Mavericks Roundtable: What to Expect from Deron Williams

TSC Roundtable: What will the Mavericks get from Deron Williams?

Deron Williams has landed in Dallas as a completely different player than when he was courted by Mark Cuban and Co. back in 2012, but on a bargain contract and out of the bright lights of New York City could D-Will revive his career and help the Mavericks stay competitive in the Western Conference?

Our staff tackles the issue:

Apr 10, 2015; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Brooklyn Nets guard Deron Williams (8) dribbles the ball between Washington Wizards forward

Otto Porter

Jr. (22), guard

Ramon Sessions

(7), forward

Drew Gooden

(90), and center

Marcin Gortat

(4) during second half at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports

With a change of scenery and a top-notch training staff do you expect a rejuvenated Deron Williams in Dallas?

Andrew Tobolowsky: I think Deron’s situation has a lot of similarities with Josh Hamilton’s, on the Rangers. Deron never had either the level of affection Rangers fans once had with Josh or the level of anger they had about how that played out…but certainly he was the focus of a lot of hope and then a lot of scorn.

For Deron, it’s about managing expectations. There’s no question that if he suits up, he’ll be the best PG the Mavs have had in years, and while his rep around the league isn’t all that much better than Rondo’s, his style of play is a lot, a lot better for what the Mavericks want to do.

Regardless of whom the Mavs start the season with, this year’s talent-poor Mavericks are probably going to need Deron to do more than he should be asked to do at this point in his career, and I don’t think he’ll do it. But, he obviously wants to be here, and at 31, he could certainly be a part of things going forward. The more the Mavs have around him, the better this signing’s going to look.

Charles Herbert: Yes, to an extent. He’ll be better than his past couple years in Brooklyn but won’t reattain the heights he reached in Utah, which should make him the best Mavs point guard since Kidd. He’ll thrive in the role Rondo faltered in last year, lining up to hit open threes on the weak side. He’s hit 42 and 45 percent on corner threes over the last two years, respectively, and I’d expect the volume to shoot up significantly. He’ll benefit from no longer having to bear so much of the burden night in, night out.

Aaron Clements: It was only 3 or 4 years ago that some would have regarded Deron Williams as the second best point guard in the game, just behind Chris Paul. Due to injuries, Williams has lost his explosiveness, but he is certainly still a great ballhandler who can drain threes and distribute efficiently.

Unlike during his tenure in Brooklyn, D-Will will not have to deal with the pressure of being a primary scorer. He’s certainly a viable option, but his role will be running the offense, facilitating the ball, and hitting perimeter shots. Expect Williams to be less of a scorer and to put up more efficient numbers. I’m expecting his role to be similar to that of Jose Calderón on the ’13-’14 Mavs (hopefully with better defense).

Kohl Rast: I find it hard to think that D-Will doesn’t do better than his run in Brooklyn. Injury issues are definitely there as is the age issue but he is just too talented to not believe he can fix his current slump. Brooklyn was not a good fit for Williams by any stretch of the imagination and they were an underachieving team from the day they made all their trades.

I think if he stays healthy (which he should with the Mavericks great training staff) he could be back in the conversation as a top tier point guard in the NBA or at least the western conference. Also, his abilities as a passer will be very helpful and I expect to see his numbers go back up to near his career average of 8.5 apg.

Isaac Harris: Rejuvenated? Yes. Top 10 PG? I don’t think so. I think he will do better than he has the past couple of years in Brooklyn for sure. As a Mavs fan, I think we will all enjoy watching him play and will probably find him better than what the rest of the league thinks because he will be our best PG since Jason Kidd.

With the league being so top heavy with star point guards, I think Deron will fall between the top 9-13 point guards this year, an upgrade for him. We seen what a Carlisle offense looks like with a non-shooting PG (Rondo) running the show; Deron’s shooting ability will fit right in. Deron Williams will have a good year.

Daniel Devine: ¯_(ツ)_/¯ I don’t know. I think his problem has always been a mix of his body being beat up and him having a lack of motivation. So if one of those two issues arise even in stretches than he’ll be the same, but it’s a nice addition either way.

Jason Lee: To say Deron will rejuvenate his career here in Dallas might be overstating things. But his price tag of ‘only’ 5 million a year seems reasonable and doesn’t come with big expectations. Dallas won’t put the same amount of pressure Deron had with huge dollars and a more limelit neighborhood in Brooklyn.

Talking about the changing scenery, we can almost be sure that D-Will’s production this season will be better than his years playing in Brooklyn. The more distributive Chandler Parsons will have the most to say about it.

With the Nets, Deron happened to share the same backcourt with Joe Johnson and while without being disrespectful to the 7-time All Star, Johnson was never the ideal fit to get along with D-Will. With the Mavs, with help from secondary ball handler Parsons and various other players who are able to make the three-point attempts count, Deron without a doubt will see his assist percentage raising higher than just 34% with the Nets.

Next: Mavericks Reserves: Who is the best of the bunch?

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