Williams would've liked longer than 1-year deal to return to Mavericks

In a perfect world, Deron Williams would have signed a long-term deal to remain with his hometown Dallas Mavericks this summer after opting out of his $5.6-million player option.

Being a 32-year-old point guard coming off of surgery to repair a sports hernia which cost him the tail-end of the Mavericks' opening-round series with the Oklahoma City Thunder were glaring red flags that ultimately kept him from landing what he desired. Instead, Williams locked in to a one-year contract worth $10 million for the 2016-17 season.

"I'd have liked to be here for a little longer," Williams told DallasNews.com's Eddie Sefko at his annual charity golf tournament. "We'll see how it goes. It is what it is. For sure, I wanted to be back. I felt like I had some unfinished business at the end of last year the way things ended and I wasn't able to be on the court. Hopefully I'll stay healthy because I'm excited about this team."

Williams should retain his spot in the starting lineup, where he averaged 14.1 points and 5.8 assists on 41.4 percent shooting over 63 appearances a season ago. He'll be returning to a rotation that will look drastically different from the one he last suited up for, though, with former champions Harrison Barnes and Andrew Bogut entering the equation in favor of Chandler Parsons (Memphis Grizzlies) and Zaza Pachulia (Golden State Warriors).

"We're definitely going to miss Chandler, but Harrison stepping in, that's not a downgrade," Williams added. "It's going to be great to see how he handles being a go-to guy. He's kind of been in the shadows (at Golden State). We'll see what he can do now with the ball in his hands. And I'm looking forward to playing with big Bogut. I've been a fan of his for awhile. He's definitely a player point guards like to play with."