The Nets made Williams happy and will be able to keep him beyond this season. We’re talking about Shawne Williams, not Deron.

Shawne was given a two-year deal by the Nets, which was a good signing. He can play both forward spots and no matter if Brook Lopez is in the middle or Dwight Howard, Shawne Williams is going to get plenty of open looks in the corner. Deron Williams will make Shawne Williams a better player.

Deron Williams will make all of the Williamses on the Nets better. There are four now, but with all due respect to Shawne, Jordan and Sheldon, only one really matters.

The preseason opens Saturday against the Knicks, the regular season next week, and nothing has changed for the Nets. The roster looks a little different, but they still haven’t assembled one that

So much for the circus-atmosphere general manager Billy King said the Nets would avoid this year. Can’t wait to see what happens when they open their first training as the Brooklyn Nets.

Their last camp as the New Jersey Nets began with reports that Dwight Howard would ask for a trade from Orlando and could be Newark-bound by Friday afternoon. Then reports said the Magic were considering filing tampering charges because members of the Nets organization, including owner Mikhail Prokhorov, had met with Howard.

King denied that was so. And the Nets were not close to acquiring Howard on Friday. But for the second straight year – which happens to be the second year of the Prokhorov-King-Avery Johnson era - the Nets were embroiled in drama before the basketballs hit the court for

Avery Johnson joked that when the time comes for the Nets to get something done with free agents, he’s like Mariano Rivera.
 
“They bring me in to close,” Johnson said today.
 
Johnson can give the final sales pitch – he ultimately decides how much a player plays. But the two biggest things for the Nets in their pursuit of any free agent are Mikhail Prokhorov’s fortune and Deron Williams’ future.
 
Williams declared his intentions yesterday, saying, “I plan to stay.” That should help the Nets lure some players. But the almighty millions could be the deciding factor.
 
The truth is the Nets are going to have to spend more than they probably would like in order to get Nene or Tyson Chandler or Caron Butler or even to bring Kris Humphries

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

After such a long lockout-generated layoff, it’s busy season in the NBA and the Nets should be among the busiest teams.

They have the money – up to about $24 million for free agency – the star point guard and some assets to at least be in the conversation to acquire Dwight Howard.

Negotiations for players and free agents should heat up over the weekend and early next week, building to the expected opening of camps Dec. 9. Here are some pressing issues concerning the Nets and their roster and one major issue that seems to be put to rest – for now.
 
 
D-Will Won’t
Deron Williams’ agent Jeff Schwartz said yesterday what many people were already thinking, including Nets execs: his client won’t sign an extension with the Nets and will become

The Nets are in the process of building a new arena in Brooklyn and trying to build their team into a playoff contender. On Sunday, they added a farm club, as they officially took over the basketball operations of their NBA Development League affiliate, the Springfield Armor.

The Nets don’t own the Armor. This “hybrid affiliation,” means the Nets are in charge of the basketball operations and pay for expenses related to that, as existing local owners pay for the off-the-court costs of doing business.

It may not seem like a big deal, but it is significant in many ways. The biggest one is it’s another example of how serious and committed owner Mikhail Prokhorov is about spending money to improve the overall operation and how the Nets are run.

“We’re

The last couple of weeks of this season have felt a little like last year. The Nets have been decimated by injuries and have lost 14 of 16 games heading into Wednesday's finale against the Bulls.

But this season has been different. The Nets have doubled their win total (24) and are in a better place than at this point last season.

First of all, the team didn’t have a clean-up day last year. The players left Miami after the finale and went their separate ways after one of the most dysfunctional and frustrating seasons in NBA history. Many of them didn’t fly back to New Jersey. They couldn’t wait to get rid of last season.

This season, everyone is flying back from Chicago, doing their exit interviews Thursday with general manager Billy King and coach Avery Johnson, and

Deron Williams was back with the Nets, but only as a spectator. He was helpless, sitting on the bench resting his strained right wrist.

On the court, there were times the Nets looked helpless against the Magic, despite how hard they tried and worked for every shot.

The Nets made 46 percent of their attempts, but some possessions were so bad and naturally they came at the worst times in a 95-85 loss to Dwight Howard and the Magic.

Five times in the game, the Nets were called for a 24-second violation, accounting for five of their 19 turnovers. They had three in the third period during an impressive comeback from 13 points down.

The Nets ultimately took a lead in the fourth period, less than two minutes in, but came up empty on their next seven trips. The bad offense carried over to the

Brook Lopez began elevating his game right around the time Dwight Howard’s name was mentioned as the Nets’ target to team with Deron Williams.

Knowing Lopez it probably has more to do with Williams’ arrival than it does the expected Howard pursuit. Lopez said he doesn’t pay attention to any of that and he never followed the Carmelo Anthony sweepstakes.

Some players just say that, but you tend to believe Lopez because he’s not your average athlete. He’s not consumed by basketball and all the drama. He has other interests and says he doesn’t like to clutter his brain with things he can’t control.

Either way, a better Lopez helps the Nets on the court and in the trade market.

On the court, Lopez of late has played the way most expected him