[quietsavant]

Marc Stein ESPN

The Nets’ willingness to move point guard Devin Harris has been a popular topic since our own Chad Ford included Harris – even with visions of Harris' 2008-09 breakout season still so fresh – on ESPN.com’s list of 25 prime trade candidates before the league’s Feb. 18 deadline.

Chad subsequently mentioned a possible Harris-for-Caron Butler scenario in a SportsNation chat earlier this week, which was followed by ESPN The Magazine’s Ric Bucher reporting on the NBA Today podcast with Ryen Russillo that the Lakers have inquired about Harris because of concerns about their ability to contain quicker guards defensively.

One source close to the situation, however, cautioned Wednesday night that the Nets do prefer to keep Harris for the rest of this season – specifically through the draft lottery in May at a minimum – before dealing him.

The Nets still regard second-year center Brook Lopez as their only untouchable and are undeniably somewhat dismayed that Harris hasn’t been able to follow up last season’s All-Star appearance with a next-step season.

The Nets, though, also concede that it would be far easier to shop Harris if they know they’ve just won the right to draft Kentucky’s John Wall with the No. 1 overall pick. If they don’t win the Wall lottery, with no other impact point guards forecasted to be available in the draft or through free agency, dealing Harris based on what they’ve seen during this nightmare season might prove to be a hasty call.

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/pos...ris-trade-talk