face. And he wouldn't acknowledge the obvious -- that his goal of a title is more likely to happen if he found a change of address, like the last captain did. "But you never know," Carter replied. "I don't think Boston felt that way three or four years ago. They asked Paul Pierce the same thing, and then they made the trades. So anything is possible." So deal him in for another season. Again. "I like what we have," he said. "I like the progression of what we have." And expect him to return -- again -- for all the same reasons he couldn't be moved in February. Given the economic environment, it will be nearly impossible to trade Carter's contract, which calls for a $16.1 million salary next year and a $17.5 salary in 2010-11. Very few teams are willing to absorb such a deal -- even if the Carter acquisition makes them a contender -- and the Nets would be challenged to get anything close to equal value in return. When their season began, the business model was to move Carter -- pronto -- and get as far under the cap as possible while developing the kids. They found no takers, other than teams willing to assist them in what was essentially a salary dump. Now they concede that there are worse things to do than riding out the next two years with Carter, one of only a handful of 20-5-5 (points-rebounds-assists) players in the league. Indeed, the business model could change. The Nets could just as soon go after one big piece -- Tyson Chandler, perhaps -- and add a draft pick, and get back in the game that way. Either way, Carter's bosses are talking as though he's part of the plan -- not just because they're stuck with him, but because it's hard to envision anyone else filling the leadership vacuum. "Put everything in context -- future Hall of Famer, wanting the responsibility, understanding he'd have to put up with the growth period, taking a backseat at times, and still playing at a very, very high level," Frank said. "Now, how many guys are like that?" "In every way he's excelled," Thorn said. "His all-around game. Better leader than at any other time he's been here. Durable -- he's missed only one game. And he's ending on a high note. "I think he has several really good years left, as long as he keeps himself in top condition. If he mentally wants to do it, he has several top-flight years left." NOTES Frank didn't have much to say about Dan Fegan's claim that the Nets coach compromised Yi Jianlian's development -- he even defended the agent's right to speak on it -- but he saved one zinger for an afterthought: "The difference between an agent and a coach is, the coach's loyalty is to the whole team, not to an individual player," Frank said. Thorn refrained from comment when asked if Fegan made any valid points. "Dan is a good agent and very supportive of his players," Thorn said. "And that's about all I want to say about it." Frank also suggested that Yi's best hope for jump-starting his career is playing, period. "After rest time is over, he needs to get in the gym and play. I don't care if it's pick-ups, summer league, in China," the coach said. "Because the more read-and-react basketball situations that he can do, the better he'll be." Keyon Dooling (sore right calf) sat out Monday night. http://www.nj.com/nets/index.ssf/2009/04/vince_carter_remains_big_part.html --

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