The Dallas Mavericks were spurned at the altar by Clippers center DeAndre Jordan, throwing their entire offseason into purgatory. Now with a healthy amount of cap room to spend, and not many quality free agents remaining to lavish it upon, the Mavericks are trying to shore up their point guard situation.
According to reports, the Mavericks are eyeing a homecoming for Brooklyn Nets point guard Deron Williams, whose career with the Nets has been marred by injuries and poor play. "It's 60 to 70 percent that [Williams] winds up in Dallas," one source told ESPN.
Williams has two more seasons on his contract at $21 million and $22 million; Brooklyn would prefer to negotiate a buyout with him rather than outright releasing him, and they've expressed reluctance to use their stretch provision on him to lessen his luxury tax hit.
Brooklyn has actively shopped Williams, but found few takers. He had often been linked to the Sacramento Kings, but they moved to sign Rajon Rondo to a one-year deal. The Charlotte Hornets had been in the market for another guard, but made a deal with Jeremy Lin. Elsewhere, teams are seeing Williams' contract as too onerous to take on.
As a Net Williams field goal percentage has dropped by nearly 50 points, his scoring has gone down slightly, and so have his assists. He has not averaged double-digit assists with the Nets since his first run in half the 2010-11 season. Last season was Williams' first in which he posted a field goal percentage less than 40 percent.
Williams was courted heavily by the Mavericks in 2012 before he re-upped with the Nets. He was famously miffed that Mark Cuban chose to film an episode of the hit CNBC show Shark Tank rather than meet with him in person. Presumably, all that is now water under the bridge.
[ESPN]
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