Carmelo Who? Nets Acquire Deron Williams In Surprising Trade

Deron Williams’ trade to the New Jersey Nets shocked just about everyone Wednesday morning, Williams himself included. Among those floored by the deal for the All-Star guard were Williams’ (former) Jazz teammates, reports Brian T. Smith of the Salt Lake Tribune.

Smith reports from Dallas, where the Jazz are preparing to play the Mavericks, that Williams was in the trainers’ room with teammates Raja Bell, Ronnie Price and Paul Millsap when he first saw the trade rumor on his phone. He downplayed the rumor until seeing a SportsCenter report indicating that the deal was done.

Devin Harris is the most NBA-ready player coming back from the Utah Jazz in the team’s Deron Williams trade that went down on Wednesday. The New Jersey Nets have been fielding trade offers for Harris over the past few days, and were talking specifically about sending him to the Dallas Mavericks or the Portland Trail Blazers. Instead, for the moment, he will head to the Jazz and take Williams’ place in the lineup.

It seems hard to believe that Harris is only two years removed from being an all-star. He was a rising player with the Mavericks before being the centerpiece of the Jason Kidd trade in 2008, and immediately capitalized on that promise with a breakout 2008/09 campaign. Since then, though, it’s been a rough go for Harris. He suffered through an injury-plagued year in 2009/10 and saw his numbers plummet considerably. This season has been a little better, but he has still clashed with new head coach Avery Johnson, his former coach in Dallas.

Derrick Favors is the most promising asset headed to the Utah Jazz in the team’s Deron Williams trade, which went down on Wednesday. The New Jersey Nets’ 19-year-old rookie is the youngest player in the NBA, and despite just modest success so far this season the reviews have been strong. He was the No. 3 pick of the 2010 NBA Draft precisely because of his potential and work ethic, and while the production has been slow to come, nothing has diminished his promise.

It, however, might be a slow rise for Favors and, thus, the Jazz. Favors projects as something between Josh Smith and Dwight Howard (though probably not as incredible as the latter, and possibly not even as good as the former). Favors’ potential is in being a defensive stopper, an anchor that controls one side of the floor and who can finish well and maybe pick up a short jumper or passing skills on offense.

The New Jersey Nets pulled off the biggest shocker in recent NBA trade deadline memory, acquiring Deron Williams from the Utah Jazz for Devin Harris, Derrick Favors and two first-round picks. Williams is probably a better player than Carmelo Anthony, so this is a huge coup for the Nets. They finally have their star player, and have now positioned themselves to possibly pick up another (Dwight Howard?) next season.

However, it is worth noting that Williams is not officially a Net for the long-term ... yet. Whereas the Knicks’ trade for Anthony included an immediate three-year, $65 million contract extension, a similar long-term commitment from Williams to the Nets will have to wait until the summer because Williams’ current contract does not expire until 2012. According to Larry Coon, the Nets cannot offer Williams a long-term contract extension under the current Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Spurned by Carmelo Anthony, Mikhail Prokhorov and the New Jersey Nets are nevertheless on the verge of a shocking blockbuster trade. They are about to acquire Deron Williams from the Utah Jazz for a package centered around Devin Harris, Derrick Favors and two first-round picks, according to reports by Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski and the Bergen Record’s Al Iannazzone. The Nets will also send Troy Murphy to the Golden State Warriors for Dan Gadzuric and Brandan Wright.

The package is very similar to the one the Nets were offering for Anthony, but Williams may end up being the better fit. He has struggled through a frustrating year in which he was accused by many of orchestrating the resignation of longtime coach Jerry Sloan, but he is the same age as Anthony and has put up better numbers over the course of his career. There were whispers that Williams would go to the Knicks next year once his contract is up after 2012, so the Nets jumping the gun and acquiring him now is a major, major coup.