Brooklyn Nets Leapfrog New York Knicks with Deron Williams Signing

After so much waiting, the big news came from Deron Williams himself:

"

Made a very tough decision today.... lockerz.com/s/222071318

"

"— Deron Williams (@DeronWilliams) July 3, 2012"

Apparently, Williams is on board for a "max" five-year, $100 million deal. First off, this means that Brooklyn has a likely high-end playoff team in the East. The expensive Johnson-Williams backcourt will be the league's largest and should be quite potent offensively at the very least. 

The Wallace-Lopez frontcourt is more of an issue. While Gerald Wallace is a decent player, he's been less productive in recent years. Brook Lopez has offensive talent, but he's a poor rebounder and a defensive cipher. 

In the aggregate, this is a decent team. The main reason it's not a contender for a finals trip is that the Miami Heat exist. 

Most importantly (from a Nets perspective), the signing vaults this team beyond their city rival in terms of buzz and talent. The Knicks are saddled with a declining, expensive Amar'e Stoudemire. Carmelo Anthony was a revelation at power forward, but Stoudemire and Chandler are occupying the frontcourt. New York's backcourt is an unanswered question as of now, one they hope to address with a recovering Jeremy Lin. 

The deal also has Dwight Howard implications. Williams' expensive contract assures that signing Howard outright would be an impossibility. The best the Nets can do is acquire Howard via trade, which is unlikely on account of their expensive pieces. The only guy Orlando would probably accept for Howard is the player Brooklyn just signed. 

The Nets could have done better, perhaps orchestrating a situation in which Williams and Howard signed in New York. Howard made that difficult by re-upping with Orlando for a year. Brooklyn made that difficult by adding expensive parts. There were certainly missed opportunities, opportunities that may haunt the Nets. But in the end, they got one superstar and a playoff-contending team. For this franchise, that's a decent result.