When the New Jersey Nets acquired point guard Deron Williams from the Utah Jazz in 2011, they thought that they were getting a player with whom they would be able to build a title contender around. The Nets were in the midst of suffering through their fourth consecutive losing season and with a move to Brooklyn, New York on the horizon in 2012, they were desperate for a star player. In order to acquire Williams from the Jazz, Nets general manager Billy King sent two first round picks, $3 million in cash, along with point guard Devin Harris and power forward Derrick Favors to Salt Lake City. For the 2011-2012 NBA season Williams only appeared in 55 games for the Nets as he averaged 21.0 points and 8.7 assists on the campaign.
Prior to the team’s arrival in Brooklyn, Nets owner Mikhail Prokohrov opened up his vault and gave King everything that he needed to put what he felt was a championship team on the basketball court.
The Nets acquired shooting guard Joe Johnson from the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for Jordan Farmar, Johan Petro, Jordan Williams, DeShawn Stevenson, Anthony Morrow, and a first round pick in 2013. With Williams set to become a free agent in 2012, the Nets were able to retain him by signing him to a five-year, $98.7 million dollar contract to team him with Johnson, but he has failed to live up to his end of the bargain.
Not too long after Williams got his new contract with the Nets he began to complain about the style of offense that was being run by head coach Avery Johnson. After those comments were made by Williams it was not long before Johnson was fired. In each season with the Nets, Williams’ number have declined. For the 2013-2014 regular season Williams appeared in 64 games while averaging 14.3 points and 6.1 assists which was the lowest in each category since his rookie season of 2004-2005.
For the second consecutive season the Nets were able to make the postseason and for the first time since 2007 they were able to win a playoff series. In the first round of the 2014 NBA Playoffs, Williams averaged 16.9 points per game which was highlighted by a 22-point, 8-assist performance in Game 3 against the Toronto Raptors. The second round produced a different outcome as the Nets were eliminated last night in five games by the two-time defending NBA Champion Miami Heat.
The Heat have one of the better defensive teams as Williams was a non-factor in the loss to the Heat. For the series against the Heat, Williams was only able to average 11.2 points and 6.2 assists per game. In the Nets 94-82 Game 2 loss to the Heat, Williams went scoreless on 0-for-9 shooting which was the low light of his professional career.
As the off-season has begun for the Nets the questions will begin as King will look to improve this club. One question going forward the Nets is whether or not is Williams the point guard that can lead this team?
In the past regular season Williams finished 14th in the NBA in assists per game as he averaged 6.1 per contest in spite of the fact that he played one of the more talented teams in the league. 12 of the 13 players ahead of Williams as far as assists per game average this season were point guards. Four of those point guards were Kyle Lowry of the Raptors, Kendall Marshall of the Los Angeles Lakers, Michael Carter-Williams of the Philadelphia 76ers, and Jeff Teague of the Atlanta Hawks. These four point guards combined to earn $16.9 million this season compared to the $18.4 that Williams took home from the Nets.
Next season Williams is set to earn $19.7 is salary which is way too high for an underachieving point guard. This past season Prokohrov spent nearly $80 million in luxury tax and you can once again expect the Nets to be sending the NBA a hefty check next year. The Nets are already over the NBA’s salary cap for next season as they already have nearly $91 million committed towards next season’s roster.
Williams is under contract with the Nets through 2017. King should try to trade Williams, but the chances of that are extremely slim due to Williams’ contract. In the NBA point guards come a dime a dozen which means that teams should not overcommit money to them unless a front office is sure that they are getting a consistent 20-point, 9-assist performer.
Williams is not durable either as he has only appeared in all 82 regular season games once during his nine-year NBA career.
Prokohrov wanted to put a high-price team on the basketball court, but starting with Williams this team is overpaid. If Williams continues to underachieve for the Nets it will not be long before the boo birds at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn begin to descend on him.
Source: Basketball-reference.com
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