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Deron Williams traveling with Nets, but won't play Wednesday

Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports

The Brooklyn Nets are in a strange situation with point guard Deron Williams.

After a hot start to the season, Williams has been playing relatively poorly, below his established standard and not at all commensurate with his $19.8-million salary. That salary is also one of the reasons the Nets' franchise is in a tough place, unable to compete but unable to make moves due to a lack of flexibility and trade market for their high-priced players.

Still, the team is better with Williams than without him, even though he's been demoted to a reserve role behind Jarrett Jack. The Nets are 4.3 points per-100 possessions better with Williams on the floor, and they've gone 3-6 in the nine games he's missed.

That includes the team's most recent six games, a 1-5 stretch that Williams missed due to fractured rib cartilage.

Williams will remain out Wednesday when the team takes on the Sacramento Kings, but in a bit of a positive, he's traveling with the team on their three-game road trip. That's an indication he could play by Saturday, when the trip wraps, and an official update on his status is expected Wednesday.

His return may not be enough to right the ship entirely, but Mirza Teletovic, for one, thinks it's paramount to getting the team back on the right track.

"D-Will, for me, is unbelievable," Teletovic said this week. "It's (been) a big loss for this team. ... For me, I'd say he's 40 percent of the team. Deron Williams is the most important thing for us. Rhythm-wise, and getting the spacing right, and playing faster."

In 32 games, seven of them off the bench, Williams is averaging 13.9 points, three rebounds and 6.3 assists. That scoring rate is his lowest since his 2005-06 rookie season, as is his 16.8 player efficiency rating, only a shade above the league average. 

Without him, the Nets' offense efficiency drops from a top-12 mark to a bottom-eight one, and they'll need him down the stretch as they try to hang on to the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference playoff picture in the second half.

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