Deron Williams said Friday afternoon that he nearly chose to join the Dallas Mavericks, and that the acquisition of six-time All-Star Joe Johnson was what convinced him to agree to re-sign with the Nets.
“I was really close to going to Dallas,’’ Williams told reporters, including my colleague Marc Berman, in Las Vegas after practicing with the U.S. Olympic team. “I actually thought that’s where I was going to go.
“Then I had the meetings (with Dallas and Nets) and changed my mind. After I got out of the meeting with Dallas, saw the team they were going to have and putting out there and we just made the trade for Joe Johnson, I felt that team (the Nets) for a longer time would be the better team.’’
But, in the end, does it really matter if Williams nearly left? Not to the Nets.
It’s a great story to write and talk about, no question about it. But now the franchise heads to Brooklyn with Williams and Johnson forming what is arguably the NBA’s best backcourt, along with Gerald Wallace and eventually one of two centers — either Brook Lopez (the much more likely scenario) or Dwight Howard (still at least a possibility). That should allow the Nets to enter the season on at least equal footing with the Knicks, setting up what should be an exciting and entertaining rivalry between the two local teams now that they’re both finally within the city limits.
“I’m excited,” Williams said. “I felt like the buzz in Brooklyn is big. The arena’s going to be amazing. It’s going to be an exciting time and we have a pretty good team this year and a chance to become better. I think a lot of our guys are underrated. Brook Lopez has been hurt, been on bad teams and is undervalued. I think Gerald Wallace, people say he’s old but he’s only 30 years old. Same with Joe.
“I think it’s going to be a rejuvenation for all of us.”
The same could be said for the Nets franchise as a whole, which has a golden opportunity to completely remake its image as it moves to a new city and arena with new logos and color schemes this fall. But it wouldn’t have been possible without Williams, who gives the team a marquee star to lead the team both on and off the floor.
In the end, that’s what really matters to the Nets.
tbontemps@nypost.com