Nets acquire former top-10 pick Ziaire Williams in trade with Grizzlies

NEW YORK — The Nets added a recent lottery pick to their new-look roster Friday, 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 to Memphis in the deal, the Nets announced.

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 this month’s trade that sent 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 most prominently brought back five first-round picks. Dangubic, who was a 2014 second-round pick by the Philadelphia 76ers, has continued to play overseas.

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.

Born in Southern California, Williams was a five-star recruit out of Sierra Canyon School in Los Angeles. He was high school teammates with Bronny James, the son of LeBron James whom the Los Angeles Lakers recently made a second-round pick.

The New Orleans Pelicans drafted Williams out of Stanford, then traded him to Memphis. Williams 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 with a 32-50 record last season, also signed center Nic Claxton to a four-year, $100 million extension this offseason.