NBA Trade Rumors: Deron Williams' Statements Will Bolster Chris Paul's Value

The elite point guard market looks to be shrinking in a big way. Well, it's shrinking by 50 percent. What started with Chris Paul and Deron Williams now looks to be shrinking to just Paul.

Fred Kerber of the New York Post quoted Williams as saying that he feels he'll stay with the Nets. 

"

It’s a strong possibility, I have a strong feeling that I’ll re-sign here

I think this (Brooklyn) is going to be a great destination...People know this is happening and they see it taking shape. They know it will be different. I think people will want to come here and play.

It’s going to be huge. Going to Brooklyn is going to be huge. We should sell out every night, just because of the new arena at first.

"

None of those quotes make me think that Williams is going anywhere. Obviously, nothing has happened yet, but Nets fans have to be ecstatic about this news. 

The other group of fans that have to be happy about this belong to the New Orleans Hornets. 

A report on Tuesday from Chris Broussard of ESPN said that the Lakers were interested in Chris Paul, as well as Dwight Howard. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported several more teams that are interested in Paul.

Before Kerber's story, every one of those teams had a nice fall back plan. If they didn't get Paul, they could at least make a run at Williams. 

Think about this from a logical perspective. If you want something but know that something else that's just as good is also available, you're not going to give up as much for the first thing. 

But when that second option is gone, the need to get the first thing is amplified. This is nothing more than simple logic. There's no advanced knowledge here, but something (or someone) is more valuable when it's the only option. 

So, even though he hasn't signed, the Hornets now know that Williams likes his chances of staying in New Jersey. Paul is more of a valuable chip, isn't he? 

If the team looking for him can't land Paul, they're not going to get the top point guard. 

So, the Nets get to keep Williams. The Hornets know that they can make Paul's price tag even greater. Any team who was interested in a point guard now needs to do a lot more to get the only top one on the market.