Could Deron Williams be a fit with the Detroit Pistons? Can the Pistons even afford Williams? Does Williams even want to leave the Dallas Mavericks? Are the Mavericks interested in bringing him back? There are a lot of layers to the potential pairing.
Could Deron Williams join the Detroit Pistons? Would Williams want to join the Pistons? Would the Pistons consider Williams? Can the Pistons afford Williams?
There are a lot of questions regarding the related issues. Let’s sort this out.
Does Williams fit the Pistons, and do the Pistons fit Williams?
He does. Undoubtedly.
The Pistons would get a veteran point guard who would thrive in the second unit. He wouldn’t be asked to play starter minutes every night which could be appealing to him given that he hasn’t been able to play more than 78 games once in his last eight seasons. (His next closest season-high games played is 65 during that span).
By playing less minutes, it stands to reason that Williams would be fresher and that in turn could result in more games played during the season.
In terms of ability, Williams still has a lot to offer–this wouldn’t be a Steve Blake situation, where Blake was asked to play about twice as many minutes as he was probably capable of. While no spring chicken, Williams has a lot of good basketball left.
What would it take to sign Williams?
Williams is looking for his last “big deal”. The Pistons could offer him that if he was the only player that they prioritized in free agency. With the Pistons looking to add at least one guard and one to two big men, the team may not want to throw all of their eggs in one basket, but the value he would add to Detroit may be worth it.
Is Williams available?
Let’s go to ESPN for this one.
"DALLAS — Deron Williams intends to opt out of the second season of his contract with the Dallas Mavericks, sources told ESPN.com.Williams, who could have made $5.6 million next season, plans to seek a multi-year deal that could be the final contract of his career, the sources said. There will be mutual interest in his return to Dallas after he averaged 14.1 points and 5.8 assists this season."
To answer the above question, sort of. Here’s what Williams had to say about a return to Dallas:
"“I would love to be back,” Williams said during exit interviews this week. “This was a great year for me. My family is settled and happy here, so it’d definitely be great to be back.”"
It sounds like Williams has his heart set on Dallas, but I’m not sure that the fit makes sense anymore. Both Dirk Nowitzki and Chandler Parsons opted out of their contracts. Nowitzki is likely to re-sign, but only if the Mavericks don’t go full-fledged rebuild. With Parsons seemingly wanting to leave Dallas, I don’t know how you could qualify Dallas’ position as anything other than a rebuild.
Dirk may or may not stay. And Williams hasn’t said anything about Dallas other than wanting to return–the team’s position as non-title contender may not be an issue to him, which makes his side of the reunion even more likely.
But does Dallas really want to hover around mediocrity? Dirk can’t lead a team by himself anymore and re-signing Williams may put them right in the middle of the pack again. I think the best thing for Dallas might be letting both players go off and find a better situation while the team rebuilds.
Does that happen? Who knows. I do think both Dirk and Mark Cuban want him to retire a Maverick, which could ultimately persuade the team to re-sign Williams to prevent a full-fledged rebuild, despite Dallas not having the funds to add a whole lot else to the team.
Williams to the Pistons is a long-shot. There’s no guarantee that Williams is really going to sign with another team, and to muddy it up even further, there’s no guarantee that he would be willing to take a back up role with the few quality years he has left on a team that likely isn’t going to contend for the title next season.
Next: Pistons still on track to max out Andre Drummond
But the Pistons are young and could be in the championship mix in the next three years. The pitch to come be a part of that could ultimately sway Williams to signing with the Pistons.
My final thoughts on the matter (regardless if I think it’s the right thing to do for the Mavericks): Williams remains in Dallas.
But who knows?