With training camp opening Tuesday, here’s our last question about the upcoming Nets season.
Which version of Deron Williams will the Nets get this season?
Last season was a tale of two halves for Deron Williams.
Over the first half of the season, the Nets’ star point guard dealt with issues with both ankles and played like it, averaging 16.7 points and 7.6 assists while shooting 41 percent from the field and 34.7 percent from 3-point range over the first 50 games.
But then Williams, who received three cortisone shots last season for the ailing ankles, took off the final two games before the All-Star break in order to rest and undergo platelet-rich plasma treatment. He came back from the break having dropped close to 20 pounds in weight and with much more comfort in his ankles, and he looked like the franchise player the Nets need him to be. In 28 games after the break, Williams was spectacular, averaging 22.9 points and 8.0 assists and shooting 48.1 percent from the field and 42 percent from 3-point range.
The Nets are hoping to get that second version of Williams for the full season, after he got a chance to rest and recuperate this summer after a long 18 months in his basketball life. Williams was the only star-level player to head overseas during the lockout, when he opted to play for Turkish power Besiktas. Then he immediately returned to the Nets for the condensed, lockout-shortened 2011-12 season, which he followed by preparing for the 2012 Olympics in London, followed by returning to the Nets for training camp last fall after a very brief break.
Williams got a chance to take a much longer break this offseason, and the Nets hope that translates into him having a spring in his step, despite a recent setback of suffering a sprained right ankle and bone bruise during workouts in Utah this month. The Nets need him to be that second-half player again. For all of the talent the Nets brought in this summer — including Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Andrei Kirilenko — if they want it to be maximized, they need Williams to be at his very best.
His teammates and coaches are certainly optimistic. Pierce repeatedly has said Williams can and will be an MVP candidate this season, and both coach Jason Kidd and Williams have said getting back to double-digit assist numbers is an attainable goal.
Either way, all eyes are going to be on Williams when the Nets open their most anticipated season in team history Oct. 30 in Cleveland. With plenty of talent around him and a personal friend now serving as the team’s head coach in Kidd, everything is in place for Williams. Now it’s just up to him to do it.