Portland Trail Blazers: Should Portland Make a Run at Deron Williams?

Sloppy, underachieving and homesick.

Three of many words that can define the Portland Trail Blazers' lackluster 13-10 start to the 2011-2012 condensed NBA season.

After starting off atop the Western Conference with a 7-1 record, the Trail Blazers have dropped nine of their last fifteen games and seem to have a three ton monkey on their backs:

They can't win on the road.

With a 10-1 record at the Rose Garden, the Trail Blazers have one of the best home records in the NBA. But at 3-9 on the road, Portland is tied for the worst road record among any playoff team, East or West, matching the likes of the Milwaukee Bucks, who are a below-.500 team.

LaMarcus Aldridge has been phenomenal. Though he's been criticized for not being dominant enough down the stretch when he's needed most (à la LeBron James), L.A. has been everything the Trail Blazers have asked and more, especially with the Brandon Roy/Greg Oden drama looming in the locker room.

LaMarcus Aldridge's Stat Line: 36.2 minutes, 22.8 points, 8.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists per game. 50.6 field goal percentage

But it seems as though everyone not named L.A. has had their troubles this season.

Gerald Wallace has been inconsistent, Jamal Crawford even more inconsistent. Wesley Matthews can't find his touch from deep, Raymond Felton is shooting 19.8 percent from downtown and Nicolas Batum—maybe Portland's second-most consistent player—is out now due to a knee injury.

By law, Portland's going to get it together. The shots will eventually start dropping, Batum will get healthy, Crawford will find his stroke and Wallace will get back to crashing into people.

But Portland, right now, is the eighth seed in the West, only half a game in front of both Memphis and Houston. If the Trail Blazers don't get it together soon, they could find themselves on the outside looking in with one of the best rosters in the NBA, on paper.

Enter Deron Williams.

Deron Williams' stat line: 37.1 minutes, 20.5 points, 8.5 assists, 3.1 rebounds, 4.5 turnovers per game.

The longer Dwight Howard takes to make up his mind, the more likely Deron Williams is to ditch the New Jersey Nets at the end of the season. Still a premier point guard and likely an All-Star reserve, Williams is an efficient scorer, a lights-out shooter and an established leader and facilitator in the NBA—all of which are things that the Trail Blazers lack right now.

The next best thing for the Nets is to follow in the Nuggets' footsteps during the "Melo Drama" and deal Williams for as much as humanly possible.

The Trade

Portland receives: Deron Williams, MarShon Brooks
New Jersey receives: Raymond Felton, Gerald Wallace, Jamal Crawford, draft picks

Now, it's going to take one hell of an effort from interim GM Chad Buchannon to convince Mikhail Prokorov to let Brooks go; but this trade would complete the Blazers.

It would take them out of this sloppy, turnover-heavy, fast-paced offense that they've been running, with Felton and Wallace in the rotation. And it would bring an established leader to a team that clearly needs one.

They may have to swap Crawford for Matthews in the trade, but it would pay off in the end. D-Will is a certified closer and and the rookie guard, Brooks, has the potential to turn into the next Brandon Roy.

Is the trade necessary? 

Absolutely not. Wallace, Felton and Crawford are all relatively new pieces to the puzzle and Coach Nate McMillan is still trying to fit them all together. It's an experiment of sorts.

The Heat had a slow start before they went ballistic and made a championship run. The Knicks are still working out the kinks (if you can call it that) in their offense.

By law, things will begin to change. Portland will start grabbing Ws on the road and the three-guard tandem of Matthews, Crawford and Felton will eventually gel together.

But for a second—just for a second—think about the dynamic duo of Williams and Aldridge and what they could accomplish. Think about how high Brooks' ceiling really is and if he could eventually fill the void that Roy left.

Of course, D-Will would have to want to commit long term to Portland, but why wouldn't he? 

Williams hasn't had someone to pick-and-roll with since Carlos Boozer in Utah. Paired with Aldridge, a knock-down mid-range shooter and an increasingly explosive finisher at the basket, it would be a match made in heaven.

A lineup of Camby, Aldridge, Batum, Brooks/Crawford and Williams with Kurt Thomas, Nolan Smith, Craig Smith and the heavily underrated Elliot Williams is enough to make noise in the league.

Could you see this happening?

Kristian Winfield is a Featured Columnist for the Portland Trail Blazers on Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @BriscoXCI