Nothin' But Nets
Fansided

Dimes and Disappointment: Deron Williams and the Brooklyn Nets

By Charles Daye

Feb 28, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; Brooklyn Nets guard Deron Williams (8) smiles from the court prior to the game against the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 28, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; Brooklyn Nets guard Deron Williams (8) smiles from the court prior to the game against the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 6
Next
"Sep
"Sep /

D-Will the MVP?

Jason Kidd returned to the Nets as the head coach, and the Nets broke the bank with their new starting five of Williams, Johnson, Pierce, Garnett, and Lopez. Expectations were unbelievably high heading into the season, due to the additions of Pierce and Garnett. The Brooklyn Nets were expected to compete with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and the Miami Heat for Eastern Conference supremacy.

MUST READ: Assessing Kenny Atkinson’s Bizarre Rotations

Expectations were especially high for the franchise floor general, who was the main reason Pierce and Garnett were open and optimistic to being traded to Brooklyn. Williams made players like Marshon Brooks, Gerald Green, Kris Humphries, and Brook Lopez look great in New Jersey. So it only made sense that with an All-Star lineup in Brooklyn, the $98 million dollar point guard was expected to play at an elite, MVP-caliber level. Pierce admitted to ESPN that he viewed Williams as an MVP candidate.

"“Before I got there (Brooklyn), I looked at Deron as an MVP candidate…but I felt once we got there, that’s not what he wanted to be. He just didn’t want that,” said Pierce. “I think a lot of the pressure got to him sometimes. This was his first time in the national spotlight. The media in Utah is not the same as the media in New York, so that can wear on some people. I think it really affected him.”"

As they say, hindsight is 20/20. Despite still dealing with ankle injuries, Williams’ 2013-14 season was a drastic disappointment. He averaged 14.3 points and 6.1 assists per game for the regular season, and the Nets finished 44-38, a worse record than the previous season despite adding two future Hall-of-Famers and having a basketball genius as the head coach. Most of the blame was put on the franchise point guard, who was supposed to be leading the team, not playing like a glorified role player to Pierce and Garnett.

The sixth seed Nets faced off against the Toronto Raptors in the first round of the playoffs. This series against “the North” was not kind to Williams. Kyle Lowry definitively outplayed D-Will, and it was embarrassing. So embarrassing that Nets fans put up “Missing” posters outside of the Barclays Center before Game Six of the series.

MUST READ: Three D-League Players For the Nets to Watch

Williams, playing with bad ankles, stopped missing for Games Six and Seven to help the Nets advance to the next round of the playoffs. The Nets would fall to the Miami Heat with a gentlemen’s sweep in the conference semifinals.

Williams averaged 14.5 points and 5.8 assists per game during the 2014 playoffs, which was disappointing to say the least.

The Nets bet the bank on Williams and the Boston trade and lost. Ownership shipped Kidd to Milwaukee, management didn’t resign Pierce, and Garnett was traded for Thaddeus Young the next season.