This time, the Nets president dumped the salary of Vince Carter, the No. 2 scorer in franchise history, and picked up a promising young player, two spare parts and a ton of salary cap relief for the summer of 2010.

Carter is headed for his hometown of Orlando, Fla., he's taking forward Ryan Anderson with him, and in return the Nets will receive Courtney Lee, Rafer Alston and Tony Battie - three players who at times weren't even trusted by Stan Van Gundy during the Magic's wandering journey through the NBA Finals against the Lakers.

The deal will enable the Nets to lop $17.5 million off their 2010-11 payroll, potentially making them one of the big shoppers for a free-agent market that may include LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

But as they continue to stockpile young assets - among them Lee and Terrence Williams, whom the Nets picked 11th in the NBA Draft last night - it is still unclear whether the Nets will be in spending mode by 2010.

All they've done lately, really, is dump salary for young prospects.

"This is not a salary dump," protested Thorn, who continuously referred to Lee as the key to the deal. "This not only puts us in a terrific position salary cap wise - which, you always want that unless you're a great team - but we get a terrific young player. So this is not a salary dump."

He said the same thing one year ago, when the Nets shipped out Richard Jefferson for Yi Jianlian, a transaction that Thorn admits "the jury's out on." Nor would he say that he's channeling his team toward the 2010 market. He only said the Nets are "in a good position" for such a score.

"Let's see how we play. I think we're going to be better than a lot of people think we are," he said. "This was a deal we feel helps us as we go forward. Maybe not today, but we think this is a deal that helps us."

It isn't likely to hurt Orlando, either.

Indeed, while Carter is running out of prime years at age 32, the Magic are betting that the Daytona Beach native has enough left in his tank to help Dwight Howard get back to the Finals.

"Every player hopes for an opportunity like this, to just once compete for an NBA championship," Carter said last night at his Basketball camp. "This is a dream come true for me. Now I have a chance to win a championship.

"I was shocked, really didn't see it coming. I had no idea. It's a big deal to be coming here, to my hometown. It really kind of blows my mind, this opportunity."

Unless Lee turns into a starting-quality wing, Thorn will have a hard time selling the long-term benefits of the deal. Because the only benefit is the enormous payroll relief, something that fans don't often turn out to ROOT for.

Still, the savings are considerable: Both Alston ($5.25M) and Battie ($6.2M) are in the final seasons of their contracts, while Carter carries a salary of $16.1 million this year and $17.5 million for 2010-11. His departure drops the Nets' cap figure to $27.3 million that summer, giving them enough room for two maximum contracts if they played the market.

By then, the Magic will know whether Carter was worth the expense, or simply fool's gold.

That's how Orlando general manager Otis Smith referred to him on Feb. 22, 2007, when rumors circulated that the Nets and Magic were discussing a Carter trade for Darko Milicic, Hedo Turkoglu and J.J. Redick.

"I'm not going to take a step back and fall for what I call fool's gold," Smith said then. "It shines and it glitters, but it just doesn't stick or pass the test."

The GM changed his tune last night:

"Vince gives us a veteran, go-to scoring presence, especially at the end of games," Smith said. "Our goal remains the same - to win a championship. Any time you can add an All-Star to help you reach your goals, you have to do it. Vince has been a bona fide scorer in this league for 11 seasons and we are excited to add both him and Ryan to our team."

"It's another challenge for me, another chapter of in my career," Carter said. "I never had a dominating big man before. My job will be to make it easier for him, to make plays for him. Dwight's an All-Star and becoming a superstar. Hopefully, I can help him."

Dave D'Alessandro may be reached at ddalessandro@starledger.com