Brooklyn Nets: Should The Nets Trade Deron Williams?

The Brooklyn Nets are coming off of a very disappointing Game 5 elimination loss to the Miami Heat, and there could be big roster changes coming this offseason. One name that has been thrown around over the last couple of days is star point guard Deron Williams. There have been some rumblings in the media that the Nets could possibly look to move Williams to re-tool their roster and bring in more young depth.

Since the season ended, there have been many reports coming out of Brooklyn about the future of Williams with the team. He has not been happy with his situation with the Nets, but that mostly stems from his disappointment in his own play. There is a chance that he isn’t happy playing in Brooklyn anymore, but that certainly hasn’t been made public at this point in time.

All that being said, should the Nets look to deal their former “superstar” point guard? Williams has been seeing his stats drop lower and lower over the past two years, and his injury issues have been well documented. The Nets’ future doesn’t look all that bright, especially with both Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett likely leaving town this offseason.

It is always hard to build a team around a player that is as injury prone as Williams has proven to be, and the Nets quite simply need more stability. Brooklyn still has a very nice younger piece in Brook Lopez, and they could net a very nice youthful trade return for Williams. He still has a lot of trade value left, but that could go away with another inconsistent, injury plagued season.

Williams played in 64 regular season games this season with the Nets, starting in 58 of those appearances. He averaged 14.3 points and 6.1 assists per game, and quite simply didn’t look like the player who was once considered a superstar. His struggles likely have brought his value down somewhat, but the Nets could still get a nice return for him.

Should the Nets look to shop Williams around this offseason in trade talks? There is no doubt that Brooklyn would be wise to see what teams would offer for him, and seriously consider an offer surrounding more depth, young players, and picks. They need to look ahead to their future and realize that his contract ties them down, and that their future doesn’t look very bright at all.

If the Nets do indeed decide to put Williams on the trade block, there will be a good number of teams that will show interest in acquiring him. The Nets are not expected to compete for a championship with just Williams and Lopez, and it is unclear how much longer Williams will be able to play at a high level. It will be very intriguing to see what Brooklyn decides to do with Williams this offseason, but they certainly should shop him around the league and seriously consider moving him for a good offer.

Evan Massey is a Staff Writer for HoopsHabit.com. Follow Evan on Twitter at @Massey_Evan.