Deron Williams rumors: Brooklyn Nets open to trade
By Bryan Rose
With an aging roster and an elevated salary cap, the Brooklyn Nets know they have to make some tough choices. One of which may be trading away their star point guard, Deron Williams. Fresh off losing $144 million dollars on the basketball operations side, the Nets have been looking to clear salary and Williams’ $19.7 figure for the upcoming season may be next off the books.
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While Deron Williams come with a hefty price tag, he also brings with him the ability to bring back talent in a potential trade. A handful of other large salaries on the Nets roster (Kevin Garnett, Brook Lopez, Joe Johnson) would yield little to no return which is why the Nets are allegedly open to such.
Of course, finding a willing trade partner to absorb the $60+ million dollars owed to Deron Williams (assuming he exercises his player option in 2016-17) isn’t going to be easy, especially considering the Nets are likely to want something of value in return.
The Dallas Mavericks have seemingly always had interest in Williams, though it’s unknown if they’d be willing to commit financially to the point guard moving forward given their recent expensive additions like Chandler Parsons.
Another issue plaguing the value of Williams are his creaky ankles which have become problematic for the nine-year veteran, though in recent years he has manged to play on them more often than not – though his effectiveness has been put into question.
Deron Williams put up more than 14 points and 6 assists in 32 minutes a game last season, though was not the primary focus of scoring on a team with the aforementioned Johnson and Paul Pierce.