Deron Williams is stuck. His current situation with the Brooklyn Nets is very up-in-the-air. He was benched at the end of last season in favor of Jarrett Jack and even when he played, it wasn’t anything that was deserving of a max contract. This offseason, Brooklynalso signed point guard Shane Larkin who will be looking to fight for some minutes on the Nets, a team that plays a style that highlights his strengths as a point guard. Williams might be looking to get out of this situation that doesn’t look like it’s trending up for him.
The Dallas Mavericks are stuck. They missed out on their prize free agent in DeAndre Jordan after he initially agreed to join them and they’re looking to make some sort of splash in an attempt to still contend in the Western Conference this season. If they did elect to tank, it might not work out in their favor considering their draft pick belongs to the Boston Celtics if it falls outside of the top 7 picks. The Mavs are looking to get out of their tough situation.
The Mavs have already started to make the most out of a bad situation. They acquired Zaza Pachula from the Milwaukee Bucks after Jordan decided to re-join the Los Angeles Clippers. Pachulia was seemingly the odd man out in Milwaukee with all the bigs they already had coupled with the new addition of Greg Monroe.
The Mavs might not be done yet. They are looking into adding another player that’s stuck and wants to become a free agent. The aforementioned Nets point guard and Dallas native, Deron Williams.
Following from Marc Stein of ESPN.
Former All-Star point guard Deron Williams is in talks with the Brooklyn Nets about securing his potential release this offseason to clear the way for Williams to sign with his hometown Dallas Mavericks, according to league sources.
Sources told ESPN.com that the Nets, whose well-chronicled hope is moving out both Williams and fellow former cornerstone Joe Johnson before the start of next season, have opened buyout talks with Williams on the remaining two years and $43 million of his contract.
Sources say the Mavericks, by contrast, are very motivated to sign Williams after being spurned in free agency by DeAndre Jordan, provided Williams can extricate himself from the Nets and get to the open market.
The Mavericks, sources said, are not pursuing a trade for Williams because of salary-cap space such a move would eat up.
“It’s 60 to 70 percent that [Williams] winds up in Dallas,” one source told ESPN.com.
A buyout of Williams’ deal would workout best for all sides involved. Nets GM Billy King said earlier in the day that Brooklyn is expecting to have both Deron Williams and Joe Johnson on the team going into next season. It appears those sentiments might have changed.
King also said that they ‘respect their brands but no one brand is bigger than the Brooklyn Nets.’ King and the Nets are trying to sell an entire team concept while trying to go younger, starting next season. They signed Thomas Robinson and Shane Larkin to deals while also keeping Brook Lopez and Thaddeus Young for a couple more seasons to try and keep some continuity on the squad.
For Williams, getting out of Brooklyn would be the best case possible. There have been a few moments where he’s flashed brilliance but outside of that, it’s been nothing easy to stomach for Nets fans. It’s time he goes to a team that may actually be desperate to use him right away.
