Devin Kharpertian AP Photo/LM Otero
By the numbers: 78 G, 78 GS, 36.4 MPG, 18.9 PPG, 7.7 APG, 3.0 RPG, 1.0 SPG, 0.4 BPG, .440 FG%, .378 3P%, .859 FT%, .574 TS%, .516 eFG%
Advanced: 20.3 PER, 118 ORtg, 109 DRt...
Devin Kharpertian AP Photo/LM Otero
By the numbers: 78 G, 78 GS, 36.4 MPG, 18.9 PPG, 7.7 APG, 3.0 RPG, 1.0 SPG, 0.4 BPG, .440 FG%, .378 3P%, .859 FT%, .574 TS%, .516 eFG%
Advanced: 20.3 PER, 118 ORtg, 109 DRtg, 24.4 USG%, 1.2 ORB%, 8.5 DRB%, 4.8 TRB%, 37.5 AST%, 1.4 STL%, 0.8 BLK%, 13.3 estimated wins added
The New Jersey Nets traded for Deron Williams on a whim in February 2011, gambling that he’d want to be the face of the Brooklyn Nets. After 18 months slogging through Newark, Williams signed a maximum five-year contract with Brooklyn in the offseason, eschewing Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban in favor of making a home in Brooklyn (except that he lives in Manhattan).
But Deron Williams was more than just the face. Williams exemplified everything simultaneously sublime and substandard about this team: flashes of untempered brilliance mixed with moments of pure frustration, seemingly unable to hit that “next gear” that Brooklyn sometimes desperately needed.
It was a Hyde-and-Jekyll season for Williams, one that began with Williams playing through crippling pain in his ankles and getting undeserved game balls from Avery Johnson, ending with him throwing down double-pump reverse jams in the playoffs.
The All-Star break is often cited as the turning point, thanks to the week-plus of rest, three cortisone shots, platelet-rich plasma treatment, and detoxifying juice cleanse Williams underwent, but his resurgence truly began in January; from the calendar year 2012 to 2013, Williams upped his points per game (16.3 to 20.6), assists (7.5 to 7.9), field goal percentage (39.9% to 46.5%), three-point percentage (30% to 42.2%), and free throw percentage (81.5% to 88.4%)
He dazzled. He hit nine three-pointers in one half against the Washington Wizards, setting an NBA record. He activated the Mark Cuban Struggle Face. 11 of his biggest 12 scoring nights came after the new year. He developed a two-man chemistry with Brook Lopez that resulted in more easy points than Lopez had in his entire career. His ankles, the same ones that once “felt like s---,” looked like new. He ran an offense that scored 108.9 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor in 2013, which would rank as the third-best offense in the league over the course of a full season.
As Williams went, Brooklyn went. At his best, he scored in profuse amounts by balancing a basket attack with three-point acumen, ran a comfortably simple offense that got open looks for himself and others (particularly Brook Lopez around the rim), and adjusted his strategies on the fly with a rapidly changing rotation. At his worst, Williams eschewed these same principles (particularly in the third quarters), relying heavily on one-on-one basketball in moments that the Nets needed a five-on-five approach.
At times, his frustration seeped over. He criticized Avery Johnson's offensive system a little over a week before Johnson was let go.
Williams is 28 now, and will be 29 before next season starts. He is, for all intents and purposes, the player he’s going to be. If that player is the Williams the Nets enjoyed in the second half of the season, when Williams was finally healthy, Brooklyn’s going to rock. If the Nets sign a coach who can maximize his talents, the Nets should improve substantially on this year’s playoff run. But Williams isn’t turning into a different player overnight.
What Deron Williams represents isn’t just himself, but the core Brooklyn’s locked into. It’s hard not to call Brooklyn’s inaugural season a success -- a 26-win improvement (albeit in a longer season, but still), a seven-game loss in a tough first-round matchup -- but it wasn’t a wild success. It was good, but not great. Williams is at the center of that. The Nets may have signed Williams to be their face, but Williams is the Brooklyn Nets: real flash, real substance, high-priced talent on the cusp of superstardom but still brushing below it, with little chance of breaking into the next