As Nets eye Melo, Rockets snag young talent

To bolster their trade bait for Carmelo Anthony, the Nets gave up a potential difference-maker in Terrence Williams. (Garrett W. Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images)

The biggest news from Tuesday night was the Nets’ acquisition of two first-round picks in a three-way trade with the Lakers and Rockets. New Jersey sent swingman Terrence Williams, a 2009 lottery pick, to Houston for the Rockets’ 2012 first-round pick, which is lottery-protected through 2017. The Nets also sent Joe Smith (who has played all of 25 minutes this season) to the Lakers for a 2011 first-round pick (that will likely be in the low 20s) and Sasha Vujacic and his $5.5 million salary — a figure New Jersey can (barely) absorb with its combination of cap space and the Williams/Smith outgoing money.

As SI.com’s Chris Mannix and many others have noted, Williams is really the only relevant player in this deal. But the biggest storyline, of course, is that the Nets now have five first-round picks over the next two drafts, including at least two that are likely to be in the lottery (their own 2011 pick and Golden State’s 2012 first-rounder). They have plenty of picks to send the Nuggets in a potential Carmelo Anthony deal, which is the obvious and likely end game the Nets have in mind here.

And there has to be some sort of good end game here for New Jersey, because it just gave up on a 23-year-old potential difference-maker to get Houston’s first-rounder. If the Nets end up parting with Williams, rookie Derrick Favors and multiple first-round picks for Anthony, they will have paid a heavy price for Denver’s All-Star forward. That’s not to say that dealing for Anthony would be a bad move if the Nets can persuade him to sign long term. He’s a scorer they can build around, and the Nets are absolutely desperate for offense, especially on the wing, where Travis Outlaw already looks to be a $35-million, low-scoring backup. As good as Favors has looked this season, no one knows how good he can be or how he’ll mesh long term with Brook Lopez, who looks less and less like a plausible first option for a contender.

The Nets are smart to think they can get Anthony to sign a big-money extension this season, before the collective bargaining agreement expires, on June 30. While Anthony might prefer Manhattan to Brooklyn, most athletes are not going to leave (potentially) tens of millions on the table if they can help it.

Still, this is a ton for New Jersey to give up for Anthony, especially since he’s seven years older than the centerpiece player (Favors) in a potential mega-deal. If I were a Nets fan, I wouldn’t mind if they tried to develop or use these picks in other trades.

The knee-jerk reaction to trades like this is to look first at the team that got the best player in the deal — Williams in this case. The Rockets used one of their trade exceptions to land a multitalented lottery pick whose passing and playmaking figure to fit in well in Rick Adelman’s offense. We all know the issues with Williams — the habitual tardiness that led to his embarrassing D-League demotion, his occasional ball-hogging and his weird Twitter fits. But he has a rare combination of talents, and the Rockets, still flush with New York’s 2012 first-rounder, are right to take a low-risk gamble on Williams.

This is especially so given the team’s uncertain future. Yao Ming, Shane Battier and Aaron Brooks will all be free agents after this season, and the acquisition of Williams gives Houston some insurance if Battier and Brooks both leave. The Rockets might want Brooks and Battier back, but if a team hoarding cap space throws a giant offer at Brooks (a restricted free agent), Houston can more comfortably walk away with Kyle Lowry tied up long term and Williams (hopefully) ready to develop into a guy who can handle 10 minutes of point-guard duty in a pinch. It’s not ideal, and Brooks is a better player than both guys (though not by as big a margin over Lowry as some Houston fans might think), but Williams is still a nice, young asset to have in place with so much uncertainty hovering over the team.

Some folks in Houston are holding out hope that GM Daryl Morey can parlay the assets from some of these smaller trade victories into the home-run deal the team has failed to make so far. I get that, and I get the frustration behind that sentiment. And perhaps Morey has more planned here – he usually does — but grabbing Williams is still a solid move.

As for the Lakers, even big-money teams enjoy when they can pocket nearly $9 million in salary and luxury-tax savings by dealing a guy who had no place in their rotation. Getting Smith as big man insurance to ease the burden on Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum (who looked good in his first game back Tuesday) is a nice bonus.