Deron Williams is doing everything he can to put the Nets and their general manager Billy King at ease. But Williams also is letting King know he’s on the clock.

Williams met with beat reporters at a SoHo restaurant not long after he went on WFAN and declared, “My plan is to stay.” Williams said similar things to the writers after lunch.

His plan is to opt out after the season, but stay with the organization. He said he had a “strong feeling” that he would re-sign with the Nets next summer. But King has roughly eight months to turn a team that won 24 games last season into a championship contender.

The best way to leap tall buildings in a single bound is by acquiring Superman.

It’s not Dwight Howard or bust, but if King can make a deal with Orlando

This time the Nets really are out of the Carmelo Anthony sweepstakes. He’s a Knick and the Nets are left to try to make moves that don’t hurt their future salary cap flexibility, but also help them on the court now and next year.

Devin Harris and Troy Murphy are the Nets most likely to pack their bags – although something tells me their suitcases are packed and by their doors as they just await a call.

They know they’re going, and the Nets aren’t getting anyone back as exciting as Anthony, a potential franchise changer. He was the only player available of that ilk on the trade market and the Nets did everything – literally, everything – they could to get him.

General manager Billy King put together countless trade proposals to appease Denver

Avery Johnson hopes to build a team the way his mentor and former coach Gregg Popovich has in San Antonio. But the Nets are eons away from the Spurs.

You knew it before the two teams played each other last night, and the Nets didn’t do anything to make you believe they’re one or two players away. Maybe they are if those two players are Dwight Howard and Chris Paul.

The Spurs dominated the Nets inside and out, trouncing them, 102-85, in a game that had San Antonio’s greatness and New Jersey’s shortcomings on full display.

It’s a credit to Popovich and the Spurs’ stars that they didn’t take this game lightly when they could have. They have the NBA’s best record, are near the end of a long Rodeo road trip and are playing one of the worst

The Nets haven’t been in this kind of game in a long time, one that could have gone either way, and one that came down to late-game execution.

The Nets made just enough plays to beat the Hornets 103-101 in overtime and end a three-game losing streak. Just enough.

The past six Nets’ games were lopsided; all of them decided by double-digits. But this was a nail-biter last night. They looked like they were going to win early in the fourth quarter and then appeared they were going to lose in the final minute.

Then they got it to overtime and looked like they were going to pull away, but had some lapses and almost let it slip away. In the end, the Nets breathed a huge and collective sigh of relief after this bench-led victory.

“Nobody really got rattled tonight, which is

The Nets have been here before, and not just this season.

They’re stuck in-limbo, seemingly exhausting every possibility as they wait for a deal to happen involving a superstar player, who because of his unhappiness and want for what could be green pastures has turned two franchises upside down.

Carmelo Anthony is doing what Jason Kidd did in 2008. The difference this time is the Nets are not acting from a position of strength because they’re not the one dealing the All-Star player.

Don’t get me wrong, the Nets have bargaining power. They have the assets Denver wants: draft picks, young players, the ability to trim salary to the point where the Nuggets don’t have to pay luxury tax.

But the Nuggets really have the final say on if the current three-team 14-to-16-player

Well, at least Brook Lopez and Devin Harris should be flattered that LeBron James thinks they belong in the NBA. But it certainly sounded as if James doesn’t think the Nets should be.

It’s probably too late for Jay-Z to get back his Christmas gift and card.

What James said last night to reporters in Phoenix isn’t wrong necessarily. There are too many NBA teams, and plenty of them aren’t good.

The league is watered down and some teams have too many stars – ahem, like the Heat - that make them powerhouses and others just fighting to stay afloat. Some probably should be contracted. But it was surprising that he singled out the Nets – and Timberwolves – when he was asked about the possibility of the league downsizing.

"Just imagine if you could

The Nets' pre-Christmas two-game trip is a little bit of what could have been and a lot of what could be. Everything about the Nets right now is what could be.

Everyone knows what is happening: the Nets are in transition and won’t make the playoffs as constituted, but have young assets, expiring contracts and draft picks to make trades, and improve quickly with Carmelo Anthony, their top target. He’s definitely in the “what could be” category and has a connection to this trip.

The Nets open up tomorrow in Memphis, where they finally will see Rudy Gay.

The high-scoring small forward was considered the Nets’ fallback option if they couldn’t get LeBron James in free agency. It turned out they couldn’t get either.

Coach Avery Johnson and Nets’

The Nets visited the Great Wall yesterday and officially hit the wall today.

Coach Avery Johnson said the Nets are tired, looked it at practice today and as a result likely won’t have a shootaround before tomorrow’s preseason game against the Rockets.

You knew it was coming after the Nets went from Newark to Russia – where they stayed for less than 24 hours – to Beijing and now Guangzhou all in about five days. Awaiting them after tomorrow’s game is a 17-hour trip home.

“I know in the back of their minds they know we’re going to be returning home after the game tomorrow," Johnson said during a conference call this morning. "We have to get something out of this game. With us only having two preseason games after tomorrow night, it’s critical.”

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- As everyone in the NBA waits on Carmelo Anthony and the Nets, Nuggets, Bobcats and Jazz to decide whether this blockbuster will become a reality, training camp opened for New Jersey today.

Yes, Devin Harris was running the point and yes Derrick Favors was running the floor.

Will they still be around for the afternoon practice or both sessions remains to be seen, but they are the two main players the Nets are expected to move to get the high-scoring Anthony.

The deal could still break down because of all the teams, players, owners and egos involved. But if it does go through, there has been plenty of talk about whether the Nets would be giving up too much, but you have to give up something to get a top-tier player that immediately becomes the face of your franchise.