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Deron’s Purgatory
Posted by: RAY WALKER on March 26th, 2012
The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of the Utah Jazz.Watching tonight’s game and the hapless Nets being led around by the equally hapless Deron (at least tonight) I liked what Matt said about Deron’s numbers looking something like Iversons. They were ( 7-21 FG 2-5 FT and 5 turnovers) but the 11 assists sure bore no resemblance to The Answer.
The pained look on his face was inescapable throughout the game and my memories of his last year here and the nature of his (and Jerry’s) parting made me recall Dante’s Inferno and how the innermost ring of Purgatory was reserved for those who betray their friends. Well Karma has come full circle on the man as he sowed the wind and is now reaping the whirlwind. Well who doesn’t need redemption in their life but it must be worked through on your own and by your response to your self inflicted suffering. I sure hope he finds it someday and we can be treated to watching the full artistry of the man once again. Who knows where he will end up but it wont be much longer Deron. Best of luck. Hope you have grown.
ANd can anyone tell me what was up with Earl tonight? He needs to get his mind right. The Jazz did not wear white jerseys tonight so have you gone colorblind? ANd 5 turnovers? SHake it off as you will still be needed and called on to contribute.
Go JAZZ
Replies: 17
Views: 757
17 Responses
Maybe he has grown up and wants a second chance in Utah…
And just exactly how did Deron betray his friends?? How did he betray anyone for that matter? What seeds did he sow? Do tell….
@John As much as everyone wants to deny it, I think nearly every Jazz fan secretly thinks the same thing every now and again. But then we realize how completely unlikely it is and remember how Deron acted leading up to the trade. I don’t think there is anyway his pride would ever let him sign in Utah again. But honestly it would be extremely smart on his part to look into it. Can you imagine the look on Kevin O’Connor and Greg Miller’s faces if D Will called them this summer?
Lets see, the JaZz traded his best friend Ronnie Brewer and didn’t sign his other good friend Kyle Korver. The JaZz never actually sat down with him and asked him what he wanted to happen to win or what HE was going to do. The JaZz traded him with even letting him know themselves first, he had to hear it second hand from twitter (class act baby Miller) The JaZz were still playing the same old system with the same old coach that should have retired years ago. I love you Jerry but your time had come and gone and you were never going to get close to a championship again unless Stockton and Malone were reincarnated with an all-star shooting guard at their side. The way the game is played has changed since the 80’s for God’s sake and the JaZz needed to change to keep up. All D-Will wanted was… not money, not big sponsors, not fame (God knows there is none in Utah) but to win. All he wanted was good players around him to give him a chance to win. Isn’t that what he is paid to do? Sure he was probably going to leave but you cant blame him for that. Even Earl and Raja are complaining about minutes now (and they aren’t even close to all-stars) and I’m sure a few of our rookies, if they explode, will leave for greener pastures as well. It’s the nature of the beast and you can not blame D-Will for being what he was raised to be….A competitor…
Jazzman.
Are you for real dude. Look at the players he would be playing with right now if his arrogant ass had stayed. Millsap, Hayword, Howard, Jefferson, you kidding me, if we had Deron on this team right now we would be right in the mix with the Thunder and Spurs for best in the west. ANYONE who knows anything could see that Derons arragont ass was pulling the team apart and he disrespected one of the greatest coaches in the history of the game who had enough class to say he was tired and ready to move on, NOT that he was quitting because his star player is a whinning douche bag, Deron got what he deserved by being traded to Jersey, now he can move on next year to be a thorn in our sides in Dallas just like Sloan will sign with like the Clippers or Kings or even worse and probably the more likely option, the Blazers and be a huge thorn in our sides,,,with all that stacked up against us it will be almost impossible to ever win a championship.
I don’t understand the anger towards Deron Williams. He is a stud. If we had him along with the bigs we got for him, we would be competing with the Thunder for best in the West. We traded him, he didn’t pull a Melo and demand a trade. Sure he had a beef with Jerry Sloan, but when you look back, almost every Jazz player at some time or another had a beef with Sloan (Stockton being a noted exception). I would love to see him back in a Jazz uniform, but I know just like every other Jazz fan – He isn’t coming back.
Dwill? lets try to get him, why not? Im convinced he threw the game for us in the first half, he didnt drive to the rim . How many games can you remember him not driving to the rim first half? then he turned on his game 2nd half to prove he can dominate if he feels like it. Jazz will have the most solid Frontcourt in the NBA next year if we kept the roster like it is. Hayward and burkes are explosive on the wings. Dwill knows he f’ed up not excepting our offer last year, but is it past no return? Not at all, it would be the best comeback ever. He likes what were doing this season, he misses the crowd and the selling point is he can come back and have a complete legacy at Utah. Why piggy back with an expiring Dallas or limited Orlando team. If dwight or dirk got injured both of those teams would be done. Utah is loaded and he knows our potential. He could honestly have a couple rings before he retired if he came back. Dont tell me our crowd wont be elevated watching him at point blow out the Lakers next year sweeping them first round in the playoffs.
PG DWill/Lilliard/Tinsely
SG Burkes/Carol
SF Hayward/Miles
PF Favors/Millsap
C Jefferson/Kanter
Can someone say DANGER ZONE!!
I’ve totally fantasized about a backcourt of Deron Williams (pg) Devin Harris (sg) alec burkes (sg/pg) and Gordon Hayward (g/f).
The only missing ingredient is the biggest–Dwill. Jazzman is actually right (bewildering I know) for once. You can’t hate Deron Williams. Despite all the trade drama, and even the beef with Sloan, you can’t forget what DWill gave to this team.
Williams played his ass off and with all his heart and attitude every game. Yeah he was whiny and arrogant sometimes, but that’s just because he’s a natural competitor and hates losing.
Playing for the New Jersey Nets for a year is payment enough for any perceived slight to the Jazz on Williams behalf.
He’s been miserable the whole year. I’m sure the experience has been incredibly humbling for him. Wherever he ends up next, look for him to be an even better player than he was with the Jazz. He’ll finally be grateful to play for a playoff team, as opposed to the bottom dwelling Nets.
But…we do have a guy named Derrick Favors.
The biggest problem IF Deron Williams came back to Utah (he’s not), would be the Russian Mafia trying to put a ‘hit’ on Jazz execs, because we would have robbed the New Jersey Nets blind and they and their Russian billionaire owner wouldn’t be happy about it.
It’s just not going to happen. D-Will is going to Dallas (they already cleared the cap space to sign D-Will to a max contract). But we can be a little happier because it looks like Dallas isn’t going to be getting Dwight Howard (at least for another year).
I’m a huge D-Will fan. He was frustrated because the Jazz essentially burdened themselves by giving Andrei a huge contract when he didn’t deserve it. Then they made money-saving moves like Eric Maynor to OKC, Brewer to Memphis, letting Korver walk, not matching Matthews contract, not re-signing Boozer (and then Jefferson was NOT a pick-and roll big, he’s a post-up big–Deron had problems adjusting). His frustration showed in his play (ball thrown at Hayward’s head, the Chicago game, etc). It was evident he was upset, frustrated, and had plans to leave after his contract was up (‘Its why I signed a three-year deal’). But yeah, you can trace all that back to giving Andrei a max contract, when he was far from the level of a max player. Andrei Kirilenko’s contract is what killed the D-Will era in Jazz basketball.
How can anybody forget Deron’s attitude leading up to the trade?
He sulked and whined and pouted and brought the whole team down. Deron is a terrible leader. He couldn’t even get up for a game against the team that unexpectedly shipped him to the basketball wasteland.
I don’t wan’t Deron back… why would we? If we paid him the max deal he would demand we we’d have to let a couple of our young players walk. I like where the team is going, as soon as we get pure starting pg were in it.
But this all besides the point… DERON IS NOT COMING BACK !!!
I would take Deron back as a free agent…no questions asked. But, I agree, that it won’t ever happen.
Dear coach:
I need a trade…. can I play? I don´t like this.
I love Deron, but he’s not the same, well that team sucks.
I would love to see D-Will back in a Jazz jersey . As unhappy as he is in New Jersey why wouldnt he want to play here when he said himself that we are a play-off team . He might even consider takin a cut in pay to do so .
I have seen stranger things happen in my life so why not this ? At any rate I wish the best for him , whatever wrong he did while he was here I think he has payed the price for since bein traded to NJ .
Good luck Deron and Lets Go Jazz , I beleive in you all !!!1
First of all, I love how somehow the NBA has become the stage for a morality play. Great connection buddy.
Secondly, I don’t think D-Will, no matter how much I respect him as a player and believe he has a personal connection with Utah, or that I think he sees that the “future” with the Mavericks is only about three years at most, I think he’s staying in New Jersey. With the way the media rains on NBA stars today it is the only option for him that is socially acceptable for the vast majority of basketball fans. Plus, I think he sees some of the young guys and realizes the future that could be coming. He is staying in New Jersey. But I would love to have him in Utah. He is always a Jazzman in my book.
I am not sure what you guys are thinking but, are we still crying over the Brewer trade? Have you guys looked at his stats since he left Utah? Good move KOC. Kyle Korver, same thing. Offensively some nights Korver is on, and some he’s not. Too much money for a none defensive player. Another good move. Even the one that hurt Mathews has been slumping lately. So KOC knows best, those players were not worth paying out what they others teams are paying them. Just my opinion.
For Deron to come and play here, well it would be nice. Would be great if KOC can land Deron and say a Nic Batum in free agency. Its about time we took one away from Portland. And to be honest, Deron if he wants a ring, would be silly not to look at the Jazz organization. He still has ties here and it would not be a bad place to come after his short stint in purgatory. Will it happen, doubtful, but crazier things have happened. He probably isnt playing with Dwight anytime soon.
Patrick: You’re out of your mind if you think the Fail Blazers will be letting go of Batum. They traded Wallace away just to prove their Batum commitment and will clearly be willing to match almost any offer when he goes RFA. The Jazz would have to woefully overpay to get the guy.
Patrick, maybe you misunderstood. I wasn’t personally crying about the Brewer trade, or Korver, or Boozer (especially not Boozer) or Matthews (although I did at the time, but knew it was too much money for him). I was sad our financial situation forced us to dump Eric Maynor to OKC. I’m saying there was an effect on DERON as a result of all those moves, and then saw the reason — that the Jazz were paying nearly $18M to a guy who played without passion, sat out ‘injured’ with bumps and bruises for way too long, and planned his vacations for during the postseason, while Deron was trying to contend and compete and take his team as far as possible. Looking all that over, its no wonder Deron began to think about going other places. A Dallas or a Los Angeles or a New York, they’d just keep shelling out the dough and KEEP all those players.