Hell Go Here Come: The Nets
To put the recent Utah Jazz events in context it’s important to first remember this fact: when Jerry Sloan became Jazz coach in 1988, Deron Williams was 4 years old. Now after five years together, both men are no long part of the Utah Jazz, and while Williams had by far the shorter tenure with the team, his departure is arguably just as much of a shocker as Sloan’s.
The Jazz’s decision to trade Deron Williams to the NJ Nets is only a slightly less bizarre decision than the Nets move to get him.
Let’s put it this way, when I was recently trying to pick out a game to go to, there was no motivation to rush out and see Deron Williams play. Look, I think Williams is a great player, but he doesn’t sell tickets.
Ok, winning sells tickets and Deron Williams has been on a winning team throughout his NBA career. As currently constituted, can you really make an argument that Williams will bring that many more wins to the Nets to generate a significant enough boost in ticket sales?
I didn’t think so.
The closest comparison would be the impact that Jason Kidd had on the Nets franchise earlier in this decade. But Kidd was one of the most exciting point guards in the league, and the Nets had in Richard Jefferson & Kerry Kittles players who could run, catch & dunk Kidd’s famous allley-oops. A lumbering Brook Lopez doesn’t offer the same kind of promise.
Ok, Williams is a marquee PG who will lure other free agents to Brooklyn. Really now? Could you really see Dwight Howard giving up the sunshine & tax-relief of Orlando to play in Brooklyn? Especially when he could lure Chris Paul and some frontline help on his own? Who precisely are these free-agents that the Nets think they’ll bring in? Jamal Crawford?
If you haven’t noticed, I don’t like this trade for the Nets at all.
On the flipside, I love it for the Utah Jazz. They get a top-15 point guard in Devin Harris who’s played in the NBA Finals, they get a recent lottery pick in Derrick Favors, plus two additional draft pick, and what are the odds that neither the Nets and Warriors will be in the lottery in the next three years.
Oh, and let us not forget that they also have Andrei Kirienko’s expiring contract to play with too.
The Jazz got the same package the Nets were offering for Carmelo Anthony while sparing themselves the Melodrama. If you were to tell me a year ago that Utah would get a better deal for Williams than Cleveland, Toronto, Phoenix and arguably Denver got for their stars COMBINED, I would’ve thought you were smoking.
Now, does this trade make Utah better than the Lakers, Spurs, OKC or Dallas right now. Hell no. But if I am a Utah fan, I feel pretty good in the direction that my team is headed right about now.