The cause of Deron Williams’ basketball NBA nadir was no secret. The Brooklyn Nets’ supposed franchise cornerstone played on injured ankles in each of the last two seasons, culminating in the most disappointing campaign of his career in 2013-2014. When it was announced in late May that Williams had double surgery to remove bone spurs from his left ankle and a loose bone fragment from his right, it hardly spelled a comeback for a player many once considered the league’s best point guard.
Now three-and-a-half months removed the procedures, though, Williams says he’s healthier than he’s been in years. And spurred by his first full training camp with the team since being traded to the Nets in 2011, the three-time All-Star is planning on re-assuming his spot as one of the league’s top floor generals. Speaking at his charity dodgeball event in Manhattan, Williams expressed widespread optimism on the state of his health and detailed the lingering injury effects that so limited him last season.
From Tim Bontemps of the New York Post:
“[Before the surgery], I was just walking around and my ankles would swell up,” Williams said Monday at his charity dodgeball tournament in Manhattan, which benefited his Point of Hope Foundation. “Any time that happens, that’s bad.
“[Now] they feel good. I’ve been working out hard every day, getting ready to go.”
“Last year was tough,” he said. “I missed all of training camp, most of the preseason. … I practiced one time, played nine minutes in a preseason game and was thrown into the fire at 60 or 70 percent…”
But Now that he’s fully healthy, Williams is hopeful this year will see a return to the level he was at when he deservedly was in the conversation — just a couple years ago — for being the NBA’s top point guard.
“That’s the plan. … That’s definitely the plan,” he said.
What a boon Williams’ renaissance would be for Brooklyn – in both the present and future.
The Nets were always in for a major stylistic seachange in 2014-2015 after replacing Jason Kidd with Lionel Hollins and losing integral pieces Paul Pierce and Joe Johnson in free agency. The addition of high-volume, high-scoring center Brook Lopez will help usher in Brooklyn’s new identity, too.
But no switch would be likely be more influential than Williams’ return to All-NBA form. Sapped of the burst and agility that made him such an effective penetrator during his Utah Jazz heyday, Williams attempted fewer shots at the basket in each of the past three seasons – his only with the Nets, remember – than at any other point in his career. He’s a good enough shooter to have remained a positive offensively over that timeframe, but has simply been a shell of his former aggressive and attacking self.
Considering his lack of practice time and in ability to play without pain last season specifically, that Williams feels good now certainly suggests that he’ll regain at least some of his All-Star form this season. And if that’s the case, Brooklyn’s long-term outlook will be brighter, too.
After signing a five-year, maximum extension with the Nets in summer 2012, Williams will be paid a staggering $63 million through the 2016-2017 season. Barring a full-scale turnaround he won’t be worth his salary, but even moderate improvement would mean Williams won’t be a complete financial albatross when the team chases Kevin Durant in the summer of 2016. Great players want to play with other great ones, and if Williams can make his peers believe he’s again reached that threshold, Brooklyn will be a much more attractive free agent destination over the next two summers.
But the immediate future is of greatest consequence. Let’s hope Williams’ newfound confidence in his body shows on the court this season. The league is a better place when such rare talents like his are almost or fully realized.
Is Williams in for a big year?
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