How Danny Green almost became a Net

In a discussion Sunday night, Avery Johnson revealed a bit of Nets history we would like to un-hear, un-know: that the Nets were thisclose to getting Danny Green.

After the Spurs' win over the Heat, Green's' shooting was a hot topic on First Take, hosted by Stephen A. Smith. Johnson took the opportunity to talk about how good he thought Green was during his tenure at Nets coach.

AJ: "I remember with the Nets, Billy King and I, we were trying convince Pop to cut Danny Green so we could bring him at the time to New Jersey."

SAS: "You were trying to hoodwink Pop?

AJ: "YES!" (all laugh)

SAS: "Oh my goodness! You were trying to hoodwink Pop."

AJ: "And Pop said if he has one more bad game we're going to cut him and he made a bunch of threes in this one particular game and he kept him."

If so, sounds like January 7, 2012, when Green hit 3 of 4 three pointers on the way to 24 points in 33 minutes.

The Nets didn't get Danny Green, but on February 27, 2012, seven weeks later, Gerald Green, Danny's cousin, signed a contract with the New Jersey Nets.

A league source, asked if he recalled the discussions, responded, "I most definitely do."

• Avery Johnson on First Take (Audio @ 41:00) - ESPN
• Kidd A Good Fit For Nets (Video) - Stephen A. Smith with Avery Johnson - ESPN