Nets Move on from Howard in a Big Way
Now that the Dwight Howard sweepstakes has come to an end for the Brooklyn Nets, general manager Billy King moved on to other business in a big way on Wednesday.
In all, five deals became official while two more were agreed upon.
To start, Deron Williams opened the free agency signing period by inking a five-year, $98 million deal at 12:01 a.m. That news was followed by Gerald Wallace’s signing, which comes to $40 million over four years. The Nets then announced that former Atlanta Hawks swingman Joe Johnson had officially been acquired for Jordan Farmar (who will be bought out and sign to play in Turkey), Anthony Morrow, Jordan Williams, Johan Petro and DeShawn Stevenson, as well as a future first and a second-round pick.
17-year NBA veteran Jerry Stackhouse also agreed to a contract with the Nets, he told Chris Tomasson of FoxSports.com, while Reggie Evans was acquired in a trade from the Los Angeles Clippers and former Euroleauge scoring champ Mirza Teletovic inked a three-year deal for the tax-paying mid-level exception of $3.09 million per season.
But the biggest news of the day (and excuse me for burying the lede) is that Brook Lopez agreed to a four-year, $60.8 million contract, sources have confirmed.
Lopez doesn’t give the Nets the same defensive presence that Dwight Howard would have, but he comes without the added cost of second-year swingman MarShon Brooks or the handful of draft picks it would have cost Brooklyn to acquire the three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year. The signing of Lopez, who was a restricted free agent, precludes the team from trading him until Jan. 15, and it also allows King the opportunity to continue to negotiate with Kris Humphries on a new deal.
The Nets certainly aren’t done filling out their roster, but considering they lost out on Howard in the afternoon, the fact that they completed so many deals in the evening is a remarkable silver lining.
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