Three years ago, Deron Williams could have arrived in Dallas with grandeur. The Dallas native faced a free agency decision in the summer of 2012 that came down to the Mavericks or the Brooklyn Nets; after Brooklyn made an 11th hour trade for Joe Johnson and his lavishly long contract, Williams chose to stay.
Dallas is a perfect fit to rejuvenate Deron Williams’ career
Williams’ time in Brooklyn was a disaster for many reasons. Coming home to Dallas gives him a chance to fit into a more logical situation.
This summer, Williams finally made his way to Dallas, under drastically different circumstances. When viewed through the prism of his $98 million contract, Williams’ time in Brooklyn was an absolute disaster. His numbers dipped and his health wavered. He still played more than 60 games each season, but didn’t display the athleticism that made him a league-wide favorite who generated highlights on an almost nightly basis.
He was bad enough that Brooklyn is paying Williams to go away after negotiating a buyout clause. You can’t have your cake and eat it too, but Williams is trying his best, signing with the team he nearly chose three seasons ago.
Williams and the Mavericks are hoping for a rejuvenation in his hometown. With a much more reasonable two-year, $10-million deal, Williams' expectations are more attainable and his place in the team's hierarchy -- behind Chandler Parsons and Dirk Nowitzki, at least for next season -- makes sense given what he can still do.
Taking castoffs and turning them into indispensable players is what Dallas' front office is best at. They did it with Vince Carter and Brandan Wright. The 2010-11 title run was fueled by Tyson Chandler, Shawn Marion and even DeShawn Stevenson. The polarity of those players prior to arriving in Dallas and their impact after putting on the blue stands out. Mark Cuban and Donnie Nelson have their faults, but they're undeniably good at knowing which players just need a good career reboot.
Last season was Williams’ worst: just 13 points per game on 39 percent shooting from the field, though he still dished out 6.6 assists per game. The biggest problem was his finishing around the rim, hitting only 43 percent of his shots within five feet of the basket, per NBA.com’s stats page, nearly a 20 percent dip from his usual numbers.
That number was higher to start the season and after suffering a mid-season hand injury, fatigue might have been a factor. After returning last season, Williams clearly wasn’t in his best shape. Now 31, perhaps it’s just a matter of adjusting to the additional work he has to put in to keep himself at an NBA level.
The Mavericks will demand that of him and they have one of the league's best training staffs. His jump shot is still a weapon -- he hit 37 percent of his three-pointers and 35 percent on long twos, both acceptable numbers -- and he can still find the open man. At full strength, the Mavericks will have incredible spacing, with Williams, Parsons, Nowitzki and Wesley Matthews all threatening the defense with their shots from distance. With clearer lanes to drive, that should also help Williams bounce back as a finisher at the rim.
Perhaps most importantly, Williams will break a long-running trend of Dallas being defensively liable at point guard. From Darren Collison to Jose Calderon to Jameer Nelson to an unmotivated Rajon Rondo, the Mavericks have been killed by point guard defense in the years following the 2011 championship. While Rondo had flashes, notably shutting down Russell Westbrook twice, he never consistently delivered quality defense.
Williams won’t either, but he isn’t a liability. Brooklyn scored 104.5 points per 100 possessions with Williams on the floor and 105.5 with him off, a negligible difference. Other defensive metrics are split between grading Williams as a slightly below or above average defender. Regardless, he’s clearly not the turnstile Dallas is accustomed to, and next to Matthews (when he returns from his Achilles rehab), it’s the best backcourt the Mavericks have put together in years.
If Williams was graded by his current Mavericks contract, Brooklyn would have been happy enough with his season last year. But like everywhere else, money talks. With a new perspective and fresh chance in Dallas, Williams is poised to remind the you -- and the NBA -- that he used to be one of the league’s best.
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