The Brooklyn Nets are still working out what the their future relationship with Deron Williams will look like, but in the meantime the point guard will not be seen on the court. Williams has been extremely inconsistent this season as injuries continue to plague his progress on the court. Pairing that with his heavy contract and Brooklyn has been having a hard time breaking things off with the point guard. Now things are stalled even more as Williams reportedly has a fractured rib.
Williams has been on and off the court all season. The point guard once again had ankle issues. He missed two games for a strained calf. He missed Monday's game for side soreness and then was forced out of Wednesday's loss to the Boston Celtics with what is being reported as a fractured rib. According the team, Williams will be out at least a week and possibly longer after being diagnosed with a rib injury which hurts his short-term and long-term future. The point guard has only been averaging 13.9 points and 6.3 assists per game this season and the Nets might start aggressively attempting to trade the veteran during this injury timeout.
Brooklyn has been aggressively trying to trade Williams the $43 million remaining on his contract through 2017, but have found little to no interest because of injury history. The fractured rib only makes things worse. Aiming to shake things up offensively while reducing some of their salary and luxury tax numbers, a deal for Williams is unlikely now that he will not be on the court for the foreseeable future.
ESPN reported that the Sacramento Kings and Nets were discussing a deal for the point guard after Rajon Rondo was sent to the Dallas Mavericks. However, discussions hit a snag when Brooklyn refused to involve Mason Plumlee. Williams had been relegated to the bench upon his original return from injury and would likely not refuse a deal that involves his name.
The point guard has been linked to teams like the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks, but those would only happen if Brooklyn lowered their expectations as to what they can get in return for Williams. While both the Lakers and Knicks would ideally like to take on Williams, they simply cannot afford the high-priced player. The chances that Williams stays on the Nets roster is very high which means players like Brook Lopez or Joe Johnson could be out instead.
