NBA Rumors: Brooklyn Move Should Sway Deron Williams to Re-Sign with Nets
Next season, the Nets are going to be the most exciting storyline in the NBA, and there's no way Deron Williams is going to let himself miss out on that.
When the Nets move to Brooklyn in 2012-13, they're going to be a different team—not, obviously, just because they're in a different city. They'll have more cap space and more flexibility to build a team that can actually compete.
All of that will be music to Williams' ears, who hasn't ruled out signing an extension with the Nets but could still opt out in order to field free-agent offers.
According to a tweet from the New York Daily News' Stefan Bondy, there's one option that seems more appealing to Williams than all the rest:
"From everything I've been hearing, Deron Williams is leaning toward re-signing with the Nets. There's still a lot that can happen, though.
— Stefan Bondy (@NYDNInterNets) May 1, 2012"
The Nets would kill to have Williams back, making this the perfect time to orchestrate the move to Brooklyn. With the move comes the necessity to put forth a new team—but one that still revolves around Williams.
The primary difference must be that this team wins, as opposed to the 2011-12 version of the Nets, which went 22-44 and finished in last place in the Atlantic Division yet again. It's a scenario that has become all too frequent in the days since Jason Kidd and Kenyon Martin.
The first step to rebuilding this new team is re-signing Williams, who, Nets general manager Billy King told ESPNNY.com's Mike Mazzeo, is "the best point guard in the league."
Williams will be by far the most desirable free agent on the market this spring. It will be hard for him to turn down the offers that will undoubtedly land on his table before he even sees them. If he leaves the Nets, he could very well end up on a team like the Mavericks, one year removed from a championship.
King told Mazzeo that he's committed to re-signing Gerald Wallace as well, and he even took Williams to the under-construction Barclays Center, the team's new home next season. The Nets are pulling out all the stops to compel Williams to stay, and by all indications, they're starting to succeed.
Williams told the Star-Ledger's Colin Stephenson, "Brooklyn helped me see the vision again."
All Williams wants to do is win, and while the Nets haven't done that in a while, they've never been more dedicated to building a contender than they are now, when the pressure of moving to Brooklyn—of being the biggest story in the NBA—brings incredible expectations.
If they want to keep Williams, they have no choice but to build a contender. With Williams and Wallace as the centerpieces of this new team, they will be headed in the right direction.
