English: Devin Harris playing with the New Jersey Nets (Photo credit: Wikipedia)The Brooklyn Nets have reached an agreement in principle to acquire Atlanta Hawks guard Joe Johnson, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.
Joe Johnson has four years and about $90 million remaining on his contract. (Getty Images)
The trade sends guards Anthony Morrow, Jordan Farmar and DeShawn Stevenson and forwards Jordan Williams and Johan Petro to the Hawks, along with a lottery-protected 2013 first-round pick the Nets acquired from the Houston Rockets. Stevenson is a free agent, so he will go to the Hawks in a sign-and-trade deal.
Johnson, 31, has four years and nearly $90 million dollars left on his contract. Shedding his contract gives Atlanta immense cap relief and flexibility moving forward. The Hawks created more flexibility by also reaching agreement on a trade to send Marvin Williams to the Utah Jazz for Devin Harris, league sources confirmed to Y! Sports' Marc Spears. Harris has one year and $8.5 million remaining on his contract. Williams has two years and $15.8 million left on his deal.
The deal for Johnson eliminates the Nets from pursuing a deal with Orlando for All-Star center Dwight Howard in the short-term, but could open the possibility of Atlanta making a bid to bring Howard back to his boyhood home. The Hawks could have $25 million in salary-cap space next summer. They also have attractive young talent, including center Al Horford and guard Jeff Teague, to offer Orlando.
Brooklyn officials and Deron Williams began a 5 p.m. ET meeting for what the Nets hope would be a final walk-through with the All-Star point guard on the organization's plans to surround him with talent and become an Eastern Conference contender.The Magic showed no inclination to negotiate a Howard trade with the Nets, and sources say Williams gave his blessing for general manager Billy King to build a supporting cast without Howard.
The Nets were unsure if Williams would commit to their five-year, $100 million extension on Monday, expecting him to take a little more time to decide between them and the Dallas Mavericks. Nevertheless, the organization has become increasingly confident Williams will decide to stay.
What won't be much a part of the Nets' presentation to Williams: How they'll continue to try and pry All-Star center Dwight Howard out of Orlando. The deal for Johnson – along with a $40 million extension for Gerald Wallace and and an eventual $50 milllion-plus deal for center Brook Lopez – almost assure the Nets will be out of the Howard derby.
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