The Nets gained some significance back Wednesday with the acquisition of All-Star point guard Deron Williams from the Jazz.
“We’re excited about it,” Avery Johnson said. “Very rarely are you able to trade for somebody who arguably is the best at their position.”
After months of pursuit, the Nets were unable to trade for Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony, who was dealt to the Knicks on Monday.
“This is definitely not a Plan B,” Johnson said of Williams. “He’s a Plan A.”
The Nets get Williams in exchange for Derrick Favors, Devin Harris, two first-round picks, and $3 million. The Jazz will receive the Nets’ first-round selection in 2011 and Golden State’s 2012 first-round pick (protected through the seventh selection), which was obtained by the Nets last offseason.
GM Billy King compared the trade to the deal orchestrated by Rod Thorn that brought Jason Kidd to New Jersey in 2001. With Kidd at point guard, the Nets made back-to-back NBA Finals.
“I look back to when Rod was able to get Jason Kidd … (you) win with very good point guards,” King said. “Jason took this franchise iin a whole new direction, and I think Deron could do the same for us.”
The Nets’ deal with the Jazz conforms with the NBA’s salary guidelines with regards to trades. Williams is slated to make $14.9 million in 2011 and $16.3 million in 2012, the final year of his contract. Harris and Favors make $8.9 million and $4.3 million, respectively.
Williams is one of the league’s premier players and his acquisition enormously lessens the sting of losing Anthony to the Knicks. Williams, 25, considered one of the crown jewels of the 2012 free agency class, is averaging 21.3 points and 9.7 assists.
“We think he is mentally and physically one of the strongest point guards in the league,” Johnson said.
Nets GM Billy King, who called Williams the No. 1 point guard in the NBA, said the deal came together in the past 36 hours.
In a separate deal, the Nets would ship Troy Murphy to Golden State for Brandan Wright and Dan Gadzuric.
Williams reportedly was working out with Jazz teammates at a hotel in Dallas, where Utah was to play the Mavericks on Wednesday, when he found out he was being traded.
“We kind of had a laugh because those kinds of things come across the ticker all the time,” Raja Bell said, according to the Deseret News. “It was obvious at that point that he didn’t know. After he made a couple of calls, it was obvious that it was going to go down.”
Williams is expected to start for the Nets in San Antonio on Friday. Damion James and Kris Humphries also will be put into the starting lineup.
Williams has received a lot of flak in the wake of the resignation of Hall of Fame coach Jerry Sloan, with a falling out between the two was cited in Sloan’s departure.
Despite his issues with the Jazz earlier this season, sources say Williams was surprised the team traded him.
“Deron Williams told me it was not his choice. He’s stunned. Declined interview until he figures out what it all means,” Utah announcer and radio host David Locke said in a post on his Twitter account.
In October, the Nets and Jazz were rumored to be part of a four-team trade that would have sent Anthony to the Nets, but Williams was not included in that failed blockbuster.
Williams figured to walk from the Jazz in his free agency season and therefore became available. His acquisition is a major coup for the Nets, who are longing for a superstar to bring with them to Brooklyn in 2012 and had hoped it would be Anthony.
The Nets must keep Williams beyond his current deal for that to happen, but the team’s biggest ally could be a new NBA collective bargaining agreement, which could limit player movement and/or salaries.
Williams cannot sign a contract extension with the Nets until July.
Johnson, asked if he felt Williams had to be sold on the Nets, replied, “How about if the Nets already have been sold?”