NBA

Deron eager to team with old pal Dwight on Nets

LAS VEGAS — Deron Williams was in a good mood yesterday at the U.S. Olympic practice, and it wasn’t because he was visualizing gold. He was visualizing Superman.

Williams said his Nets could become “one of the best teams in the East’’ if they pull off a four-team blockbuster trade for Dwight Howard.

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Williams’ giddiness shouldn’t be surprising. After being seen as also-rans in a state that didn’t support them, the Nets may become more relevant than ever in franchise history as they move to Brooklyn.

“I think we’ll be one of the top teams in the East for sure,’’ Williams said. “It depends on how everybody jells and comes together as a team. Miami took a year losing in the finals and this year came out and were better.’’

That Williams is comparing his team’s situation to the Heat’s Dream Team shows how far the Nets have come this summer after posting 24 wins in 2011-12. A Big Three of Williams, Howard and Joe Johnson looks more imposing than the Knicks’ trio of Carmelo Anthony, Amar’e Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler.

“It would be great,’’ Williams said. “[Howard is] one of the top five players in the world. There’s nobody like him in the NBA. Andrew Bynum is the closest thing as a low-post presence that likes to play on the block.’’

The Knicks should be worried.

Asked about the formation of a Big Three, Williams said: “That’s the way you got to go now to compete with Miami.’’

Chandler dominated Howard this season but realizes the Nets are back.

“It makes things better,’’ Chandler told The Post. “Anytime you get an opportunity to compete, it brings more excitement to the New York area. I’m all for it. People should watch out for the Nets now without any moves. I think they have one of the best backcourts in the league with Deron and Joe Johnson. Even without Dwight, I think they’re going to be a good team next year.’’

Williams still doesn’t expect the Nets to be the big team in town.

“The Knicks are always going to be the Knicks,’’ Williams said. ‘‘They’re the biggest team in New York because of the history. But you saw when [Jason Kidd] was in Jersey, how big they got when they went to The Finals. That will probably be multiplied by 10.’’

Williams said he and Howard have spoken “for years’’ about playing together.

“I think he likes the market,’’ Williams said. “It’s a lot different from Orlando. He definitely wants to play with me. We talked about playing together for years. That’s a big part of it. The last Olympics, we talked about it. That was four years ago.’’

Asked if he were on pins and needles, Williams said: “There’s been a lot of rumors over the last year as far as him. Early on I concerned myself with it. But now I’ll let it play out. I think we’ll have a good team without him. I think we’ll have an even better team with him. The situation is tricky. [But] of course I’m going to welcome that trade.’’

Williams admitted his frustration at the Nets being second fiddle — sometimes in their own Newark arena.

“It makes a big difference,’’ Williams said of the Brooklyn address. “Two years I was there we didn’t have any fans at the game and it wasn’t a good feeling. You walk in the gym, there’s no excitement. It was tougher to get you up for the games. no buzz in the crowd. That’s hard to get used to game in and game out; you want to have a homecourt advantage and you don’t. It’s kind of deflating. I’m positive it will feel different.’’

Williams hopes the Howard hubbub ends soon.

“I’m friends with [Howard],’’ Williams said. “You want to see it end one way or another, so he can be happy and move on.’’

Nets president Billy King was expected to arrive last night and present Williams with his new five-year, $100 million contract that he can sign tonight at midnight.

“[King has] done a great job,’’ Williams said. “He took a lot of risks but he had to. He couldn’t go into Brooklyn with the team we had last year.’’