The New Jersey Nets made a splash of sorts in acquiring PG Deron Williams from the Utah Jazz a couple of days ago.

A few thoughts here:

The Nets HAD to save some face after being played AGAIN. It’s bad enough when they were left on the free agent alter last summer when they lost out on LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and other significant free agents.  It’s worse when the Nets were played by Carmelo Anthony not only once, but TWICE.  So they had to make what was surely a desperate move in trading for Williams.  Otherwise, the Nets would have taken the title of “Boo-Boo the Fool”.

Simply put, the Nets are, and has always been, the second-class citizens to my New York Knicks. Before the Williams trade, that rich-ass Russian owner was lacking a marquee name that would serve as a major draw for their future Brooklyn arena.  They hope to be able to sell Williams on the vision, which means…

The Nets are on the clock with Williams. This is a MAJOR gamble the Nets are taking here.  They mortgaged a bit of their future in trading for Williams.  The only way they could convince Williams into staying instead of going to the Knicks is by doing two things: winning and attracting another star.  The Nets need to do those two things quickly because Williams is a winner, and I bet will not take getting his ass kicked too well.

I have to ask the Utah Jazz this question:

If you knew you were going to trade Williams, why didn’t you run that by Jerry Sloan?

Categories: NBA, sports story