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Nets Deron Williams reach buyout agreement

Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports

The Nets and their long-time franchise player, Deron Williams, have reached a buyout agreement.. The deal should get the Nets under the luxury tax threshold, saving them tens of millions of dollars and permitting them more cap flexibility than they've had since moving to Brooklyn.

The news was first reported by David Aldridge of NBA.com in a tweet late Friday afternoon

Marc Stein says the buyout will be in $25- to $30 million range. Two league sources tell NetsDaily the final number is $27.5 million, meaning once D-WIll is stretched, the Nets will carry $5.5 million on the salary cap for the next five years.

D-Will, a Dallas native, has also reached an agreement to play for the Mavericks at $5 million a year for two years.

Mike Mazzeo has the  math.

As does Howard Beck.

On Instagram, Williams' wife Amy confirmed the Dallas end of the deal ... but took it down, apparently to avoid tampering questions.The Nets hadn't even waived Williams.



The next step will involve the Nets waiving Williams and then informing the league they are stretching the remainder of his contract. They have until August 31 to do that, but can be expected to do it within days.

Earlier Friday, Marc Stein reported that the two sides were talking buyout. NetsDaily had been told the two began discussions before the Draft and were continuing this past weekend.

Williams was traded to the Nets by the Jazz in 2011 for Derrick Favors, Devin Harris and picks that turned into Enes Kanter and Trey Burke.  In his first two years, he played well, and in 2012 signed a $99 million, five-year deal that was among the biggest in the Nets history.  His game, hampered by various injuries, continued to decline, however. This past season, he dropped to 13.4 points and 38.7% shooting overall.

While Williams is heading to Dallas, don't expect Joe Johnson to go anywhere. A league source tells NetsDaily that the Nets expect Johnson to have "a tremendous season" for Brooklyn next year.