Sometimes, even the Nets have a good day.
Longtime Net Kendall Gill, a Laker wannabe, has done a 180 and is ready to come back home to New Jersey after several heart-to-heart conversations
with principal owner Lewis Katz. The free agent had visions of joining the Lakers, but those dreams are dashed and the Nets are expected to announce today they have re-signed their shooting guard.
Reached by The Post last night and asked about his reversal of fortune, Gill said, “I’m not going to comment on it today.”
The Nets are desperately trying to change the local NBA landscape. They did introduce their new powerful backup power forward yesterday, formerly announcing that free agent Aaron Williams had signed. The Nets beat out the Knicks to land Williams after the Knicks had given Williams a whirlwind tour of New York, although he joked it wasn’t the Grade A yacht tour the Knicks gave to his old Xavier teammate Brian Grant, another Knick loss. Beating the Knicks to Williams made it that much sweeter for the Nets.
For a team that has been a poster child for Murphy’s Law, all in all, it was a pretty good day. Gill is expected to sign a one-year $7 million deal with the Nets. Once the Nets lost out on free agent Ron Mercer, they needed Gill to return more than ever.
Nets president Rod Thorn wanted Gill’s name on the dotted line before making any official announcements.
“It’s a possibility he will return,” Thorn did say. “After what has transpired with the Lakers making announcements and it no happening, I don’t want to make any sort of announcement until we have an agreement. It is not done as of right now.
“I said all along we’d sign Kendall, hopefully it will work out but until it does I’m not willing to go on the record to say it’s done until it’s done.”
As for Williams, he is one of those effective quiet signings. Not a big deal in the summer, but a big deal under the backboards in the harshness of winter. The 6-9, 230-pounder, who can bench-press 400 pounds, has been an NBA vagabond, because he has always seemed to have had the misfortune of playing behind some studly forwards, starting with Karl Malone in Utah in 1993-94. He then moved on to Milwaukee, Denver, Vancouver, Seattle and Washington, not to mention his early years overseas and in the CBA.
Williams, 29, believes he is finally home and can unpack for good after signing a six-year deal believed to be worth $17 million. Williams got his big break last year, playing 81 games for the whacked-out Wizards, averaging 19.1 minutes, 7.6 points and 5.0 rebounds.
“I plan on being here six years,” he said. “It will be nice to finally buy a house and leave some winter stuff here and not pack it up after every season, going back to Chicago.”
Williams and his wife Heather also have a 16-month-old daughter, so they want to make a real basketball home. With Kenyon Martin and Keith Van Horn in the starting forward slots, Williams appears to be the perfect complementary physical player. He also will see time at center.
“I’ve learned you always have to keep working hard,” Williams said. “There were some tough times, especially overseas. You’re away from your family, you’re in a foreign country, you don’t speak the language. They don’t pay you if they don’t want to. Contracts over there aren’t worth the paper they’re written on. A lot of guys don’t realize how lucky we are to be in this position.”
Williams is close friends with Grant and he recalls a conversation the two had a couple of weeks ago.
“He said, ‘C’mon man, let’s go to the Knicks,’ ” Williams said. “For a minute there he really wanted to go to the Knicks.”
Now Grant is headed to Miami and Williams is on the other side of the river.
“He’s another flexible player,” Thorn said. “In today’s game the more players you have who can play multiple positions, the better off you are. And he can play multiple positions. We needed another big player who was an athlete.”
With the re-tooling of the Heat, who added Eddie Jones, Anthony Mason and will soon land Grant, athletes are needed.
“On the surface, they will be a very formidable defensive team,” Thorn said. “You’re talking Brian Grant, Anthony Mason, Alonzo Mourning and Eddie Jones, you’re talking about four premier defensive players. Miami has always been noted for their defense and now they will be even better. That’s a pretty formidable group of people.”
