It's like the Tennessee Titans all over again! First it was Jerry Sloan, now it's Deron Williams. The all star point guard becomes the latest superstar to get moved before the NBA trade deadline getting shipped off to New Jersey for Devin Harris, rookie Derrick Favors and a pair of first round draft picks. I honestly did not see this one coming. After Jerry Sloan stepped down, apparently due in no small part to his relationship with Williams, I really thought that Utah was going to be HIS team moving forward. Apparently not.
I think it's an interesting move for the Jazz. They lose their franchise player, but they replace him with Devin Harris who's averaged 15 points and 7.6 assists as the Nets starting point guard this year. It's a drop off, but it's not like Devin Harris is Bryce Drew or Matt Maloney; he is a respectable point guard. They also get Derrick Favors, the 3rd overall pick in the 2010 draft. At 6'10" and only 19 years old he's a nice piece to have. And they also get two draft picks and $3M. So despite losing Williams and his 21.3 points and 9.7 assists, they don't do too bad here. And if Williams wasn't planning on resigning with the Jazz, then it makes terrific sense to move him vice getting nothing for him. The real question is can the Jazz still be a playoff team in the West with Harris for Williams? They're not playing great right now, 0-3 since Sloan stepped down, and own just a half game lead over Memphis right now for the 8th and final playoff spot. We'll see...
Now is Deron Williams going to make the Nets a competitor? Not this year. The Nets are 17-40. They're not going anywhere right now, I don't care who they trade for. What this move does for New Jersey though is give them a franchise player to build around and hopefully be able to draw in some free agent talent next season. It will be interesting to see what New Jersey can do moving forward.
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