NBA Rumors: How Deron Williams Has Nets Stuck in Neutral as Free Agency Looms

The New Jersey Nets went all-in on Deron Williams at last year's NBA trade deadline and may well find themselves chip-less once free agency opens up this summer.

The three-time All-Star made it clear before the season that he will opt-out of the final year of his deal and test the market in the offseason, and he told The New York Daily News last Friday:

"

"I'm not going to opt-in. It's not monkey-see, monkey-do. Wherever I go is hopefully where I'm going to retire."

"I'm not (going through the same things) because I've said all year I'm going to play this whole year out and see what happens. So I haven't been flip-flopping and gone back and forth. It's not even close to being the same situation."

"

A not-too-subtle jibe at Dwight Howard, it would seem, and for good reason.

After all, it was New Jersey's "grand plan" to entice Williams to stay by acquiring Howard, via either trade or free agency, and have the two pair up as the faces of the franchise when it moves to Brooklyn next season.

Dwight's decision to stay with the Orlando Magic for at least one more year threw a big, rusty wrench into those not-so-best-laid plans.

But, as much as Howard may have left D-Will hangin', the biggest loser, ultimately, is the Nets organization.

After all, Williams will have his pick of the cap-flexible litter when the 2011-12 season comes to an end, with a cozy nest awaiting him in the locker room of his hometown Dallas Mavericks alongside a bejeweled Dirk Nowitzki.

Not that D-Will to the Mavs is necessarily a foregone conclusion, as perfect a fit as it may seem.

As Ken Berger of CBSSports.com notes, if there's anything we've learned from Dwight's deadline dilemma, it's that superstars of all stripes are unpredictable, especially when faced with career-altering decisions.

The Nets can only hope that such unpredictability will play in their favor.

They might still be able to swing a trade for Superman this summer, though, if Orlando's handling of this whole fiasco is any indication, the Magic may well try to convince him to stay by surrounding him with another round of complementary parts.

In any case, Nets GM Billy King can do little but keep his fingers crossed that Gerald Wallace returns to his form of yesteryear and that giving away a first-round pick to the Portland Trail Blazers with only top-three protection doesn't come back to bite him.

Otherwise, it will be back to Square 1 for the Nets.

Then again, it might be anyway.

Only time—and Deron Williams' mind—will tell, though it's difficult to imagine the 27-year-old being too keen to waste his prime on a full-scale rebuild, irrespective of location.

Follow @J0shMart1n