The Nets have traded 22-year old power forward Yi Jianlian to the Washington Wizards for 29-year old SG/SF Quinton Ross. Yi played in 52 games (51 starts) for the Nets last season and he averaged 31.8 minutes, 12.0 points, 7.2 rebounds, 0.9 assists and 1.0 blocked shot per game. In two years with the Nets, Yi played in 113 games (103 starts) in which he averaged 27.2 minutes, 10.2 points, 6.2 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game. Quinton Ross played in 52 games (7 starts) for the Wizards & Mavericks last season and he averaged 10.8 minutes, 1.8 points, 0.9 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game. He has now played in 422 games (165 starts) in his six years in the NBA and he has averaged 19.2 minutes, 4.3 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game. The Nets don’t expect much out of Ross. They made this trade to clear up cap space for free agency as on the surface they got ripped off.

The Nets have waived 30-year old PG/SG Keyon Dooling. Dooling played in 53 games (8 starts) for the Nets last season and he averaged 18.3 minutes, 6.9 points, 1.0 rebound and 2.5 assists per game. He played in 130 games (26 starts) in his two years with the Nets in which he averaged 23.6 minutes, 8.6 points, 1.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. Dooling is a decent backup guard and he should have no problem finding a new job for the 2010-11 season.

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.