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Deron Williams Time In Brooklyn Is Running Out

By Anthony Parisi

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Since Deron Williams signed a five year contract worth $98 Million with the Brooklyn Nets he has not been the same player that he was in his Utah Jazz days. Whether it has been underachieving expectations or suffering numerous injuries, Williams tenure in Brooklyn hasn’t gone as planned. Williams ankles held him back during the Nets first two years in Brooklyn and after having surgery on both ankles during the offseason, there was renewed optimism among Nets fans that Williams could return to All Star Form.

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Williams got off to a fast start this season and he broke out against the New York Knicks scoring 29 points and gathering 6 assists against a tough perimeter defender Iman Shumpert. Williams was rolling during the early part of the season, even earning the Eastern Conference Player of the Week accolade. Williams was playing confident, injury free basketball until he suffered a right calf strain during a Nets loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Although it was a minor injury that only required Williams to miss two games, Williams lost his starting job to a surging Jarrett Jack and has been unable to regain his spot in the starting rotation.

Williams was struggling coming off of the bench, but it appeared that Williams was becoming comfortable in the reserve role when he had two consecutive good games against the Orlando Magic and the Miami Heat. Williams suffered an oblique injury late in that game against the Heat on Sunday and that required Williams to miss the Nets next game against the Dallas Mavericks. Williams was listed as doubtful going into Wednesday, but he grinded it out and decided to give it a go for the Nets game against the Boston Celtics.

After playing in only four minutes of action, Williams went into the locker room and did not return for the remainder of the game. It was announced on Thursday that Williams suffered a fractured rib and he is out indefinitely. After having such a promising start to the season Williams could not maintain that good fortune and now his health is becoming a major problem in areas that aren’t his ankles.

Lionel Hollins admitted to the media today that Jarrett Jack and Joe Johnson have been playing too many minutes and he told the media that he is going to have to “alleviate” their minutes which means either the Nets are trusting Darius Morris to play significant minutes,they’re going to sign somebody in free agency or make a trade. Jack came into Brooklyn expecting to be a backup point guard and now he has turned into one of the teams most important players.

The Nets are going to need Jack to play his best basketball while Williams is out and this recent injury to Williams could prompt Brooklyn to try and move Williams to the Kings who still have their eye on him. The only problem with trading Williams now is nobody wants damaged goods so that could shy teams away and allow for Brooklyn to get less in return then they would’ve originally gotten. Williams will be re-evaluated in a week, but for now there is no timetable for his return. Williams bad luck and injury problems in Brooklyn continue to pile up and it’s only a matter of time before Billy King has seen enough.

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