In the NBA’s first-ever regular-season game in Europe, Deron Williams won for the first time as a Net. Both could be significant developments for the future of the organization.

Owner Mikhail Prokhorov’s vision is to make the Nets a global team, but they can’t be one if they don’t have superstars and they don’t win. They finally have a legitimate superstar in Williams and they finally won a game with him, beating the Toronto Raptors 116-103 in a historic game in London on Friday.

Now the key is keeping Williams, which is another big part of this European trip.

They’re trying to grow their brand and connect with people in England. Remember, Barclays, which owns the naming rights to the Nets’ arena in Brooklyn, is based across the pond.  They surely made a good impression during all the events and meetings they have had, and they had to make another good one with their strong play on the court. They go for two in a row tomorrow against the Raptors.

It’s also important for the Nets to make an impression on Williams, who can opt out of his contract after next season.

Prokhorov is in London, and undoubtedly will speak to Williams – if he hasn’t already – extensively about the future of the team with the All-Star point guard as the centerpiece. You would expect general manager Billy King and head coach Avery Johnson also got in Williams’ ear and talked about how they’re going to improve the roster.

That is the biggest thing the Nets need to do to have any chance of keeping Williams – they need to add players that will put him in position to win consistently. Otherwise, Williams could follow Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire to New York or Dwight Howard wherever he ends up.

But know that the Nets are one of the teams that will pursue Howard, probably as aggressively as they did Anthony this season. Superman is the superstar of the 2012 free-agent class.

So if there is no lengthy work stoppage and the Magic aren’t sure they can re-sign Howard, they could do next season what the Nuggets did with Anthony and Jazz with Williams this season and move him before losing him without getting anything in return.

The Nets already have gotten major returns on their investment in Williams, even though it took four games to get him his first win.

In the first three games, he dished for a record 47 assists, but his shot was off because of pain in his strained right wrist. He hadn’t done much since Monday, giving his right wrist and bruised left hand a little rest and found his stroke a little more against Toronto.

Williams was 7-for-15 and scored 16 points, including a big three in the fourth that led to a four-point play. He also had 11 assists, giving him four double-doubles in four games as a Net.

The Nets got big games from many players, which you figured they would need against a Raptors team that can spread the floor and bury you with threes. From the beginning, the Nets were aggressive, especially inside and they didn’t tighten up when Toronto made runs.

Having Williams will do that because the Nets know they’re going to be able to get easy shots at any time because of his court vision and passing ability. But that confidence also is felt when he’s not on the floor.

When Williams went to the bench with four fouls, the Nets got a big and unexpected lift from Sundiata Gaines, who signed a 10-day contract earlier this week. In under 8 minutes, Gaines had seven points and two assists.

It seemed a couple of days ago that backup guard Jordan Farmar wouldn’t be able to play because of a sprained ankle. But he played and hit a pair of big threes.

As much as the bench contributed, though, the Nets got a solid game from their starting frontcourt. Brook Lopez had 25 points. Kris Humphries had another gaudy double-double with 18 points, 17 rebounds and four blocks. And rookie Damion James, who played with energy all game, had a career-high 15 points and seven rebounds.

“Pretty exciting win for us,” Johnson said.

It was the Nets’ first against an Atlantic Division team this season, the first-ever in Europe during the regular season, and first with Williams steering the ship.

The Nets hope there are many more with Williams running the team, many more beyond next season.