New Jersey Nets fans are not helping their cause in trying to get premier point guard Deron Williams to re-sign with the New Jersey Nets this summer. Fans have been attacking Deron Williams on social media networking sites like twitter and facebook, calling him a ‘traitor’. The Nets organization is working hard to make moves that would appeal to Williams and to show him they are serious about building a contender in the near term. With that said, the fans and Williams need to be patient enough to let the plan come to fruition:
“People get traded all the time,” Williams told Yahoo! Sports. “They don’t get backlash as an organization. If [players] leave, we are not loyal, we are ungrateful. People say stuff to me on Twitter. They already think I’m gone. They are out there bashing me, saying to me I’m a traitor.
“I didn’t ask to be here. I got traded. I didn’t come here being a free agent. This is the first time that I’m a free agent in my career.”
Everybody knew that if Dwight Howard had signed with the Nets during free agency, Deron Williams would have signed a contract with them as well. Williams was asked this week about Dwight’s decision to play out the remainder of his contract in Orlando:
“It’s a decision he made for himself,” Williams said. “I really have no comment on it. He did what was best for him. I respect that. I’m still friends with him.
“Oh yeah, it definitely would have changed things. I’ve already made it known that if he would have come I probably would have stayed.”
There are going to be plenty of offers for Williams this summer however, as he is one of the top 5 point men in the league and has shown great marketability with fans. This is the first true free agency period for Williams so you can’t blame him for wanting to feel out the market and see what offers come his way. But for Nets fans, hopefully he won’t be swayed too much by the potential pairings with All-stars like Dirk Nowitzki in Dallas, and instead gives the Nets a chance to position themselves as a winner.
[Quotes via Yahoo!]
