Deron Williams Still Has Scar Tissue In Ankles, “But I Feel Good”
Brooklyn Nets point guard Deron Williams is hopeful for a productive, healthy season since undergoing surgery on both of his ankles after the Nets second-round playoff loss to the Miami Heat. Williams averaged 14.2 points in 26.7 minutes per game in Brooklyn’s first five preseason games. His progress is showing, but his ankles are still coming along, as he told Devin Kharpertian of The Brooklyn Game:
Williams himself says he feels much better following the surgery, but he’s not 100% yet.
“I’m still getting there, still getting my feet under me,” he said, noting he’d only just started running at full-speed on September 1st. “There’s still scar tissue in my ankles. Just working through it, but I feel good, a lot better than last year. Just continue to get my lift back game-by-game.”
The Nets sure could use the productive, assured form of Deron Williams this season. His struggles last season were arguably the most significant hindrance to the Nets aside from Brook Lopez’s injury. With Lopez back and healthy and Paul Pierce off to the Wizards, Brooklyn needs Williams and Joe Johnson to emphasize their presence in the back court in order to show improvement.
The identity of this team will be altered once again, especially under new head coach Lionel Hollins, but without Williams as a consistent threat the Nets’ ceiling won’t look as high.
Brooklyn opens the 2014-15 season against the Boston Celtics on Tuesday.
