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NBA Trade: Yahoo! reports Nets and Hornets talking trade which includes Joe Johnson and Lance Stephenson

By Tom Lorenzo
Sam Sharpe-USA TODAY Sports

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports is reporting that the Brooklyn Nets and Charlotte Hornets are talking trade, with the main piece in this deal being Joe Johnson and not Brook Lopez.

NetsDaily can confirm the report. Moments before the Woj Bomb, a league source told ND that Saturday night's loss was the kind that "get players traded." For only the fifth time in NBA history, a team lost back-to-back games by 35 or more points.

According to Wojnarowski, the main players in the deal include Johnson, Lance Stephenson, Gerald Henderson and Marvin Williams, the latter three being members of the Hornets. He did not say if a third team was involved.

The Nets have dropped eight of 10 games, and fallen a half-game behind the Hornets for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Charlotte owner Michael Jordan has been intrigued with the possibility of Johnson, who has struggled recently with tendinitis. Johnson, 33, has one of the three major contracts that the Nets would ideally like to unload, what with the $23.1 million on his 2014-'15 deal, and $24.9 million in the final season of his 2015-'16 contract.

More players may be involved. Alan Anderson has been mentioned in other trade discussions.

He also notes that the Nets are having no luck trying to move Deron Williams and that Brook Lopez is still on the block, with the Denver Nuggets as a team interested in his services.

Chris Mannix tweeted that the often injured JaVale McGee would likely be the centerpiece of a Denver deal.

Matt Moore of CBS Sports agrees, noting recent reports out of Denver that the Nuggets are interested.  He suggests a deal that would include McGee and "something like rookie Gary Harris, one of the first-round picks acquired in the Timofey Mozgov trade."

The reported trade with the Hornets does NOT save the Nets a lot of money, at least as it's been reported. While the Nets owe Johnson, a seven-time all-star, a little more than $48 million, the Hornets owe their three players $44 million -- Stephenson ($18 million guaranteed over two years); Williams ($14 million over two years) and Henderson ($12 million, including a player option of $6 million next season).  The deal, again as reported, would make the Nets younger.

Here's thumbnail sketches of the three Hornets mentioned by Woj...

--Stephenson, 6'5" shooting guard, is a native of Coney Island who missed 14 games earlier this season, reportedly due to a groin injury but some believe that Hornets coach Steve Clifford didn't want to play him, believing he was a detriment to the team.  He's averaging 9.8 points on 38.5 percent shooting overall and 15.3 percent from three. He's 24. Last season, he played well with the Pacers, leading the NBA in triple doubles with five while averaging 13.8 points, 7.1 rebounds and 4.4 assists. He shot 34.4 percent from deep last season.

--Williams, a 6'9" forward, keeps getting his court time reduced.  He's averaging 6.5 points and 4.5 rebounds this season while shooting 43.1 percent overall and 33.6 from three.  But this month, his minutes and numbers are down to six points, and hitting only 40 percent overall, including 22.6 percent from three.  Now 28, he was taken at No. 2 overall in the 2005 NBA Draft just before Deron Williams. He's never reached his potential with many seeing him as the classic tweener.

--Henderson, a 6'5" small forward who the Nets almost drafted in 2009, is having his worst season in five years, averaging 10.3 points on 44.3 percent overall, 28.6 percent from three. He's 27. Over the previous three seasons, however, he had averaged 15 points a game along with four rebounds and 2.5 assists. In 2009, the Nets decided to take Terrence Williams over Henderson at the last minute. The Duke product, who told supporters he expected to be taken by the Nets, was chosen by Charlotte with the next pick.

There's been no mention of draft picks going in either direction.

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