The unsuccessful tenure of Deron Williams in Brooklyn came to an end this week with the two sides reaching a buyout agreement. Williams never became the superstar the team envisioned when it acquired him from the Jazz during the 2010/11 campaign, and his time in Brooklyn ended with a whimper instead of a bang. The 31-year-old wasn’t out of work for long, with him quickly agreeing to a two-year pact with the point guard starved Mavericks.
Now here’s my segue into the question(s) of the day: Will Deron Williams revitalize his career with the Mavs, and does he make Dallas a playoff-caliber team?
Admittedly, I snuck two questions in for the price of one today, but they do go hand-in-hand. If Williams can somehow turn back the clock on his weary legs and put up numbers similar to what he did in Utah, the Mavericks would certainly have to be taken seriously in the Southwest Division. If not, then the team is likely headed for the draft lottery. What’s your take on Williams’ departure from Brooklyn and arrival in the Lone Star State? Will the change of locales, and return to his home state of Texas, revitalize him? Or is he done for good as an upper-tier playmaker? What are your predictions for the Mavs’ record this season? If you’re a disgruntled Nets fan who just needs some closure, feel free to vent your feelings as well. We look forward to what you have to say.
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Die-hard but realistic Mavs fan here. I see the Mavs getting a max of 44 wins next year with D-Will, but he’s definitely an upgrade over Devin Harris and J.J.
If you’re looking at it from strictly an upgrade/downgrade point of view, think of what we had with Rondo. Williams is an upgrade shooting the ball, and neutral as a defender. It’s a net benefit for the Mavs no matter which way you look at it, not to mention the improved spacing that will benefit other players just from him being on the floor with them. Maybe he still has some cohesiveness with Wes Matthews, who is an absolute sniper (health pending).
Mavs’ main issue is mostly going to be depth and lack of size inside and, stop me if you’ve heard this before, defensive (and offensive) rebounding. They should have a decent frontcourt when it’s all said and done, it’s just that their division (and conference) is utterly brutal. Realistically, I think they’ll push for the eight spot. Say what you will about how that hurts/benefits the franchise in the long-term, but I think that’s where they’ll end up. I’d rather push for the eight spot and keep Parsons/Carlisle than tank and lose them both with no guarantee about our long-term future if we do tank.
If you look at the Per 36 Min stats of the starting 5 from last year (Dirk/Parsons/Chandler/Monta/Rondo) and compare that to the Per 36 of this year’s team (Dirk/Parsons/DWill/Zaza/Matthews), they’re almost at a break even point.
Yeah, I mean, I think it’s wise to take the D-Will gamble, since they weren’t reasonably going to get any better value. You’re right that they’re going to be right around the last playoff spot, a no man’s land they’ve been stuck in for too long. But, things can always change with a midseason trade. The foundation there is too solid just to tank. They just have to get a little more lucky than they have been on the player personnel front.
Also a romantic-realist Mavs fan. The sad thing is: (1) the Mavs are headed for the middle of the pack in the league next season (I’m projecting 7th-11th in the West), which is exactly where you don’t want to be, especially if you cough up next year’s 1st round pick to Boston for the Rondo bomb (2) If everything breaks right for Mavs, they’re right back to ground zero for next off-season. The only player with a long term controllable future in Dallas is Justin Anderson, so better hope he has a breakout rookie campaign. And Dwight Powell who can be protected on a QO and matching contract could be a piece with potential if Carlisle ever lets him gets some burn this year. But I doubt that happens.
Let’s say Deron is elite. He won’t be. But for argument sake, let’s go with it. He would then opt out of his final year. Same thing for Chandler Parsons. He puts up big numbers … opts out. If they stink it up, they’ll opt in and be on the books for 16-17. It’s really a no win situation.
If we’re throwing out potential for a championship in 15-16 (we should), that following season is with Irk at PF (no D – the opposition shreds him for 30 a game with his footwork being more reminiscent of Shawn Bradley than Scottie Pippen), a potentially hobbled Wesley Matthews, Barea and Harris. No big name free agent will consider that type of a roster. They’ll do what every other marquee free agent has done in the Cuban era … use him as a pawn to drive up the price tag for other teams. Happened with Carmelo. Happened with Dwight. Happened with D-Jordan. Would have happened with Parsons too if Houston didn’t unexpectedly bow out of matching Dallas’s bid.
Acquiring Deron is Cuban saving face, after making tanking comments. Realistically, Williams is not going to be a star in the league again. Matthews and Parsons will be brought back with baby steps. Don’t be surprised if they have “set backs” from injury, whether those are legit or not. If you’re out of it … might as well be WAY out of it and get an impact draft player for next season. Not sure if Cuban’s ego will get in the way of that happening.
It’ll be interesting basketball to watch, but I don’t imagine the Mavs will be back in a title hunt any time soon until after the Dirk era is over.
I feel your frustration. Tough time to be a Mavs fan. You’re right, though. I can’t see Cuban tanking, and I don’t know if I’d pursue tanking if I were him, either. I don’t think it’s worth it for any team in a state with no income tax to strip down the roster. It’s a real advantage in free agency, and it’ll become an even greater one as the salaries escalate around the league. Granted, it hasn’t paid many dividends for the Mavs yet, but over time, I think it will.
I think dwill will have a bounce back year Now that he no longer has to play with joe Johnson I honestly believe he’s the main reason for dwill’s decline Joe is just one of those players who finds a way to make others around him worse both the Suns and Hawks got better once he left and the Nets will be next on that list I’m very hopeful dwill gets some of his Allstar caliber game back when he was in my opinion the best PG in the league over cp3 he could pass just as good as C but was bigger a better scorer and overall a more capable/versatile player who had the size and skill to play on and off ball, here’s to a good 2015/16 for Dwill
I think one thing’s clear: He’ll be more comfortable in Dallas than he was in Brooklyn. Just how much more comfortable he’ll be has a lot to do with Rick Carlisle.
Who knew I would surrounded by fellow realistic Mavs fans! They should challenge for a playoff berth but its more likely they miss out this year. 2 things Dallas is great at will help D Will bounce back:
Carlisle gets the most out of his players. Dallas has salvaged the careers of T Chandler, V Carter, B Wright, M Ellis and others by using them at what they are good at. That’s a big plus for D Will.
The second is the training staff, probably the best in the league if Phoenix didn’t have their magic potions. Dallas gets their players in the shape they need to be in and train them appropriately to stay healthy. D Will should be the healthiest he’s been since he was young in Utah.
Now I’m not saying Utah D Will is back, but he should be a better than average PG for the team. Its unfortunate because the team now has 4 PGs making $4 mil+ causing depth issues everywhere else. In the end the black hole at C is gonna kill the team and Dirk will have to bet it all on his final season in 2017.
He’ll provide Jason Williams type of production from here on out, don’t expect more than that. Be happy with 10-12 pts and 6 or 7 assists.
I can see D-Will averaging 17ppg and 7-8 ast this upcoming season with the mavs. After re-signing with Brooklyn he realized he didn’t enjoy the limelight of being in New York City, now he gets to go back to his home state of Texas where he will be more comfortable because he’s not in such a high pressure place where everyone scrutinized him for playing to the caliber of his contract.
Mavs revitalised Ellis when he came. They had the best offence with Nelson at point, so I think Williams will fit nicely. They will miss Chandler though… big time.