While they missed out on Carmelo Anthony, the New Jersey Nets just completed a trade with the Utah Jazz for point guard Deron Williams, according to Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski. The Jazz receive rookie Derrick Favors, point guard Devin Harris and two first-round draft picks. As part of a separate deal, the Nets will trade Troy Murphy's expiring contract to the Golden State Warriors for Brandan Wright and Dan Gadzuric.
Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov has made a shrewd move here after losing out on Carmelo Anthony. After being burned by the public nature of the Carmelo Anthony trade talks, Prokhorov's teams was able to swoop in and grab a top star with ease.
I agree with Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post, who tweets:
If D-Will is New Jersey's consolation prize after not getting Melo, did they really lose?
Williams is one of the top point guards in the league, whom the Nets received for basically the asking price of Carmelo Anthony. Williams has two years left on his current contract.