Brooklyn Nets: Grading The Offseason
Where There’s D-Will, There’s A Way
And now, we finally come to the biggest move of Brooklyn’s offseason: buying out Deron Williams and his massive contract. Entering the 2015-16 season, D-Will still had two years and $43 million remaining on his deal. Instead, the Nets will dish out $27.5 million (spread evenly over the next five seasons), effectively ending their relationship with the underwhelming “star.”
It’s no secret that Deron Williams never lived up to expectations with the Brooklyn Nets. When the Nets first acquired him, “Chris Paul or Deron Williams?” was still a legitimate conversation. Now it’s gotten to the point where the Nets are paying him to NOT play for their team anymore after Williams shot a career-low 39 percent from the field last year.
By doing so, Brooklyn is giving itself a brighter future, even if the Nets will be worse for it in 2015-16.
Brook Lopez thrives with a PNR passing PG. Deron Williams doesn’t have to be that guy. But the Nets don’t have another right now.
— devin kharpertian (@uuords) July 10, 2015
On the one hand, as much as D-Will was criticized and injury-prone during his time in Brooklyn, he was still easily the best point guard on the roster. Though he’s clearly not the player he once was, averaging 13.0 points and 6.6 assists per game last season, his ability to operate the pick-and-roll helped make the players around him more effective.
No offense to Jarrett Jack, but Brooklyn won’t be the same team with him at the helm, even if he’s somehow able to recapture some of that 2012-13 Jarrett Jack magic.
However, the most important part of his decision is that the move put the Nets under the luxury tax (IT’S A MIRACLE!). Trading him would’ve been ideal, but nobody was taking on that kind of contract, so Brooklyn did what it needed to do this summer in order to take that next step toward a better future.
Grade: A
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