The Nets may reach into their past to aid their present and future.
Buck Williams, the greatest power forward in the history of the franchise, is being considered for a multi-pronged position with the team with duties including player development plus sponsorship and community relations, according to several league sources.
“We’ve talked about it but it’s certainly not a done deal,” said one member of the team’s hierarchy. “We’d love to have him and could use him in a million ways. There’s no real job description as such but Buck could be [utilized] in player development, with sponsorships, with community relations.
“It is something that has been discussed and we’ll likely talk about it again,” the team employee said.
The addition of Williams could serve as a bridge from Brooklyn back to New Jersey, helping the Nets to reconnect with some of their former season-ticket holders.
Williams, 54, played eight seasons with the Nets in New Jersey and made five straight trips to the playoffs from 1982-86 before suffering through some of the franchise’s most tortured campaigns. A three-time All-Star, Williams originally was the No. 3 overall pick out of Maryland in the 1981 draft and made an immediate impact as he won the Rookie of the Year Award. Williams and Derrick Coleman (1991) are the only Nets ever to win Rookie of the Year.
Before his trade to the Trail Blazers in 1989 for Sam Bowie and a first-round pick, which translated into Mookie Blaylock, Williams became a fixture atop the Nets’ all-time lists.
For his eight seasons of work, Williams remains the Nets’ all-time leader in games played (635), points (10,440), rebounds (7,576), field goals (3,981) and free throws (2,476) and ranks second in blocked shots (696).
Williams played in two NBA Finals with Portland, losing to the Pistons in 1990 and the Bulls in 1992. For his Nets career, he averaged 16.4 points and 11.9 rebounds.