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Nets Trading Terrence Williams and Joe Smith for Sasha Vujacic and Two First Rounders as Melo Rumors Fly

Terrence Williams was inactive (and not at The Rock) for Tuesday's game. It's because he's going to be traded to the Rockets Wednesday. In a three-way trade, Williams goes to Houston and Joe Smith to the Lakers. The Nets get the Lakers' Sasha Vujacic, the Lakers' 2011 first-round pick, and the Rockets' 2012 lottery-protected first rounder.

The trade gives the Nets 10 draft picks over the next two years: two firsts and two seconds in the 2011 draft and three firsts and three seconds in the 2012 draft. The Nets will remain under the cap.

The deal can't be approved until Wednesday when players signed in the off-season are eligible to be dealt. Smith was signed by the Nets in the off-season.

The move is possibly a precursor to a deal for Carmelo Anthony. "Those assets, combined with 2010 No. 3 pick Derrick Favors and power forward Troy Murphy, would put New Jersey in the driver's seat in the Melo sweepstakes," Ken Berger writes. But the question of whether Anthony would sign a contract extension with the Nets remains.