[Dr.Zoidberg]

From mavsmoneyball.com:

Speculation into the Future - Deron Williams

by Bryan Gutierrez on Sep 8, 2010 1:28 PM CDT

Any time a disgruntled NBA player vents to the media, fans go crazy and start playing amateur-GM and start working out trade deals that are "can't miss" and they get the star and the championship is in the bag. More often than not, that situation hardly ever happens according to "the plan" but those proposals do make for interesting debate. One thing to remember now, these sets of circumstances are likely to happen much more now in the post "Decision" age. There is a situation right now in the NBA that is really under the radar that could emerge in the next few years and it could have a very serious impact on the Dallas Mavericks.



There was an article on Dime Magazine a little over a week discussing the idea of Deron Williams and his potential discontent with the future of the Jazz potentially leading him to make his way back "home" to the Dallas Mavericks.

If D-Will chooses to opt-out of his contract in 2012, where would he end up? How about following his roots in Dallas to play with the Mavericks. Deron starred at The Colony High School near Dallas, and last year at the NBA All-Star Game in Dallas, that was the happiest Williams has looked in two years. Another thing to consider is that the Mavericks will have substantial cap room in 2012, right when Deron can choose to become a free agent. If Deron ends up in Dallas, he would have a much better supporting cast than with the Jazz.
Dime Magazine.com

Now this article is nothing more than speculation, so everything in there has to be taken with a major grain of salt. It is what it is, but then you add Marc Stein into the mix and there is a little more fuel to the fire.

Following free agency, this summer has been dominated by trade rumors involving Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony.

While discussing Anthony on Thursday, ESPN.com's Marc Stein wrote a quick paragraph on Jazz point guard Deron Williams.

"I have a feeling he's next for all these trade stories," a Western Conference official said of Williams.
Utah has seen the departure of Carlos Boozer, Ronnie Brewer and Wesley Matthews since February. Al Jefferson was quickly acquired with little given up in return and the team spent its lottery pick on Gordon Hayward.

ESPN.com

There is definite reasoning for the Mavericks to be interested in Williams, even if this is speculation down the road. Openly, they showed their interest in Chris Paul and were willing to throw everything outside of Dirk at New Orleans in order to get him. If they were willing to do that for Paul, it has to be obvious that they would do the same for Deron Williams. He's a hometown kid and I would put him above Chris Paul in terms of being a better point guard, I would rank Deron Williams as the best point guard in the entire NBA.

The situation in Utah definitely has the potential to turn volatile. They did add Al Jefferson and Gordon Haywood (through trade and the draft, respectively) but those additions don't overpower the subtractions. Utah is a talented team and they can make the playoffs but they've clearly shown they aren't contenders to represent the West in the NBA Finals. They run into the Lakers in the playoffs and they always end up being outmatched.

Deron has given the Jazz five years and a contract extension to try to bring a title to Utah and it hasn't worked out. He could reach the point where enough is enough and he wants to try somewhere else. You can review Williams' contract situation here. By looking at that, his contract is completely done after the 2012/13 season. Now there is always the option Deron could go the Carmelo route and start pushing the issue as early as next summer. He has a player option for the 12/13 season so 2011/12 is the last guaranteed year out of the deal.

The Mavericks have really changed their mindset over the past 5-10 years with payroll. Whether you like it or not, they've put themselves in a place of financial flexibility to where they remain a viable threat in the playoffs and are prepared to pounce on an opportunistic deal if it presents itself. Around that time where this could present itself, Jason Kidd will be at the twilight of his contract and the "passing of the torch" could be made to Williams. They already have an established relationship, Kidd was a mentor to Williams and Chris Paul during the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Dirk Nowitzki will be 34-35 years old but it's highly misguided to believe that his game will truly be deteriorating at a rapid rate at that time. Dirk's game isn't dependent on athleticism and if his shooting drops a little, he will still be a well-above average shooter. He should still be able to average 23-25 points and 6-8 rebounds a game at age 34 and 35.

Williams would be 28 years old and that's definitely not old by any stretch of the imagination for the point guard. He already established himself as an elite player and has shown himself to be a player who doesn't have a terrible history with injuries, that alone can set him apart from Chris Paul. You could try to shoot down hometown theory by using Chris Bosh but it's a different set of circumstances. Bosh viewed himself and Dirk as redundant and really wasn't interested in playing the center position.

Dallas could set up contracts that help keep them competitive, bank on the development of Roddy Beaubois and hope Dominique Jones develops into a solid rotational player and line it all up to try to make this happen via a trade. They could also hope that this strategic payroll planning could allow the Mavericks to reach rarefied air where they could actually be under the salary cap and sign Williams outright. Dallas would have the hometown vibe to it, no state taxes and still offer a premiere play in Dirk Nowitzki. The change in the CBA could tweak this idea somewhat but I highly doubt it's enough to really take Dallas out of the equation.

Deron Williams in the future for the Mavericks - Foolish or the Perfect Storm?

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