On the heels of agreeing to a 5 year $98 million contract to stay with the Brooklyn Nets, point guard Deron Williams reveals that he was very close to returning to his hometown Dallas Mavericks. That was until much maligned Nets GM Billy King made the controversial Joe Johnson trade, to bring one of the highest paid (and many would say most overpaid) players in the league to Brooklyn. Despite the criticism however, Williams said that the trade changed his mind and was the decisive factor in his decision to stay with Brooklyn.
From this perspective, the same questions remain for the moves Billy King made this offseason. They’re improved, most definitely. They’re most likely in the upper half of the Eastern Conference too. But what is this roster’s ceiling? Can it beat the Miami Heat and win a championship? On paper, this doesn’t look likely. But a similarly aging roster did just that when the Dallas Mavericks beat the Heat in 2011 – showing that we actually play the games for a reason.
With all of this in mind, kudos to Billy King, who at the very least, should be commended for acting decisively to keep his franchise player.
