NBA Rumors: Nets May Trade Deron Williams

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Deron Williams’ trade value isn’t what it used to be, since his game has significantly declined in recent years and he had number of injuries that have limited him. Not to mention, the 29-year-old has $63 million left on his contract, so a team would be taking a big gamble that he’ll be able to turn things around and play up to his contract.

But as Beck pointed out in his article, the Houston Rockets tried to trade for Williams at this year’s trade deadline, so it’s possible that Williams does still have some interested suitors around the league. But what those teams are willing to give up for Williams and whether it would actually make the Nets better is hard to say.

This season, Williams averaged 14.3 points and 6.1 assists – his lowest numbers since his rookie season – while shooting 45 percent from the field and 36.6 percent from three-point range. In the postseason, Williams averaged 14.5 points and 5.8 assists while shooting 39.5 percent from the field and 34 percent from long distance.

Also, it remains to be seen if Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce will return to Brooklyn. Just because the Nets want to squeeze one more run out the duo doesn’t necessarily mean Garnett and Pierce will be back. Garnett has considered retirement for several years now and may decide to hang ‘em up this summer, while Pierce is an unrestricted free agent who is free to sign wherever he wants.

The Nets have $85,075,417 in guaranteed commitments for next season, so the only way they can make any big changes to the roster is through trades. Brooklyn is certainly an interesting team to watch this summer.

The Portland Trail Blazers finished fifth in the Western Conference this year with a record of 54-28. They won a thrilling first round series against the Houston Rockets, advancing to the semifinals for the first time since 2000.

There was initially some hesitation to buy into the hiring of Stotts, but he has clearly proven to be the right guy for the job. The young Trail Blazers have bought into his system, which produced a 21 win increase from last year’s 33-49 campaign. The season did end in disappointing fashion as they were handled with ease by the San Antonio Spurs, but that’s just a team at another level right now. They’re where the Blazers hope to be in the next couple of seasons.

With the extension in place, the next order of business for Blazers management is to give Stotts the necessary pieces to take that next step forward. They addressed their need at center with Robin Lopez, who proved to be the right man for the job, but the bench is still too thin – something that was greatly exposed against the Spurs.

Shaw had been mentioned as a possible candidate for the New York Knicks head coaching job now that Steve Kerr was hired by the Golden State Warriors, with a report indicating the Knicks were going to see if there was any way the Denver Nuggets would release Shaw from his contract.

However, Shaw quickly dispelled those rumors, as he wants to remain in Denver. Last season was Shaw’s first season with the Nuggets and the team went 36-46 after a number of significant players went down with injuries.

Shaw was an assistant under Phil Jackson for a number of years, and Jackson even recommended Shaw as his successor when he left the Los Angeles Lakers several years ago. But the Lakers opted to hire Mike Brown instead and Shaw went to the Indiana Pacers as an assistant coach before landing the Nuggets job last summer.

Shaw made sense as a candidate in New York given his ties to Jackson, but it doesn’t sound like something he’s considering at this point.