Last year, Jazz GM Kevin O'Connor picked up the phone to console former Sixers front-office colleague and current Nets GM Billy King on his inability to work out a deal to bring Carmelo Anthony to New Jersey. While they were on the line, King suggested a deal involving Deron Williams, and soon thereafter the blockbuster was a reality. That's just one of the tidbits that Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News reveals in a must-read piece about King.
- It's unclear if King lasts the summer in his job if Brooklyn's offseason plans go awry, Bondy says, adding that the ability to re-sign Williams will be a referendum on his tenure with the Nets.
- If Steve Nash leaves Phoenix, add the Suns to the list of teams going hard after Deron Williams, fellow Daily News scribe Mitch Lawrence reports.
- Lawrence, in the same piece, says the Suns view the Knicks, Raptors and Nets as their top competitors for Nash.
- Gerald Wallace is in line for a three-year, $24MM deal from the Nets if he opts out of the final season of his current deal, Lawrence writes. The Nets don't have any such plans for free agent Kris Humphries, as Lawrence believes the team will look elsewhere for a power forward.
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