For about 6 years Deron Williams looked like a sure hall of famer.

[Kblaze8855]

And then just Devin Harrised his way into obscurity. Injury is usually the listed reason but he never played less than 64 games. He didnt have some single catastrophic injury...just nagging things that gradually took a toll I guess. He doesnt seem bothered....



Williams is a free agent. He's not retired, but he's not necessarily looking either. Caught somewhere between anxiety and indifference, the 33-year-old three-time All-Star is experiencing his first fall in over a decade without an NBA team to report to.

He combats his new reality by staying busy. Prior to opening night, he had just returned to Dallas from a golf trip in Monterey, California. He has gone back and forth between his homes in Texas and the place in Park City, Utah, close to where his NBA career began.

"I love the outdoors. I love to golf. It has great golf in the summer," Williams said of maintaining a home in Utah. "My family loves to ski. I've never skied, but now that I'm not playing, I would want to try skiing."

He also monitors and manages his multiple business ventures, from his upscale MMA gym in Dallas, Fortis MMA, to his stake in Rockwell Watches, to his real estate properties. The singer Adele recently rented the gargantuan Tribeca rooftop condo he owns and lived in during his tenure with the Brooklyn Nets, according to Elle Decor's Kelsey Kloss. Every week or so, Deron records an MMA/sports podcast called Ballers and Brawlers with two friends he made during his Utah days.




So I guess hes ok....but shit. That guy was supposed to be just now winding down his career. 10 years ago the ISH braintrust was saying hed have a better career than Paul partly because he was bigger and tougher while Paul was going through injuries. Would be nice to see even Nets Deron in the league that we have right now. Wasnt long ago but the changes are clear.

Utah Deron would be nearly unstoppable now.


Nobody would complain about this:


https://thumbs.gfycat.com/DiscreteChiefAmericanshorthair-size_restricted.gif





Which was still a little frowned upon 10 years ago unless you were against the clock. You can come down and do that with 20 seconds on the clock 3 plays in a row now and nobody bats an eye even if you miss 2-3 of them.

He had a year in Utah playing all 82 games....playing more minutes a game than anyone played last year...and took 213 threes(despite shooting 40% on them). Same as Mudiay took in 57 games(42 starts) playing 27 minutes last year....and Mudiay kinda....cant shoot.


Im not sure Deron wasnt a bigger loss than Brandon Roy...just wasnt so tragically sudden to get noticed.

I was about to say he was born 5 years too early and could be a 220 million dollar player in his prime now but I see he made 150 for his career already...so **** Deron Williams.

He got what he needed out of the game I suppose.

[RoseCity07]

He was never better than Chris Paul at any point in his career. However, there were a couple years he was really great.

It's just that Utah never actually went anywhere with him. I think it was more that Boozer limited their potential. It is kind of weird how his career flamed out.

[ImKobe]

He was going toe-to-toe with Chris Paul and always seemed to beat/outplay him head-to-head and led a team to the WCF with Carlos Boozer as his 2nd option as a sophomore. After that he kept running into Kobe's Lakers for 3 straight years so of course they lost those because Lakers had the better roster and coach.

He didn't have an achilles or ACL injury but his ankles gave up on him. He had surgery on his ankle and then kept re-injuring it, 2013 is when it completely caught up to him, he didn't look the same in the Playoffs against Chicago and looked finished in 2014.

[Kblaze8855]

It's just that Utah never actually went anywhere with him. I think it was more that Boozer limited their potential.

Im not a Boozer guy really but I think he caught too much flack for those teams failures. And stuff like this:



He was going toe-to-toe with Chris Paul and always seemed to beat/outplay him head-to-head and led a team to the WCF with Carlos Boozer as his 2nd option as a sophomore.


When Boozer put up 24/12 to Derons 19/9 those playoffs and Deron got destroyed by Baron Davis in the second round but Boozer killed the Warriors small ball inside to get them to the WCF. He was nice when they got the WCF vs the Spurs but Boozer got them there. Deron had 2 points on 1-11 shooting with 7 assists and 5 turnovers the game they eliminated the Warriors. The Jazz frontcourt won that series but even then people were arguing he was better than Paul because he made the WCF when he played like shit getting there.

One of the first times I was in utter disbelief at how stupid people seemed to be over results. Its like....it couldnt compute that he could play worse than Paul but make it to the conference finals. As if they didnt watch him do nothing....and be carried by Boozer.

Boozer wasnt great....but he was waaaaaaaaaaay better vs the Warriors that year than Dirk was. He was too physical for them. Boozer and Fisher put the Warriors down and people straight up acted like Deron should have been ranked over Paul because of it. Real facepalming situation.

Dont get me wrong....id rather have Deron Williams than Carlos Boozer....im just saying....Carlos went to work those playoffs. He went in to close out the Rockets too and all anyone wanted to talk about was Deron.

[ImKobe]

Im not a Boozer guy really but I think he caught too much flack for those teams failures. And stuff like this:





When Boozer put up 24/12 to Derons 19/9 those playoffs and Deron got destroyed by Baron Davis in the second round but Boozer killed the Warriors small ball inside to get them to the WCF. He was nice when they got the WCF vs the Spurs but Boozer got them there. Deron had 2 points on 1-11 shooting with 7 assists and 5 turnovers the game they eliminated the Warriors. The Jazz frontcourt won that series but even then people were arguing he was better than Paul because he made the WCF when he played like shit getting there.

One of the first times I was in utter disbelief at how stupid people seemed to be over results. Its like....it couldnt compute that he could play worse than Paul but make it to the conference finals. As if they didnt watch him do nothing....and be carried by Boozer.

Boozer wasnt great....but he was waaaaaaaaaaay better vs the Warriors that year than Dirk was. He was too physical for them. Boozer and Fisher put the Warriors down and people straight up acted like Deron should have been ranked over Paul because of it. Real facepalming situation.

Dont get me wrong....id rather have Deron Williams than Carlos Boozer....im just saying....Carlos went to work those playoffs. He went in to close out the Rockets too and all anyone wanted to talk about was Deron.

Yeah but the Jazz were up 3 - 1 with Deron playing well in the first 4 games but I'd more so look at the first round win against Houston, where they were down 2 - 3 and had to win a Game 7 on the road. No doubt Boozer put up more points but Deron was constantly seeing double teams and made great plays to set his teammates up with open shots, he didn't hold onto the ball as much as CP3.

Game 7 vs Houston

Deron 20 pts 14 assists 4 TO 7/13 +13
Boozer 35 pts 14 rebounds 4 TO 13/23 -3
Derek Fisher 7 pts 3 ast 3/5 -23

You can go look at the 4th quarter and see Deron drawing and passing out of double teams to find Boozer inside or Okur for the big 3-pointer.

[Kblaze8855]

He played fine. He just wasnt outplaying Boozer those playoffs. He was Boozers second option but Boozers game wasnt pretty enough to get attention. The guy with the crossover is always going to get more love from fans than the guy playing bully ball and making ugly shotput midrange jumpers.

[Kblaze8855]

http://insidehoops.com/forum/showthread.php?t=61342



^

Read that topic if youre bored and want a laugh. Its about how Deron was gonna win 07 MVP and was the best point since Stockton.

[theballerFKA Ace]

He was going toe-to-toe with Chris Paul and always seemed to beat/outplay him head-to-head and led a team to the WCF with Carlos Boozer as his 2nd option as a sophomore.

He flat out destroyed CP3 in their head to head matchups the first 5 years. I honestly thought he was going to be the better player between him and Paul. Deron could do pretty much everything CP3 could but was taller, bigger and stronger. I was wrong. It was right around the time DWill started fighting with Sloan that I finally had to admit to myself CP3 was the better player.

[Kblaze8855]

He flat out destroyed CP3 in their head to head matchups the first 5 years. I honestly thought he was going to be the better player between him and Paul. Deron could do pretty much everything CP3 could but was taller, bigger and stronger. I was wrong. It was right around the time DWill started fighting with Sloan that I finally had to admit to myself CP3 was the better player.



He did spark some decent discussions on what it means to be better than someone. I maintain that it doesnt matter who you can outplay individually if the other guy plays better vs the league youre in.....but personally? Id feel bad about it. If someone outplays you all the time it feels like they are better...even if they outplay you vs other people.

[iamgine]

Would it be fair to put him as Mike Conley/Kemba Walker level player?

[Kblaze8855]

Naaah.

Step up from there. Lilliard level but obviously different.

[red1]

deron williams was a complete beast good to see he's doing well. never understood the exact reason for his decline either we were obviously wrong but I was another one of those guys he was better than cp3.

[superduper]

I don't know man.. something about Deron's game... he was more flash and less substance to me. Always seemed overrated.

[wang4three]

As an Illini fan, I'll always love Deron.. despite not meeting expectations for the Nets.

I loved his high dribble, he always toyed with people and there was a moment where as soon as someone reached on him, he knew he could blow by them. The guy had it all, heck, he went to score 50 pts in the Turkish league during the lockout season.

I truly think New Jersey/Brooklyn was just never for him. One of his primary homes in Utah is very telling for his personality. Just a low-key guy that probably loved basketball, but never intended to make it his sole focus in life. Happy he's doing well and is providing for his.

[Smoke117]

Deron Williams was always overrated. That there people who thought he was on the level of or better than Paul was laughable. He put up similar box score numbers, but the impact was miles apart as advanced stats show. He was a system player while CP3 was the system. You put him on those 08, 09 Hornet teams and they would have been winning 30 games. Deron Williams career high in bpm is 3.5 while Pauls lowest was just this season at 3.0. Before this season his lowest was the year he got injured in 2010 at 4.9. In his best season he had an absurd 11.2. Deron Williams has 23.8 vorp for his career while Paul has 78.3. He surpasses Williams career in vorp just from his first four seasons. Anyone who actually thought Williams was better than Paul knows absolutely nothing about basketball, period.

Also, Brandon Roy was a much better player than Deron Williams. He was a much bigger loss. Williams needed Sloane's system.

[jbryan1984]

I remember being so excited when the Cavs got him. On paper, that 2017 team was far better than our 2016 team that won the title. Then I was disappointed once I saw him play. Not sure what happened.

[warriorfan]

Damn he

[Kblaze8855]

He turned 35 a couple months ago. That article is from a while back.

[Duncan21formvp]

Once he left Jerry Sloan that was it for him it seems.

[superduper]

I remember being so excited when the Cavs got him. On paper, that 2017 team was far better than our 2016 team that won the title. Then I was disappointed once I saw him play. Not sure what happened.

Bran ball

[Im so nba'd out]

He was better than Cp3 + JKidd in the 08 Olympics...i'll never forget how good he was....He was never overrated in his prime. He just fell off during his Brooklyn years over losing confidence.

[AirTupac]

Deron was INDEED better than CP3 at one point. Although the retarded fans (who are now Harden type fans thought differently).

[Stringer Bell]

http://insidehoops.com/forum/showthread.php?t=61342



^

Read that topic if youre bored and want a laugh. Its about how Deron was gonna win 07 MVP and was the best point since Stockton.

OP was cringeworthy and deserves to be laughed at

[ILLsmak]

this forum, so sticky...

-Smak

[insidehoops]

D-Will for a stretch on the jazz was probably my favorite PG in the league. For a little while.

[ILLsmak]

D-Will for a stretch on the jazz was probably my favorite PG in the league. For a little while.

stretchy, sticky.

DWill was a beast.

-Smak

[Lebron23]

D-Will for a stretch on the jazz was probably my favorite PG in the league. For a little while.

Do you think he'll be a hall of famer??

[Xiao Yao You]

Do you think he'll be a hall of famer??

He shouldn't be. Should have his number in the rafters here and might now that Sloan and the owners are gone

[rawimpact]

Do you think he'll be a hall of famer??

Absolutely not. He accomplished nothing, not even when he went ring chasing he failed to perform to even his regular season standard. Dwill lost his will.

[L.Kizzle]

Would it be fair to put him as Mike Conley/Kemba Walker level player?
He was better than them.

[Xiao Yao You]

He was better than them.

debatable. Conley plays both ends. Deron didn't

[L.Kizzle]

Do you think he'll be a hall of famer??
Nah. I mean put Terry Porter and Gilbert Arenas is Deron makes it.
He's not Timmy, Penny, Mark P, Chauncey, KJ level where they have a shot.
Rondo would have a better shot at Hall of Fame.

[Xiao Yao You]

Nah. I mean put Terry Porter and Gilbert Arenas is Deron makes it.
He's not Timmy, Penny, Mark P, Chauncey, KJ level where they have a shot.
Rondo would have a better shot at Hall of Fame.

Mitchell is supposedly a HOFer so Deron is if he is

[L.Kizzle]

debatable. Conley plays both ends. Deron didn't
Definitely not debatable and I like Mike C.
Lillard don't play both ends either, is him vs Mike debatable as well?

[L.Kizzle]

Mitchell is supposedly a HOFer so Deron is if he is
Who is Mitchell? Mitchell Richmond?

[Xiao Yao You]

Who is Mitchell? Mitchell Richmond?

Donovan. The best player in Jazz history!

[L.Kizzle]

Donovan. The best player in Jazz history!
Oh. That's news to me. Congratulations Donovan!

[FKAri]

Injury affected his mobility and athleticism. One also wonders what kind of work he put in once it became clear he needed to be more meticulous about taking care of his body. As a big guard the drop off was enough to put him just below a certain threshold of what he was able to do on the court. He was one of the most talented PGs of his generation otherwise.

[Kblaze8855]

Mitchell is supposedly a HOFer so Deron is if he is


Same situation. Obviously HOF play that may or may not last long enough.

[FKAri]

Same situation. Obviously HOF play that may or may not last long enough.

What even is HOF level play? There's a guy in the HOF for being a regular and consistent season ticker holder.

[L.Kizzle]

What even is HOF level play? There's a guy in the HOF for being a regular and consistent season ticker holder.
He's obviously not in the Hall for his on court play then.

[tontoz]

Yeah don't know what happened with him. Maybe he just got paid and lost the desire.

I'll never forget that draft. I was living in Atlanta and the Hawks had the 2nd pick in the draft. They desperately needed a pg. With CP3 and Deron available they took Marvin Williams. :facepalm

[Kblaze8855]

They took a tweener forward when they had Josh Smith, Al Harrington, and Josh Childress....skipping Paul and Deron when 44 year old Tyronn Lue and 56 year old Kenny Anderson were the points. Worst example ever of drafting for talent over need(at least they thought so).

[HBK_Kliq_2]

Around 2007-10 he did look like arguably the best point guard in the league.

Then he was never the same. Strange career. Probably had something to do with going from a great coach like jerry Sloan to horrible coaches like avery Johnson and Jason Kidd + injuries.

[Xiao Yao You]

Around 2007-10 he did look like arguably the best point guard in the league.

Then he was never the same. Strange career. Probably had something to do with going from a great coach like jerry Sloan to horrible coaches like avery Johnson and Jason Kidd + injuries.

He was never better than Paul. Jazz blew it

[Kblaze8855]

Deron with another example of why youth is wasted on the young….

Kinda admits he was childish on the jazz but knows better now:




.“Our relationship was definitely strained at the end,” admitted the Jazz star. “I think I held onto that rookie year, not starting — how he didn’t really play me, and would play me a couple of minutes here. I think I took that personally for a while when I was younger and kind of held that grudge. So, I think that affected me a little bit.”

“I was definitely a little s*** at times — a little prima donna. I also, I knew how coach Sloan was, and I think I kind of would poke the bear just to see his reactions, too. It was kind of like a little back and forth thing; s*** that I definitely wouldn’t do now, knowing what I know now. But I always respected coach Sloan; I learned a lot from him. My best years were definitely in Utah. I got a lot of love and respect for him as a coach and as a person.”

[Kblaze8855]

We all learn as we age so I’m not like calling him out. Just saying….

You can **** up so much just being young and dumb.

[tpols]

Sloan is a GOAT coach. He's probably largely responsible for Stockton as well.

[tpols]

On jerry sloan.



Born and raised in Gobbler's Knob, Illinois, 15 miles (24 km) south of McLeansboro, Illinois,[4] Sloan was the youngest of 10 children and was raised by a single mother after his father died when Jerry was 4 years old. He would wake up at 4:30 a.m. to do farm chores and then walk almost two miles to get to school in time for 7 a.m. basketball practice. Sloan graduated an all-state player from McLeansboro High School in 1960.[5]


Imagine beefing with that guy.

[SaintzFury13]

I never saw Deron Williams as the kind of guy you could rely upon as your best player to take your team all the way, even though he did a pretty good job with the Jazz. Unless you are a truly special point guard player, like Chris Paul, a PG is just not meant to be that guy. Yes, Deron usually fared well against Paul in their match ups, but Deron was never the defender that Paul was and Paul was always much better at running an offense. Deron could get you open looks and was a great passer but Paul was just an incredible floor general. There are few in the game who are better at executing plays than him.

But the upside with a guy like Williams was that he didn't need to have the ball in his hands to be effective. He was a good spot up shooter and knew how to play off the ball. He would've been the perfect second option but a guy like Boozer isn't meant to be the first option in that scenario, which he was in those first few years of Deron's career.

[tpols]

I never saw Deron Williams as the kind of guy you could rely upon as your best player to take your team all the way, even though he did a pretty good job with the Jazz. Unless you are a truly special point guard player, like Chris Paul, a PG is just not meant to be that guy. Yes, Deron usually fared well against Paul in their match ups, but Deron was never the defender that Paul was and Paul was always much better at running an offense. Deron could get you open looks and was a great passer but Paul was just an incredible floor general. There are few in the game who are better at executing plays than him.

But the upside with a guy like Williams was that he didn't need to have the ball in his hands to be effective. He was a good spot up shooter and knew how to play off the ball. He would've been the perfect second option but a guy like Boozer isn't meant to be the first option in that scenario, which he was in those first few years of Deron's career.


Proof you never watched Deron Williams.

He literally was only effective with his high dribble crossover between the legs PnR style.


https://youtu.be/jcK_X8UyyXw

Dwill was the furthest thing from being good as an off ball player.

[SaintzFury13]

Proof you never watched Deron Williams.

He literally was only effective with his high dribble crossover between the legs PnR style.


https://youtu.be/jcK_X8UyyXw

Dwill was the furthest thing from being good as an off ball player.

:roll: dumbass. A good chunk of his points came from playing off the ball.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtcSThEhAPw

Don't waste my time. Talking to you is the equivalent of talking to a snail.

[tpols]

Prime D-Will was a high dribble crossover player. Everybody whoever saw him knows this.

You may as well tell us Shaq was a 3pt shooter or Reggie Miller was a post player.

[Jasper]

back in the day D-will was my favorite PG over everyone.
However there was most definitely a riff between him and Sloan , and he booked out of there for Jersy.
IMO it was the start of D-Will's down spilling career... ankle injury , and then lost a step... and then done.
Utah , should of bent over backwards to retain him , and mend fences between him and Sloan.
Never - expected him from Illinois to come out and be a PG as a pro , with handles and team control .

[bobopenguin]

i loved dwill, but his immaturity feud with sloan destroyed his career.
he was a great player, but he was also a system player.

[SaintzFury13]

Prime D-Will was a high dribble crossover player. Everybody whoever saw him knows this.

You may as well tell us Shaq was a 3pt shooter or Reggie Miller was a post player.

I never said he wasn't. But he knew how to play off the ball and did it frequently.

Stop pretending you know the sport of basketball.

[ErhnamDjinn]

Yeah don't know what happened with him. Maybe he just got paid and lost the desire.

I'll never forget that draft. I was living in Atlanta and the Hawks had the 2nd pick in the draft. They desperately needed a pg. With CP3 and Deron available they took Marvin Williams. :facepalm

Damn ouch

[jlip]

Just saw this meme and it made me think of this thread.

https://scontent.fmem1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/244523799_5191195407575608_1376424436457920365_n.j pg?_nc_cat=1&ccb=1-5&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=slsEoSwC7MkAX9CM2Nx&_nc_ht=scontent.fmem1-1.fna&oh=99f18fe29a910953fc362399cbdf93b4&oe=61908460

[Kblaze8855]

Well he’s about to fight Frank Gore to the death. He’s been into mma for years so maybe he’s found something that makes him happy.

[Bronbron23]

Well he’s about to fight Frank Gore to the death. He’s been into mma for years so maybe he’s found something that makes him happy.

Watching now. He's not an amazing fighter but he dosn't suck. Better than nate forsure

[k0kakw0rld]

My favorite player when he was in the league