The New Jersey Nets agreed to trade Terrence Williams to the Houston Rockets in a three-way deal that will land them Los Angeles Lakers guard Sasha Vujacic and a pair of first-round draft picks.
The trade, which has been agreed upon in principle, will also send Nets veteran power forward Joe Smith to the Lakers, while New Jersey will receive Los Angeles' 2011 first-round pick and Houston's 2012 lottery-protected first-rounder, sources said.
To make roster room for Williams' arrival, sources said, Houston has struck a deal with Sacramento that will send Jermaine Taylor to the Kings for a future second-round pick.
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"Welcome welcome, to all my jersey fans an people it's been real I love y'all an thanks, to HOUSTON what uppppp 'go Rockets' lol," Williams tweeted Tuesday night.
The acquisition of the two first-round picks now gives the Nets a total of five first-rounders over the next two seasons. Aside from their own 2011 and 2012 firsts, they also have the Golden State Warriors' lottery-protected 2011 first-round pick, which was acquired in the Marcus Williams trade back in 2008.
"I just found out [about the trade] when I got to the arena tonight," said Smith. "I found out right before the game.
"I had a similar situation when I left Oklahoma City and went back to Cleveland for the second time. The toughest thing about it is leaving the guys I've been with for the short part of the season. Just seeing them grow and develop and do the right thing on the court to get wins, that's always a tough situation."
The deal cannot be finalized until Dec. 15, according to NBA rules that prohibit offseason signees from being traded -- and Smith fits that bill.
Williams was announced as inactive by Nets head coach Avery Johnson before Tuesday night's game, but Johnson would not divulge why. When asked if it was because of bad behavior, which has caused Johnson to place Williams on the inactive list earlier this season, he responded, "no."
Johnson had no comment when asked about the impending trade during his postgame press conference after the Nets' 82-77 loss to the 76ers Tuesday night.
Nets general manager Billy King refused to confirm or deny if a trade was imminent.
Williams, a first-round pick in 2009, has been fined this season for showing up late to practices and he was sent home from another game for failing to follow team policy. He was shipped to the Nets' D-League affiliate in Springfield, Mass., for a couple of games before being brought back to the team last week.
While Williams and Smith openly discussed the deal, Vujacic wasn't so forthcoming.
"I don't know anything," Vujacic said when asked about the trade after the game, speaking to L.A.-based reporters in the hallway after trying to leave the locker room before the media crush came in. "[Lakers spokesman] John Black just told me there's a trade rumor that I'm involved in and I actually don't have any [cell phone] service here at the arena so I haven't talked to anybody.
"We'll see. I don't know what to say right now at the moment, it's just a rumor, so if it happens we can talk later on."
Vujacic was once a valuable reserve for the Lakers whose playing time has been slashed this season.
"It's terrible. I'm 26-years old. I played a few years [consistently] and the last couple years, playing on and off, it was just killing me," he said.
Vujacic added: "We'll see, if it happens then I definitely want to double what I did in L.A."
Lakers coach Phil Jackson was asked if he thought Smith could help his team.
"Well, John Doe could, the way we're playing," Jackson said. "We're hoping that John Doe would be a big guy."
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