Deron Williams: Latest News, Rumors, Speculation on Mavericks PG's Future

Dallas Mavericks point guard Deron Williams is reportedly interested in staying with the franchise as he heads into the offseason with a player option for the 2016-17 season. However, he may be seeking a new deal as opposed to picking up the option on his current contract.

Continue for updates.

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Williams Plans to Opt Out

Friday, April 29

Tim MacMahon of ESPN reported Williams plans to opt out of the second season of his contract with Dallas.

Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported on April 26 that Williams said he would "love" to come back to the Mavs. It's unclear, however, whether that means his contract option or for him to sign a new deal with Dallas.     

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Williams Provided Valuable Production for Mavericks

Williams averaged 14.1 points, 5.8 assists and 2.9 rebounds while shooting 41 percent from the floor across 65 games in the regular season for Dallas. He played just one minute over the team's final three playoff games because of a sports hernia, though.

Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News provided comments from Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle about the veteran's season. "He had a very strong year. He played great basketball for us. The only thing that derailed him were some health issues."

Earl K. Sneed of the Mavs' official site noted Williams said he is going to have surgery to repair the hernia and projects he will have a six-week recovery.

Injuries have become a consistent concern for the 31-year-old guard in recent years. He's failed to play more than 70 games in any of the past three seasons.

His on-court production has also faded over that time frame. His 14.6 player efficiency rating marked his lowest figure in that stat since his rookie year in 2005-06, according to Basketball-Reference.com.

As usual, the situation comes down to money. Williams carries a cap hit of $5.6 million for next season if he picks up the player option, per Spotrac. That's a reasonable price based on his current production, and it would be one less void for the front office to fill.

Should Williams opt out and test the free-agent market, however, the outlook could change. His fading numbers don't warrant a lucrative deal that eats up a lot of cap space. That's especially true with MacMahon of ESPN highlighting Chandler Parsons' early free-agent recruitment pitch to Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard. Saving money for those bigger pursuits is more important.

So, while there's seemingly mutual interest between Williams and the Mavericks in a reunion next season, it's not a done deal yet.