Nets often get best of big deals

Few teams have been on the right side of as many big trades as the Nets. Though they haven't won every trade they've ever made, here are a few of their best midseason deals.

If Petrovic's life hadn't been tragically cut short by a 1993 car accident, the Nets might have found more success during the latter part of the '90s. A superstar in Europe who was underutilized in Portland, Petrovic got his wish to be traded and immediately made an impact in New Jersey. He averaged 19.5 ppg in 2 1/2 seasons with the Nets. He was better than both Anderson and Stith in that limited time.

Landing Carter the way the Nets did was quite possibly the biggest coup in league history. Carter underachieved to start 2004, but returned to All-Star form with the Nets. He average 23.6 ppg, 5.8 rpg and 4.8 apg during 4 1/2 seasons in New Jersey. As for the Raptors, Mourning demanded his release before playing a game, the two Williamses did next to nothing in limited playing time, Graham didn't pan out and the pick that became Balkman went to the Knicks.

Early returns suggest the Nets were the big winners of this deal, but it's likely too early to call this one. Williams is the face of the Brooklyn franchise and clearly outplayed Harris, who only played 80 games with Utah before joining the Hawks this season. The wild cards here are Favors and Kanter, as well as the future first-rounder. They are 21 and 20 years old, respectively, and in a few years could help form one of the league's top frontcourts.