This offseason’s marquee free agent target, point guard Deron Williams has reportedly narrowed down his list of potential free agent destinations to just the Brooklyn Nets and the Dallas Mavericks, according to ESPN.com’s Marc Stein.
The news hardly comes as a shock as the two teams have been the favourites to sign the All Star point guard since basically the moment the Mavericks chose not to bring back the 2011 Championship squad to free up cap space, with the intention of bringing the Dallas native back home. It does however rule out some potential dark horse candidates like Portland and the Indiana Pacers
Williams has stipulated that the most important factors in his decision will be winning, and somewhere where he and his family will enjoy living:
”I want to go to a place where I feel like they will have a chance to build and build fast,” Williams told the Los Angeles Times. “I’m not really in the mood for being part of a rebuilding process. I’m getting older. I’m about to be 28. I want to win. I want to win now. Also, I want to live in a place where I want to live and my kids will enjoy living. That’s pretty much it.”
In terms of a chance at winning quickly, Dallas would appear to be the better option, as they already have another superstar on the roster in Dirk Nowitzki, as well as a top head coach and front office, who have been responsible for 11 consecutive 50+ win seasons and 12 straight playoff appearances. However, Williams appears to be leaning towards Brooklyn, partly due to the “demands and distractions” of playing at home, and also because they can offer him $25million more than any other team.
Whichever way he’s leaning now, sources expect Williams to come to a decision fairly quickly once Free Agents are permitted to start talking with teams on July 1.
