Paul Pierce sparked a war of words between the Brooklyn Nets and New York Knicks, and J.R. Smith was the latest to respond to the former Boston Celtics star's comments that the Nets will soon own New York.

"I just look at him as a bitter person just getting out of Boston. He doesn't really know what New York is all about. He's been playing in Boston his whole career," Smith said.

"He just knows, just know that his words have consequences and he's going to have to pay for them."

Smith is hoping to be healthy for the start of training camp.

The Brooklyn Nets will hold their training camp this season on the Duke campus.

Billy King played collegiately at Duke under Mike Krzyzewski.

Jason Kidd has supported Deron Williams since becoming the new coach of the Brooklyn Nets, and he laid out a statistical goal for his point guard on Sunday.

“I’m going to push him. I want the best for him,” Kidd said. “When we sit down and talk about goals, team goals and also individual goals, I’m going to push him and I want to get him back to double-digit assists.”

Williams hasn’t averaged at least 10 assists since 2010-11, which represented the fourth straight season he eclipsed that mark. Last season’s 7.7 assists per game was Williams’ lowest output since he was a rookie.

“You don’t want to take away from Deron’s freedom and creativity of putting pressure on the defense,” Kidd said. “And I thought he did a great job of that in the second half of last season. When he lost the weight, physically he felt better. His strength is when he’s in the open court."

The NBA continues to be in discussions with Madison Square Garden and Barclays Center on hosting All-Star Weekend in 2015.

A decision is expected to be reached in September.

The New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets would co-host the weekend, with MSG hosting Sunday's game and Barclays hosting events on Friday and Saturday.

“It hasn't been finalized,” one source said Thursday night.

The event could return to New York before 2020 with the venues flipping hosting duties.

MarShon Brooks knows minutes will not be guaranteed for him with the Boston Celtics, but he looks forward to competing for his position after a season in which he was mostly out of the Brooklyn Nets' rotation.

"It was difficult last year, just not knowing when you’re going into the game, and things like that," said Brooks. "Play two games, not play the next two games; have a good game, not play after that -- it was difficult. But I think it made me stronger. I continued to work, I watched Joe Johnson real closely, and had the opportunity to practice against him, I think I’m ready to play."

"I'm just excited. I feel the same exact way [as at July's introductions], just excited for the opportunity to get out there and show my talents and compete for a position."

Brooks was selected by the Celtics in the first round of the 2011 NBA draft and has averaged 8.5 points in two seasons.

Raymond Felton fired back at Paul Pierce's comments that the Brooklyn Nets are poised to supplant the Knicks in the standings and in the city of New York.

"They will never take over the city. Because we've got 'New York' on our chest," Felton said Sunday. "They've got 'Brooklyn' on their chest, and we've got 'New York.' They'll never take over the city.

"[Pierce] saying that is just him talking. At the end of the day, it's all about rivalries. We understand that -- he knows that, I know that. He's just trying to fuel it."

Pierce has said his hatred for the Knicks has grown since leaving the Boston Celtics and coming to the Nets.

Deron Williams organized players-only workouts for the Brooklyn Nets this week in California, with Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce in attendance.

Only five of Brooklyn’s 15 players are unable to make the workouts that started Sunday and run until Friday. The entire starting lineup is expected to attend.

Andray Blatche, Reggie Evans, Toko Shengelia, Mirza Teletovic and Andrei Kirilenko are the only players that can’t come to the workouts.

Williams organized similar workouts last year in New Jersey.

Kevin Garnett might not play in back-to-back games next season as the Brooklyn Nets make a concerted effort to keep the veteran forward fresh for the final stretch of the year.

“We’ve talked about it that there’s going to be (minutes restrictions). When you look at KG, probably no back-to-backs for him,” Jason Kidd said. “Those are just topics we’re talking about, throwing around to keep these guy’s minutes down because we are deep. …You want to be fresh going into the playoffs.”

Garnett is the oldest starter on a lineup with an average age of 31.6. 

Garnett has not played more than 71 games since joining the Celtics in 2007-08.

Brook Lopez needed surgery on his right foot this offseason for the third time in less than two years.

“I think I was more disappointed than anything,” Lopez said. “I wasn’t concerned. I was disappointed, but it was best to do it when we did it, in the week after the season, to give myself the most time to get back in shape and to get ready for the season.”

Lopez had the best season of his career in 12-13, averaging 19.4 points and making his first All-Star team.

Lopez said he’s on track to be ready by the time the Brooklyn Nets begin training camp in late September.

“I feel great,” Lopez said. “I have been getting in some weight lifting, getting shots up and everything is going well.

“I’m not fully working out. I’m not jumping or running or anything like that, but we have a good month-and-a-half just until training camp starts, so we’ll definitely be all right by then.”

LeBron James was impressed with the way the Brooklyn Nets retooled this offseason, adding Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry and Jason Kidd as coach.

In James' mind, the Nets' new team will enhance the NBA.

"They brought three champions to their team and they brought in a championship coach. They're going to be good," James said. "Chemistry is always the issue when you bring new guys to a new team but those guys have sacrificed before so I don't think it'll be a problem for them.

"I think it's great for the league."