New Jersey Nets coach Avery Johnson believes that because of the respect he has for his former boss, billionaire Mavs owner Mark Cuban, who has teamed with Dallas president basketball of operations Donnie Nelson to give the Mavs the financial flexibility this summer to attempt to sign (Deron) Williams and/or Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard.

“He’s a threat, OK?” Johnson said of Cuban after the Nets’ practice Monday night at SMU. “I know the guy. I think because of the success he’s had — and I know he got criticized a lot for quote-unquote having all those years where he didn’t win a championship — but he’s had some great success here that rivals any situation. So that’s a threat.”

“For us, we don’t make any assumptions until we get Deron signed on the dotted line,” said Johnson, who played 55 games for the Mavs late in his career and was the head coach in Dallas from 2005-08.

via Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas