The Nets will fete stars Joe Johnson and Deron Williams today in Brooklyn, but introduced Mirza Teletovic and Reggie Evans yesterday in East Rutherford. Both players said this offseason — from moving to Brooklyn, keeping Williams and chasing Dwight Howard — has made the Nets a trending topic and a contending team.
“When they signed Deron Williams back, and when they signed Joe Johnson and [were] trying to sign Dwight Howard, you can take one thing out of it; they’re trying to make a good team,’’ Teletovic said. “They’re trying to make a big team that can go for the championship. I always love to play for those teams. … For sure [Howard] would be a big help, but the Nets have very good players.’’
Teletovic is a 26-year-old Bosnian who played professionally in Europe for a decade until he felt he was finally ready for the NBA. After years of winning in Europe, Teletovic, a father of two, told his agent he wanted to play for Cleveland or the Nets, and got a three-year, $9 million deal from Brooklyn.
“I think for me the best option was the Nets, because when Deron Williams signed, I knew that this was the team for me,” Teletovic said. “I watched him a lot. … I know he was a winner, and he’s a guy that wants to win.
“So I wanted to play for a team who wants to do big things, who wants to try to get a championship.’’
The 6-foot-9, 242-pound Teletovic said he is a classic “stretch four” but admits he needs work on his defense.
Enter Evans, a rugged defender and glue guy that general manager Billy King signed from the Clippers.
“Rebound, defense, energy, making sure my team’s ready every day and go hard in practice. It’s real simple,’’ Evans said. “I ain’t trying to score. It’s real simple, less pressure on me. I just focus on one end, set picks, get the guys open. I guess that’s why I’ve been in the league this long. That’s why I carved my own [space].’’
Evans said one of the reasons he chose Brooklyn was his good relationship with King when they were in Philadelphia. The three-year, $5 million deal didn’t hurt, either.
Though Evans didn’t sound as if he had been refreshing his Twitter feed for news on Howard, he said the Nets have made a big splash for all the right reasons.
“I don’t care. That’s Dwight’s situation,’’ Evans said. “I don’t know the insides, not trying to find the insides of it, just trying to focus on me and my family getting to a good situation.
“It’s definitely created a lot of buzz re-signing Deron, even the whole logo colors. It’s definitely a trending topic, the Brooklyn Nets, with the guys they’ve signed. They want to win. Moving to a new city and bringing in a lot of players, definitely a trending topic.’’