Deron Williams’ shooting woes have been well-documented this season, as he is currently averaging career lows in field goal percentage (39.9) and three-point field goal percentage (30.0). His current scoring average of 16.3 points per game is his lowest in six seasons. Williams isn’t fully comfortable with the Brooklyn Nets, and there are a number of theories as to why.
For starters, Deron said he has not been able to get comfortable in Avery Johnson’s offense since being traded from the Utah Jazz to the Nets. But Johnson has been fired, and Williams continues to struggle. Brooklyn GM Billy King said in a recent radio interview that he believes Williams could be worn down from overworking himself during the offseason, and Williams sounds like he agrees.
“I didn’t take any time off. After last season, I never stopped working out,” he said according to the NY Post. “After the Olympics, the day I got back I worked out the next morning. I thought it was the best thing to do, and now looking back, it probably would have been smarter to take some time off and get a little bit of rest, especially on my legs, and my ankles in general.
“I took a lot of pounding over the last year because even though we had a shortened season, I was over in Istanbul, so I haven’t had a break since before then. I felt like I could handle it, and at the time I thought it was the right thing to do. I didn’t want to get out of shape. I wanted to just keep going.”
Williams has certainly had a greater workload than the average player, but the Nets aren’t in need of excuses right now. They need Deron to establish himself as a consistent leader who can run the offense on a nightly basis and score when called upon. Whether it’s fatigue, coaching or just plain poor jump-shooting, Williams is being paid enough money where he’s expected to identify the problem and fix it.
