BOSTON — Deron Williams continued his slow march toward returning to the floor Wednesday, participating fully in shootaround and even talking about asking for minutes in the Nets’ preseason finale Friday in Miami.
But before the Nets’ 101-97 preseason loss to the Celtics Wednesday night at TD Garden, coach Jason Kidd laid out what he expects from Williams whenever he returns to the floor after fully recovering from his sprained right ankle.
After the acquisitions the Nets made this summer, adding Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Jason Terry and Andrei Kirilenko, among others, the mandate from one point guard to another was clear: for Williams to return to being considered among the game’s elite.
“I think he got off to a slow start, we all know that, at the beginning of the season [last year],” Kidd said. “But the way he ended the season? It just shows that he can get into that conversation as one of the top point guards in the league.
“We’ve raised the bar for him to get back into that conversation. … I think it’s a great challenge. The great ones, the good ones, love that challenge, and I think he’s up for it.”
A combination of factors — most notably injuries — are what has kept Williams from resuming what was once legitimate debate as to whether he or Chris Paul was the league’s best point guard. After injuring his wrist shortly before being traded to the Nets in 2011, Williams went through a two-season stint when his 3-point shooting numbers dipped below 35 percent.
Then, last season, Williams played through injury issues with both ankles, which eventually resulted in him undergoing three different rounds of cortisone shots and a round of platelet-rich plasma treatment. As Kidd noted, Williams looked like a totally different player after undergoing that treatment just before the All-Star break, going from averages of 16.7 points and 7.6 assists per game before to 22.9 and 8.0 after, along with boosting his 3-point shooting numbers from 34.7 percent before to 42 percent after.
Now, with his wrist fully healed and his ankle appearing to be on the mend, Williams is looking forward to being able to benefit from the many open looks he should get when he’s able to rejoin his teammates in game action.
“I feel like I’ve always been a pretty good shooter,” he said. “I had two years where I had a wrist with fragments all in it, so that’s why I [stunk]. Last year I started off the season with my ankle, so I think when I’m healthy I think my jumper is definitely fine, and I think I’m going to get a lot of open looks on this team with the guys we’ve got.
“I’ve definitely been shooting a lot of jumpers — it’s really jumpers and lifting weights. I’m strong and I can shoot right now.”
The Nets’ new options also should allow Williams to have a shot at returning to the double-digit assist totals he used to regularly record during his days in Utah’s motion-based offense. The Nets have installed a similar scheme under Kidd.
“That’s what we pride ourselves on this year, getting open looks, making the easy passes, making the extra passes,” Williams said. “There’s going to be a lot of open shots. We have to be able to make them.”
But the team’s high-priced hopes for a championship have little chance of being realized if Williams doesn’t perform like the player the Nets gladly were willing to commit a five-year max deal to last summer to become the face of the team’s move to Brooklyn.
Williams said his goal is still to play in the season opener Wednesday, even as he admitted it could be tough because of his lack of practice time so far. Kidd says he won’t need to remind Williams about what the Nets need from him to achieve their goals.
“I don’t think it needs to be said,” Kidd said. “I think the way he ended the season last year automatically does it for him.”
Now the Nets just need Williams to return to the floor and start living up to Kidd’s mandate.