Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! tweeting that the Nets and the Hawks have been involved in talks that would send Atlanta’s Joe Johnson to the Nets.
As Woj originally tweeted:
Brooklyn and Atlanta are engaged in talks on a possible Joe Johnson trade, sources tell Y! Nets plan would be to pair with Deron Williams.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 1, 2012
Both Hawks and Nets are engaged in talks on several fronts. No deal close on Johnson, but sides have gone back and forth on possibility.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 1, 2012
He went on to file a report which may indicate some of the Nets thinking in regards to Dwight Howard:
Multiple league sources believe the Nets are losing hope they can pry Howard out of Orlando, and are working diligently to construct a roster to keep Williams that doesn’t necessarily give them the financial flexibility to absorb Howard when he can become a free agent next year. If the Magic do eventually make a deal for Howard – something that they haven’t shown an inclination yet to do under new general manager Rob Hennigan – the Nets would be stocked with the kind of expensive veteran contracts that wouldn’t appeal to Orlando’s blueprint for rebuilding.
As Stefan Bondy notes, Billy King and new Hawks G.M. Danny Ferry were college teammates at Duke and have a close relationship. We’ve seen King use close relationships to facilitate other trades, most notably his relationship with Jazz G.M. Kevin O’Connor in the Deron Williams deal.
More details as they come.
