According to reports, unrestricted free agent point guard Deron Williams has agreed to re-sign with the Dallas Mavericks. His new deal will pay him $10 million for just one year. The contract cannot officially be signed until the end of the NBA’s moratorium period on July 7th.
Marc Stein of ESPN broke the news on Sunday night:
The Mavericks and Deron Williams, sources say, have come to terms on a one-year deal for $10 million
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) July 4, 2016
Report: Deron Williams Agrees to Re-sign with Dallas Mavericks
Williams averaged 14.1 points, 5.8 assists, and 2.9 rebounds per game last season for the Mavericks. In 2012, Williams was one of the most coveted players on the free agent market. As one of the best point guards in the league, Williams was highly recruited by many teams – mostly the Brooklyn Nets and the Mavericks – and he ultimately decided to sign a 5 year, $98 million contract with the Nets. He became the face of the franchise as they moved to Brooklyn, expected to lead the franchise deep into the postseason. The Nets never lived up to the championship expectations they put on themselves a few years ago, and much of that has to do with Deron Williams’ poor play and lack of leadership. He suffered many ankle and wrist injuries in Brooklyn, and he is most definitely not the type of player to play in a market as big as New York.
“There’s a lot of people, I guess, who aren’t built for New York,” Williams said earlier this year. “New York is not for everybody.”
Even though he was expected to be “the man” in Brooklyn, Williams was never a great leader or motivator; he just isn’t that type of player. The Nets eventually bought him out last summer even though he had two years remaining on his contract, agreeing to pay him $27.5 million over five years as part of the buyout agreement. He then signed a 2 year, $10 million contract with the Mavericks; the contract included a player option after the first year, which Williams exercised to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Williams enjoyed the best years of career in Utah, where he played under legendary coach Jerry Sloan from 2005 to 2011. He worked the pick and roll to perfection and had a killer crossover to get by defenders. Remember the days when NBA fans argued between Chris Paul and Deron Williams for best point guard in the league? Unfortunately for the Mavericks, those days are long gone, and fans instead debate whether Williams is even worthy of a starting point guard gig. At this point in his career, he’s nothing more than a solid veteran point guard who is either a low-end starter or a high-end backup. He’s lost nearly all off of his explosiveness, is not an elite shooter, and struggles on the defensive end.
Williams’ contract is worth just $10 million this year, which is lower than what many other backup point guards signed for this summer. Jeremy Lin (3 years, $36 million) and Tyler Johnson (4 years, $50 million), both signed richer deals with his former team, the Brooklyn Nets. Even though Williams has been in sharp decline the past few years, it’s surprising that he wasn’t able to find a better deal in this crazy free agency period.
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