Marc Stein of ESPN reports:
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New Jersey Nets point guard Deron Williams has chosen to sign with Jeff Schwartz as his new agent, according to sources with knowledge of the decision.
Williams recently parted ways with longtime agent Bob McLaren, who primarily works with Major League Baseball clients.
The decision to sign with Schwartz’s Excel Sports Management means that the top three free agents in the summer of 2012 will all be represented by different agents. Orlando’s Dwight Howard is represented by Dan Fegan, New Orleans’ Chris Paul signed with Leon Rose last summer and now Williams is aligning with Schwartz, whose client roster includes top veterans Paul Pierce, Jason Kidd, Tyson Chandler and Lamar Odom, as well as young stars Blake Griffin and Kevin Love.
That variety contrasts sharply with the NBA’s last free-agent bonanza in the summer of 2010, when the agents representing LeBron James (Rose), Dwayne Wade (Henry Thomas) and Chris Bosh (Thomas) both worked under the same Creative Artists Agency banner. James, Wade and Bosh, of course, eventually joined forces in Miami in July 2010.
InsideHoops.com editor says: Whether D-Will stays with the Nets or not depends almost entirely on the roster makeup at the time. If one year from now the Nets have landed a real baller or two alongside D-Will and there’s a legitimate reason for him to believe that if he sticks around, the Nets will someday be a real contender in the playoffs, then I think he re-signs. But if a year from now, D-Will’s teammates are Brook Lopez and a lot of bench players or lower-tier starters who have limited upside, I think he opts out and possibly leaves.
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