The Brooklyn Nets and Sacramento Kings have discussed a package that would send point guard Deron Williams to the Sacramento Kings. The Kings were the ones that first reached out to the Nets about Williams, according to a source close to the situation.
No official offer has been made by the Kings, and the teams have only talked about a potential deal. No deal is imminent, and issues with a potential deal hinge on Brooklyn’s unwillingness to include center Mason Plumee in any trade, since they’re already short in the frontcourt, according to a source. Without Plumlee, the Nets would be limited to Jerome Jordan as their only true healthy center; Brook Lopez has dealt with a lower back strain in the past two weeks and Kevin Garnett plays both the power forward and center position.
The Nets currently are operating under the impression that Rudy Gay, DeMarcus Cousins, and young prospect Ben McLemore are off the table. McLemore would be a prize prospect for the Nets to add into this deal, and makes more sense as a potential prospect for the Nets to add than Cousins or Gay, who are both highly priced and top options on the Kings.
The package could include some combination of Kings guard Darren Collison, as well as forwards Derrick Williams and Jason Thompson, according to a report by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, who was the first to report the deal.
Wojnarowski adds that “the Nets’ partnership with Williams has become increasingly fractured over the past two years, and the idea of a breakup has appeal for both sides.”
We discussed a potential Nets-Kings trade matchup earlier this month, with McLemore in place of Collison. But Collison would give the Nets added depth at the point guard spot with Deron Williams out the door, and with Derrick Williams’s contract expiring, it would give the Nets added cap relief down the line, which they’re looking to create.
Sacramento would have to bank on Williams returning to the form he had in Utah, when he was briefly coached by current interim Kings coach Tyrone Corbin before the Jazz sent Williams to the Nets in 2011. Williams certainly enjoyed playing in a smaller market than Brooklyn, and he’d have a chance to play as the third option alongside bruising center Cousins and sweet-shooting forward Gay.
Yahoo! Sports — Sources: Kings discussing trade for Deron Williams
