The Nets added a recent lottery pick to their new-look roster Friday, reportedly acquiring small forward Ziaire Williams in a trade with the Memphis Grizzlies.
Brooklyn is sending forward Mamadi Diakite and the draft rights to Serbian forward Nemanja Dangubic, who was a 2014 second-round pick, to Memphis in the deal, according to ESPN.
The Nets will also acquire a 2030 second-round pick via Dallas.
Williams, the 10th overall pick in the 2021 draft, averaged 7.5 points per game on 42.6% shooting over his three years with Memphis and set a career high with 8.2 points per game last season.
The 6-9 wing started 15 of his 51 appearances in 2023-24 and shot 30.7% on 3-point attempts. Ankle and knee injuries cost Williams time during the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons, respectively.
The addition of Williams, 22, gives the Nets more youth as they enter a season of transition following their recent trade of small forward Mikal Bridges to the Knicks.
Diakite, a four-year veteran with 55 games of NBA experience, was among the pieces the Nets acquired in the Bridges trade, which also brought back five first-round picks.
Williams is set to make $6.1 million in 2024-25, the final year of his contract, and remains eligible for a rookie extension until Oct. 21, according to ESPN. Trading Williams reportedly puts the Grizzlies $10 million below the luxury tax. They are now about $14 million under the collective bargaining agreement’s first apron.
Born in Southern California, Williams was a five-star recruit out of Sierra Canyon School, where he was high-school teammates with Bronny James.
The New Orleans Pelicans drafted Williams out of Stanford, then traded him to Memphis. He started a career-high 31 games as a rookie with the Grizzlies in 2021-22 and has made 50 starts out of his 150 NBA appearances.
The Nets, who missed the playoffs at 32-50 last season, also signed center Nic Claxton to a four-year, $100 million extension this offseason.
