How Deron Williams' fragile ankles represent the Nets
Between the Conference Finals, Mark Cuban putting his foot in his mouth, Donald Sterling updates and some confusing developments in Memphis dominating headlines, it was quietly announced yesterday that Deron Williams will undergo surgery on both ankles next week.
The fact that this news was met with little fanfare is a testament to how far down the ladder of relevance Williams has fallen over the years, and his fragile ankles are the perfect representation of the state of the Nets as a whole.
Williams' injury history since joining the Nets just over three years ago is outlined in a list at TheBrooklynGame.com, and the list already features 20 bullet points. He turns 30 in June, will be three seasons removed from his last All-Star appearance when next season tips off, and he'll make around $63 million over the next three seasons alone. Only six players - Paul, Griffin, Howard, Harden, Wall and George - are currently slated to earn more during that span, and at least four or five of those six (if not all of them) are virtual locks for All-NBA teams this year.
Williams hasn't been an All-NBA caliber player in four years, and with the increasing talent at the point guard position, it's hard to see him as anything better than a borderline All-Star, though he'll be paid like a top-tier superstar.
All you have to do is look at the point guard who outplayed him in a first round playoff matchup last month - Kyle Lowry - as an example. Lowry is two years younger, coming off a career year, was probably the best point guard in the Eastern Conference this season and a top-10 lead guard overall. And he's expected to get a contract in the $10 million to $12 million per year range as an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Williams will make $19,754,465 next season, $21,042,800 in 2015-16 and then has a $22,331,135 option in 2016-17, according to ShamSports. He finished 11th among point guards in ESPN's Wins Above Replacement (based on Real Plus/Minus) this year, 14th in PER and 17th among point guards in Basketball Reference's Win Shares.
In other words, horrible value, which is a perfectly succinct way to describe the Nets as a whole, as the second-round team was both one of the NBA's oldest this season and the most expensive in league history with luxury tax payments taken into account.
If the ankle surgeries work wonders and D-Will is back to the level he once played at in Utah, the big-market Nets will have their franchise player and can reach another level. That's obviously the best-case scenario. But best-case scenarios in pro sports are often code for pipe dream, and that would require Williams to get back to a level he hasn't played at in about a half-decade, coming off of surgery at 30-years-old.
Beyond that, the Nets will be hoping Brook Lopez is virtually the first seven-footer to leave serious foot problems behind, hoping for the returns of 36-year-old Paul Pierce and 38-year-old Kevin Garnett, and hoping their aging team can replicate a second-half surge that saw them go 34-17 in the new year.
Of course, even that surging, small-ball team wasn't good enough in the end, and the only rotation player who figures to be on the upswing is Mason Plumlee (unless you're banking on Marquis Teague or Jorge Gutierrez). The team also has no cap space until at least 2015 and doesn't control its own first round draft pick until 2019 (they are set to either forfeit or swap first round picks from 2014 until 2018).
From a flexibility and asset standpoint, this franchise is a comedy of errors going forward, made worse by the fact that they're not good enough to legitimately compete in the present, nor are they anywhere near as relevant as they expected to be upon moving to Brooklyn.
You could say the situation is as fragile as a couple of surgically repaired ankles.