The Nets have acquired 22-year old forward Damion James (#24 overall) from the Hawks in return for guard Jordan Crawford (#27 overall) and center Tibor Pleiss (#31 overall). The Hawks then sold Pleiss to the Thunder. Damion James played in 34 games (all starts) at Texas last season and he averaged 18.0 points, 10.3 rebounds, 1.0 assist, 1.7 steals and 1.2 blocked shots per game. He finished his career at Texas having played in 140 games (all starts) in which he averaged 13.7 points, 9.4 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 1.0 steal and 1.2 blocked shots per game. I really like this trade for the Nets as James is a very polished forward who will be able to work big minutes early in his career.

The Nets have selected 18-year old power forward Derrick Favors with the 3rd overall pick of the NBA Draft. He is a big guy at 6′10″, 246 pounds so he could get a lot bigger. Favors played in 36 games (35 starts) at Georgia Tech last season and he averaged 12.4 points, 8.4 rebounds, 1.0 assist and 2.1 blocked shots per game. Teaming Favors with center Brook Lopez give the Nets an outstanding set of young big men to build the franchise around. I look for the Nets to try to move Yi Jianlian in this draft as they don’t likely want anyone blocking Favors on the roster.

The Nets own the #3, #27 and #31 overall picks in tomorrow night’s NBA Draft. The Nets have been in contact with the Hornets trying to pry Chris Paul away from them and it could happen tomorrow night as the Nets have offered the #3 overall pick and Devin Harris for him. If the Nets don’t trade away the #3 pick then they will likely decide between power forward Derrick Favors and small forward Wesley Johnson. I think they will lean more towards Johnson because their are a lot of free agents that are power forwards and the Nets certainly have the cash to nab one of them. But if they are going hard after LeBron James then Favors is the pick. It will be interesting to see how active the Nets are going to be tomorrow night as they have the ammo to make some big trades.

The Nets have acquired two future 2nd round picks from the Warriors.   In return the Warriors won’t have to give the Nets their first round lottery protected draft pick in 2011 instead waiting until the 2012 season.  It’s always good to get extra draft picks so it’s no big deal that the Nets will have to wait an extra year to get a first round pick.

The Nets selected SG/SF Terrence Williams with the 11th pick of the NBA Draft last night. The 21-year old Williams played in 140 games in his four years at Louisville and he averaged 11.2 points, 6.9 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.5 steals per game. Williams is expected to replace Vince Carter in the starting lineup but he’s nowhere near him as a player. He’s not much of a shooter hitting only 40% from the floor and 58.9% from the free throw line. Still, Williams is a good athlete so he should be able to continue to improve as a player.