Nets impressed by Damian Lillard

We all know the deal very well by now. The Nets traded their sixth overall pick to the Portland TrailBlazers for Gerald Wallace. That pick ended up being Damian Lillard, who seems to be on his way to winning the NBA Rookie of the Year. But if you asked Nets interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo if he had heard or seen much, he'd respond with a "no, hardly at all."

Deron Williams, on the other hand, is no stranger to Lillard.

"He's a good player,'' Williams said. "I heard a lot about him when I was in Utah and he was coming up.''

Though some Nets fans may be upset with the trade that could have landed them the soon-to-be Rookie of the Year, the fact is that the Nets would not have taken him anyways. If they were to have taken Lillard in the drat, chances are that Deron Williams would not have re-signed in the summer. If the Nets had kept that pick, they most likely would have taken Harrison Barnes. But it was also suggested by Marc Spears that they were looking at Tyler Zeller as the player taken with the sixth pick.

"We did whatever we did for, I think, good reasons, and reasons that made sense then and make sense now, however he turns out,'' Carlesimo said. "He's a hell of a player.''

Lillard is averaging 19.1 points, 6.5 assists, and 3.2 rebounds a game in his rookie campaign, but those numbers have gone up lately as he has averaged 21.6 points in the past month, shooting 48.5 percent from the field and 44.6 percent from three-point range.

"He's really poised,'' Williams said. "That's the main thing I see with him, how poised he is. He plays like a vet already. He doesn't get rattled. He plays at his own pace. I like him a lot.''

P.J. Carlesimo adds that Lillard is: