The New Jersey Nets are expected to complete a trade that would send Terrence Williams to the Houston Rockets on Wednesday in exchange for a couple of first-round picks that would then likely be used in acquiring Carmelo Anthony from the Denver Nuggets.
The Nets will send WIlliams to Houston in exchange for the Los Angeles Lakers’ Sasha Vujacic and a 2012 first-round pick from the Rockets. The Nets will also send Joe Smith to the Lakers in return for a 2011 first-round pick from the Lakers, according to Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski on Twitter.
In acquiring two more first-round picks, the Nets would certainly be able to put together a more attractive package for the Nuggets which seems to be the reason this deal is being put together – though stockpiling draft picks is never a bad idea, either.
There are numerous reports that Williams was inactive for Tuesday’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers, even though he was healthy, because the Nets didn’t want to risk him getting hurt. Smith, a journeyman, hasn’t appeared in a game for New Jersey since a Nov. 10 contest against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The deal, according to Wojnarowski, has been agreed to in principle which means it should be finalized sometime Wednesday.