NBA Trade Speculation: O.J. Mayo to New Jersey Nets Would Be Perfect Fit

O.J. Mayo has proved that he can average 18 points per game when given the opportunity to start in the NBA.

If there is one team that could use help scoring the basketball it would be the New Jersey Nets, who average 91.6 points per game, 41.2 percent shooting and are 3-10.

Mayo to the Nets makes perfect sense.

New Jersey wants to keep point guard and leading scorer Deron Williams as happy as possible so that he’ll stay in a Nets uniform. Not only is Williams asked to run the team from the point guard position, but he’s asked to score just to keep his team competitive.

Not the best recipe for success. He’s feeling too much pressure to score the rock and that’s why he’s averaging 16 shots per game and only connecting on 36.6 percent of his attempts.

The second-leading scorer on the Nets is rookie MarShon Brooks at 14.3 points per game. Williams can only do so much on the offensive side of the ball. He needs help. Mayo could be that guy.

Mayo would give the Nets a scoring guard that can average near 20 points per game. He averaged 17.5 and 18.5 points in his first two years in Memphis. Both years he started at least 81 games.

He is a career 44 percent shooter from the floor and 38 percent shooter from beyond the arc. Mayo has proved to be a productive and reliable player when in the starting five.

New Jersey has offered Anthony Morrow in one deal and Jordan Farmar and a pick in another deal, according to Fred Kerber of the New York Post.

If the ultimate plan is to acquire Dwight Howard from the Orlando Magic, then getting rid of Morrow and keeping their draft pick (unless it’s a second-round pick) would be ideal. If the pick isn’t a first-round pick then Farmar being traded for Mayo wouldn’t be a loss whatsoever.

Looking at Memphis’ options, or what we know of their options, I would take Morrow rather than Farmar in a heartbeat. Morrow and Mayo are two years apart in age (Mayo, 24; Morrow, 26) and both can be valuable players in the NBA.

New Jersey would get the best deal out of any trade we know about which is why it would make perfect sense. They would get scoring, get younger, but more talented and would have a much sexier chip in a potential future deal for Howard.

If they can’t acquire Howard before the trade deadline, I would much rather have Mayo to play alongside Williams.

It would be a win-win situation.