By Fitzgerald Cecilio

Atlanta, GA

The Atlanta Hawks have traded leading scorer Joe Johnson to the Brooklyn Nets for five players with expiring contracts and a first-round pick, a source said.

The source requested anonymity because trades can't officially be consummated until the NBA moratorium ends on July 11.

In exchange for Johnson, the Hawks would receive Jordan Farmar, Anthony Morrow, Johan Petro, DeShawn Stevenson and Jordan Williams together with a lottery-protected 2013 first-round draft pick that the Nets acquired in a trade with the Houston Rockets.

If Deron Williams re-signs with Brooklyn, the Nets now have a formidable backcourt that can rival the NBA's best. The Nets are expected to offer Williams less than the five-year, $100-million deal he is hoping to get as a free agent.

The Nets are now talking with Williams and free-agent center Brook Lopez on signing new deals with the team that will play its first season in Brooklyn in 2012-13 season.

The Johnson trade was the first of many expected moves by new general manager Danny Ferry to give the Hawks more flexibility but less talent.

Johnson, 31, is owed nearly $90 million over the final four years of a contract he signed in summer of 2010.

It was the richest contract in the league at that time and Johnson still is owed more money than any other player in the league if Heat stars Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh do not opt in for the final two years of their contracts.

A first-round pick by the Boston in 2001, Johnson played 48 games for the Celtics before he was traded to the Phoenix Suns.

In his next three years with the Suns, Johnson never missed a regular season game and he averaged 17.1 points in his final year in Phoenix.

He signed with the Atlanta in 2005 where he emerged as formidable offensive weapon. In his first year with the Hawks, he averaged a shade above 20 points per game and raised his average to 25 points per outing the next year.

In his final year with the Hawks, Johnson averaged 18.8 points.

 

Nets, swingman Gerald Wallace agree on 4-year, $40M pact

Brooklyn, NY

The Brooklyn Nets are set to ink swingman Gerald Wallace to a four-year, $40 million deal.

The Nets reportedly reached verbal agreement with Wallace, acquired after sending their lottery pick to the Portland Trail Blazers last season.

Averaging 13.8 points and 6.7 boards, Wallace opted out in the final year of his contract worth $9.5 million to test the free-agency market.

Wallace's commitment with the Nets gives the franchise a chance to re-sign All-Star guard Deron Williams and lure center Dwight Howard.

 

 

Hawks Trade Joe Johnson to Nets