EAST RUTHERFORD -- Nets general manager Billy King is a Phillies fan from his days working in the 76ers front office. He was happy the Phillies beat the Yankees for Cliff Lee's services. King hopes to pull off a similar coup and beat out the Knicks for a soon-to-be free agent.

Carmelo Anthony isn’t a free agent, but he’s the next best thing in the NBA. He’s available through a trade, and the Nets are in position to deal for him, although won’t unless he agrees to sign an extension.

There is no gray area there. King and the Nets won’t trade for Anthony unless he agrees to a extension. Most teams wouldn’t and the Nets absolutely won’t. They can’t give up Derrick Favors and multiple first-round picks for a 40-game or so rental.

But King and the Nets are doing everything possible to make sure they distance themselves from the Knicks -- Anthony's preferred team -- and are in position to get the Nuggets' All-Star small forward.

The completion of today’s three-team trade with the Rockets and Lakers is another indication.

King engineered the deal that sent Terrence Williams to Houston and Joe Smith and two second-round picks to the Lakers for the Rockets' lottery-protected 2012 first-round pick, Sasha Vujacic and the Los Angeles’ 2011 first-rounder.

This was a home run for King and the Nets.

Williams and Smith weren’t really a part of the Nets’ today or tomorrow, and King turned them into two first-rounders and a shooter for a team that desperately needs someone who can make a shot.

“I felt like we’ve had assets before, so I don’t think that’s changed,” King said. “We just added more assets. To put it in baseball terms, when the Phillies traded Cliff Lee, they needed to restock their bullpen. So we just restocked more picks.”

The Nets would have made this trade regardless of the Anthony situation. They wanted Williams out of their program and wanted more draft picks to keep or use in trades.

Also, if they are able to get Anthony for a package including Favors and two No. 1s, they just replenished the two No. 1s they would be parting with. The Nets are going to try to build through the draft, free agency and trades.

They can go all three routes with the flexibility they have created with five first-round picks in the next two years and having six players with expiring contracts on their roster now.

This was King’s second trade since replacing Rod Thorn, the Nets’ former president who’s now in Philadelphia. King has done a good job of acquiring assets. But right now, he’s 1-for-2 in trades. The one that hasn’t worked out still could in the grand scheme of things.

King worked on the four-team trade that landed Troy Murphy and sent Courtney Lee to Houston. At the time, everyone loved that trade because not only had the Nets acquired a starting-caliber power forward and someone who has averaged five double-doubles in his career, but Murphy also has an expiring contract.

Now that’s Murphy’s biggest value to the Nets because he’s hardly playing.

Murphy is the big contract the Nets have dangled for Anthony. It’s doubtful Murphy will be here all season, so King eventually will flip Murphy. Their preference is Anthony, but they know they need to get something.

“Offensively we just are struggling to score, and when you’re struggling to score it puts so much pressure on your defense,” King said. “You can only go down and stop a team two or three times before eventually the dams are going to break and they’re going to score. And that’s where, right now, we have not been consistent offensively. That adds so much pressure to your defense, which in turn adds pressure to your offense, because now we feel like we’ve got to score.”

Definitely sounds like he’s talking about Anthony without saying his name.

The Nets don’t have a star, don’t have a reliable scorer, don’t have someone who can open the floor for their shooters and other players.

“We have to start retooling our roster and this is the start of it,” coach Avery Johnson said. “For Billy this is his opportunity. This is another move he’s made since taking over as GM and this won’t be the last.”

King will continue to be active and continue to swing for the fences. If he can turn these assets into Anthony, it will be a grand slam.

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An MRI on Anthony Morrow’s hamstring confirmed it’s strained. He will miss 2-3 weeks. Vujacic could be in the lineup tomorrow when the Nets host the Wizards.

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Follow me on Twitter: @Al_Iannazzone

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Al Iannazzone covers the Nets for The Record (Bergen County, N.J.)