The Brooklyn Nets were built with the Miami Heat in mind, with their strongest positions being point guard and center where the Miami Heat are weakest. Billy King also added Joe Johnson and Gerald Wallace, two players that have proven they can compete against Dwyane Wade and LeBron James.

“My thought was looking at Miami, because they were the team,” said King. “I had to build a team that I thought could compete.”

The acquisition of Wallace has been highly controversial since it cost the Nets a lottery pick that became Damian Lillard for the Blazers. Wallace also was possibly going to become a free agent and the Nets had enough cap space to sign him outright.

But the Nets needed to build a case to convince Williams to stay and Wallace was one of those pieces.

King believed that he needed a legitimate small forward, which was a gaping hole in the Nets' roster.

“It’s easier when they’ve been there,” King said of re-signing a player. “You get to know them, and they get to know you.”