As we've all been saying, he's an official article about it:
D'Alessandro: With Deron Williams on board, Nets trying to build a winner
Published: Thursday, April 14, 2011, 5:00 AM Updated: Thursday, April 14, 2011, 11:38 AM
Dave D'Alessandro/Star-Ledger Columnist
You may have read a while back that Deron Williams — apparently eager to surpass his monthly quota of stress dreams and brain cramps — spends a fair amount of time playing Amateur General Manager.
There’s nothing complicated about it: The point guard pokes at his cell phone, calls or texts Billy King, and lets the Nets’ real GM know what he likes or doesn’t like about such-and-such a player.
Sometimes they meet in person for such discussions — there was a “long and productive” sit-down in London last month, then another a few weeks later in D.C. — but King usually comes away with the same feeling: The new guy sounds more invested in the Nets’ future all the time.
“We’ll have a really good talk (about personnel), and then he’ll text me to follow up, or ask about another guy’s contract situation,” King said Wednesday, as he wandered the corridors of United Center in Chicago, where the Nets concluded their season Wednesday night.
“Lately we talk more about his wrist, and finding a place for him to live. But he’ll call or text. No, it’s never like, ‘I want this guy or I’m outta here.’ It’s more about staying on the same page.”
There’s nothing unique about this, of course. King already has a perfect sounding board in the objective and savvy Bobby Marks (assistant GM), but D-Will’s influence is worth noting because, as King says, “he is very interested in every plan we’re putting in place.”
So much that the presiding GM is going to make very sure that his franchise guy is with him on every move?
“Oh, yeah,” King replied. “It would be foolish on my part to make any decision and then have him say, ‘That guy you brought in — I don’t really like him.’ So Avery (Johnson) and I have a good feeling for Deron’s likes and dislikes.”
So now we get to watch how the point guard’s predilection — his whims and his deep thoughts and miscalculations — play out on paper.
And, as the background music, the Nets hope Williams remains just as invested every day until July 18, 2012, the first day he can sign a contract extension.
For now, we know this much: They may have just gone 24-58, but the Nets proved they can compete with anybody as long as Williams has two healthy wrists.
We also know the endgame — it’s about having a Deron Williams/Dwight Howard foundation heading into Brooklyn. There’s a dual sales job to be done before that can happen, of course: Sell the point guard on staying, sell Superman on moving north in the summer of 2012.
So this summer, they build the Bridge to Dwight.
It will be challenging. Agent Dan Fegan, vulpine genius, probably will squeeze King for 3/30 or 4/36 for Humphries — because a $9 million-$10 million average for a double-double guy isn’t so far-fetched. It seems unlikely the Nets will ever go that high for a one-year wonder (Jamie Feick
flashbacks, anyone?), even if Hump was their MVP this season.
So one task for King and Co. may be to find a cost-effective alternative at the power forward, someone who won’t clog the cap in 2012. The second job is to find a pair of fleet-footed wing-walkers for Williams.
Sure, you may deride the plan, but if you don’t think King can pull it off, maybe you’ve forgotten what’s happened in the past 12 months.
Exactly one year ago, the Nets were resting in a 12-70 ditch; Rod Thorn was plotting his exit strategy; the coach’s office was vacant; they had grown used to playing in front of a yawning chorus of 2,000 people in East Rutherford; their most promising building block was a misfit named Terrence Williams; they were resting most of their summer hopes on John Wall and LeBron James; the Board of Governors had yet to approve of an ownership transfer; there were still condos on Pacific Street standing in the arena footprint in Flatbush, and most of us had long concluded that — oh, dear diary — the last spark of divinity had been extinguished forever.
Now, at least they are on the verge of being interesting.
The mandate for the 2010-11 season was to acquire a franchise player, grow the young guys, and have a bankroll of $18 million-$21 million for each of the next two summers, as they do now.
For lack of a more thoughtful homily, we offer this: Mission accomplished.
The final year in Jersey might actually be worth watching, if King reshuffles the deck as skillfully as he did this year. That’s more than you would have expected a year ago. And if the present ascent results in a playoff berth next season, you can credit the Nets’ personnel experts. All of them.
This article has a lot of important information in it.
1) Like I said before, D-Will is basically our new GM for this offseason.
2) For anyone who thought Hump is getting about $5 mill, your dreams have probably been smashed. S9-10 million per season? Not for me! I didn't know that his agent was Dan Fegan. In the world of NBA agents, there are 5-6 big agents that are known for getting their players paid: Arn Tellem,
Jeff Schwartz, Dan Fegan, Rob Pelinka, Mark Bartelstein, Leon Rose, and Bill Duffy. Unfortunately, for us we're about to get into negotiations with one of them. But as the article suggets, if Hump is really going to ask for that much, we need to find a cheaper replacement.
3) We need to invite D-Will to join us at RealGm.com to help him out lol! Anyone have his email address or phone number?
Btw, I love the part of the article that says:
"We’ll have a really good talk (about personnel), and then he’ll text me to follow up, or ask about another guy’s contract situation,” King said Wednesday, as he wandered the corridors of United Center in Chicago, where the Nets concluded their season Wednesday night."
We know exactly who they're referring to! D-Will is asking BK, "when is Outlaw's deal done", BK says, "4 more seasons", and D-Will then proceeds to scream yell every expletive in the book. If there is any way to get Outlaw off of this team, I guarantee BK and D-Will will try to find every single way possible that makes sense.
