Deron Williams was leaning toward signing with the Mavericks until the Nets traded for Joe Johnson.

"I was really close to going to Dallas. I actually thought that's where I was going to go," Williams said on Friday.

Williams said that playing with Johnson, he believes the Nets "for a longer time would be the better team" than the Mavericks.

"Joe got me over the hump,'' he said. "I've never played with anybody like him, a guy on the wing that can get his own shot and also get me involved and is a great defender. We could be one of the top backcourts in the NBA for sure."

Williams admitted the decision was difficult.

"It was a hard decision," he said. "It was my hometown, the team that I grew up watching, would have loved to play for and my family would have loved to seen me play. I kind of felt I let the city I'm from down because they wanted me there so bad. It was a really tough decision, but I think it ultimately came down to where I felt I had a better chance to win for a longer period of time."