NEW YORK — For five months, beginning with a clandestine, late September night meeting between general managers Billy King and Masai Ujiri in a back room at New York City's Ritz Carlton, the Nets pursued Carmelo Anthony, only to get outbid last week by the Knicks, who surrendered the last piece demanded by the Nuggets — Timofey Mozgov — rather than chance losing him to New Jersey.
The very next day, in an educated effort to stop the shrugging masses from sighing, "Same old Nets," King called Jazz VP Kevin O'Connor about Devin Harris. If you recall, Utah was involved in the originally leaked four-team exchange involving 'Melo, the fourth being the Bobcats, then coached by Larry Brown.
King, O'Connor and Brown worked together in Philadelphia and had relationships long before that, dating back to Larry's Final Four UCLA squad (Kevin assisted) and Billy's playing days pre-Duke; Larry recruited him in 1983 while at Kansas.