Reggie Evans

Before Wednesday night’s game, Nets forward Reggie Evans provided LeBron James and the Heat with some bulletin board material, not that Miami needed any. The Heat defeated the Nets for the 13th consecutive time, 105-85, as James registered 24 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.

Earlier on Wednesday, Evans talked with the New York Daily News and attempted to devalue the Heat’s 2012 championship.

“It doesn’t prove nothing,” Evans said. “That was a lockout season.”

When James learned of the comments, he tweeted: Just keep throwing rocks at the throne, don’t matter cause nothing can break my zone.

Following the easy win, James continued with his response to the ineffective Evans (zero points, six rebounds).

“You can’t just come out and say something like that versus a champion,” James said. “No one knows what it takes unless you’ve done it. You can’t sit here and judge and talk about a team winning a championship unless you’ve done it. [Evans] hasn’t done it.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Deron Williams

Although no new contracts can officially be signed until July 11, a few teams already have reached agreements with some free agents. Here’s a recap of all the moves from a busy day Tuesday.

The Nets, preparing for their first season in Brooklyn, stole almost all the headlines. They came to an agreement to re-sign sought-after point guard Deron Williams, who hinted at his decision Tuesday night by tweeting a picture of the Nets logo. The deal reportedly is for five years and $98 million. Last season Williams averaged 21 points per game for the Nets.

The Williams deal came after reports that the Nets agreed to a multiplayer trade with the Hawks that will send Joe Johnson to Brooklyn in exchange for Jordan Farmar, DeShawn Stevenson, Johan Petro, Anthony Morrow and Jordan Williams along with a first-round draft pick.

In other Nets moves, the team landed forward Reggie Evans from the Clippers in a sign-and-trade and signed Bosnian power forward Mirza Teletovic, who played last season in Spain.

Brooklyn’s flurry of moves come two days after the team reportedly agreed with Gerald Wallace on a four-year, $40 million deal. Wallace, acquired by the Nets at the trade deadline, averaged 13.8 points and 6.7 rebounds last season in Portland and New Jersey.

The Hawks also were busy Tuesday. In addition to the trade of Johnson, Atlanta reportedly agreed to swap forward Marvin Williams for Jazz guard Devin Harris. Williams averaged 10.2 points and 5.2 rebounds per game last season, while Harris averaged 13 points per game.

Eric Gordon, a restricted free agent guard for the Hornets, opted to sign with the Suns for a reported four-year contract worth $58 million. The Hornets are expected to match the offer within the three-day limit, although Gordon said he would like to play for Phoenix.

The Raptors reportedly reached an agreement with Knicks guard Landry Fields for $20 million over three years. Because Fields is a restricted free agent, the Knicks have three days to match the offer. Last season Fields averaged 4.2 rebounds and 8.8 points per game while shooting 46 percent from the field.

Even after landing All-Star guard Joe Johnson in a trade Monday and amidst being a front-runner to re-sign Deron Williams, the Nets are in active pursuit of trading for Dwight Howard, according to a report ESPN’s Chris Broussard.

Broussard says the Nets and Magic are in talks of a trade that would send Brook Lopez, Kris Humphries, Marshon Brooks and the Nets’ first round picks in 2013, 2015 and 2017 to Orlando for the All-Star big man.

Sources, according to Broussard, are expecting Williams to re-sign in Brooklyn, citing that he was pleased with the acquisition of Johnson. Atlanta reportedly shipped him for DeShawn Stevenson, the Nets’ 2013 first-round pick (from Houston) and the expiring contracts of Jordan Farmar, Johan Petro, Anthony Morrow and Jordan Williams on Monday.

Howard has reportedly asked the Magic multiple times that he’d like to be traded to Brooklyn in the last week, and on Monday spoke publicly to Yahoo! Sports that he would only sign a long-term deal with one team, which is believed to be the Nets. But after they traded for Johnson, talks of a trade for Howard appeared to hit a wall.