Deron Williams had two clear choices when he entered free agency in July. On one side were the Nets, the franchise that had taken a leap of faith to trade for him 16 months earlier, and who had kept him involved in their plans to turn the roster into a competitive one this offseason as the team prepared to begin play in Brooklyn.
On the other were the Mavericks, who held an obvious appeal to the star point guard thanks to both playing in his hometown of Dallas and the chance to team up with one of the league's best players in Dirk Nowitzki.
But Williams said after yesterday's practice that his decision to re-sign with the Nets, at least in part, was based on the fact Mavericks owner Mark Cuban didn't come to his team's meeting with Williams in New York on July 2.
Neil Miller
10/07/12 brooklyn nets at 1st practice at barclays center brooklyn ny neil miller #8 deron williams at practice today
"Of course," Williams said when asked if Cuban's absence influenced his decision.
"I mean, I think he would have been able to answer some of the questions … a lot of the questions that my agent and I had for him really didn't get answered that day, pertaining to the future. I think, if he was there, he would have been able to answer those questions a little bit better, [and] maybe would have helped me."
To illustrate his point, Williams went back to the last time he had been recruited, when he was a senior in high school determining where he was going to go to college.
"My top four, when I was coming out of high school, was Illinois, Georgia Tech, Tennessee and Maryland," Williams said. "Maryland told me they wanted me to come on a visit, but [Maryland head coach] Gary Williams wouldn't be there. So, I told them 'It's OK. I'd rather not go.'
"That was the end of that."
Williams said the biggest thing he would have liked to hear from Cuban — who chose not to leave Los Angeles and the set of his TV show "Shark Tank" to come to New York for the meeting — was a specific plan for the future.
While Williams was getting constant updates from Nets general manager Billy King about the direction of the franchise and what the Nets were trying to do in free agency to improve the team, Williams said he wasn't able to get the same vision from the Mavericks representatives at the meeting, including general manager and president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson and head coach Rick Carlisle.
"Just more to the direction of the future of the team, other than Dirk [Nowitzki] … players they were thinking about," Williams said. "Everything was just about, basically, their track record. Trust their track record.
"Which, I could honor that, because they have a good track record, but it's not enough for me to switch organizations … especially when Billy was updating me daily."
In August, Cuban went on a radio show in Dallas and talked about the situation, and said, in part, that things might have worked out for the best.
"Maybe [it would have helped to be there], you know, because I always think I can close a sale," Cuban said. "But, in hindsight, I don't know if I would have been happy. I think we're in better position now than we would have been if we had gotten him."
Cuban did not immediately reply to an email sent yesterday afternoon for further comment.
For his part, Williams said he's not worried about Cuban's comments, and is only looking ahead to opening the season with the Nets.
"I'm not concerning myself with them anymore," Williams said. "I'm a Brooklyn Net, I'm not a Dallas Maverick. I'm worried about what's going on here, with what our team is doing, and I can't really worry about what's being said."
tbontemps@nypost.com
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
D-Will: Mavs owner’s absence in talks hurt
Dengan url
http://susuvirus.blogspot.com/2012/10/d-will-mavs-owneras-absence-in-talks.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
D-Will: Mavs owner’s absence in talks hurt
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
D-Will: Mavs owner’s absence in talks hurt
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar