Nets Team, With Gerald Wallace, Shaped With Heat in Mind The first critical move of the Nets" transformational summer came in the waning days of winter. It came in a curious trade, made at the N.B.A. deadline, for a player who had little chance of affecting the present but who would conceivably brighten their future. Eight months later, Gerald Wallace is still the most intriguing element in the Nets" chemical composition, a free radical with the power to shape their still-evolving identity. Wallace is the Nets" hustle, their strength, their grit and their versatility. He can guard three positions and anchor a small lineup. When the time comes, he will check LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Paul Pierce. He is the best hope the Nets have of becoming a respectable defensive team. If Deron Williams is the Nets" most indispensable player, Wallace is a close second. Coach Avery Johnson said as much Monday morning, calling Wallace "1B" to Williams" "1A." Hours later, the point was made vividly when the Nets - without the injured Wallace - blew a 22-point lead in a painful loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. The defeat was inexcusable, with or without Wallace, given the sad state of the Timberwolves. But it was noteworthy that the Nets" own post-mortem was filled with allusions to energy and the lack thereof. Wherever he has played - in Sacramento, Charlotte or Portland - Wallace has been a boundless source of vitality. When the Nets" stars wore down at key points of the second half Monday, they had nowhere to turn. "No excuses about Gerald Wallace being here," Johnson said afterward, before adding, "But those are situations why we feel so strong about Wallace." It is frightfully early to draw any conclusions after a week of N.B.A. games, and tougher still to assess the Nets, who have played just two games with an overhauled roster. But their first road game, Wednesday night in Miami, presents a fascinating gauge, especially if Wallace, who has a sprained ankle, is able to play. No one expects the Nets to challenge the Heat for the Eastern Conference crown, but they were built with the Heat in mind. Indeed, the Nets" lineup looks specifically designed to make Miami work. The Nets are strongest at point guard (Williams) and center (Brook Lopez), the two positions where the Heat have been weakest. In Joe Johnson, the Nets have a strong, skilled shooting guard who will challenge Dwyane Wade at both ends of the court. And in Wallace, the Nets have a muscular, agile forward who can wrestle with James. None of this is a coincidence. "My thought was looking at Miami, because they were the team," said Billy King, the Nets" general manager, who added, "I had to build a team that I thought could compete." The strategy was to win the battle at a given position, if possible, or to "at least neutralize the battle," in King's words, at the spots where Miami had a clear advantage (i.e. James). Wallace gives the Nets a shred of hope, not only against the Heat, but against the Knicks (Anthony), the Boston Celtics (Pierce) and the Indiana Pacers (Danny Granger). "You're not going to stop those guys," King said. You just got to try to take things away from them and force them to do things they're not comfortable doing. The Nets" future depended on re-signing Williams in July. But King had to build a case for Williams to stay, and that portfolio began with Wallace. In 11 seasons, the 30-year-old Wallace had quietly established himself as a supreme defender with a nose for the ball and a body built for contact. Folks call him Crash for a reason. That this reputation was built mostly on a series of bad teams in Charlotte, a forgotten N.B.A. outpost, masked Wallace's value to many fans, even as he endeared himself to coaches and scouts. There were seasons when Wallace averaged 18 to 19 points, 7 to 10 rebounds and 1.5 steals a game, and a handful when he averaged at least a block. Yet the statistics were never sufficient. When Wallace finally made the All-Star team in 2010, Bobcats Coach Larry Brown dispensed with basketball terminology. "God gave him great motivation," Brown told Sports Illustrated then. Every drill we run, every possession we have, every practice we have - it's always the same. These were the intangibles the Nets were pursuing when King, who was mentored by Brown, made the deal to acquire Wallace from Portland. It was a controversial transaction, costing the Nets a lottery pick that the Trail Blazers used to select Damian Lillard, a gifted point guard. King's rationale was that he already had a star point guard. But he had a gaping hole at small forward, a position of strength in the top tier of the Eastern Conference. And though Wallace would be a free agent, the Nets had no guarantee they could sign him outright in July. "It's easier when they've been there," King said of re-signing a player. You get to know them, and they get to know you. The value placed on smart, defensive-minded swingmen also came from Brown, who had a habit of acquiring them - Derrick McKey in Indiana, George Lynch in Philadelphia. The 76ers, with Brown and King at the helm, wanted to draft Wallace in 2001. The Kings snared him with the 25th pick - one spot ahead of the 76ers. Eleven years later, King has his man. Now all he needs is a cloning machine.