NBA

Get Your Bandwagons Ready: Deron Williams Will Re-sign With The Nets

All it took was $100 million dollars over five years and a massive trade for an All-Star back court mate, but the Nets finally got Deron Williams to move to Brooklyn with them. That groaning sound you hear is all the New York-area hipsters, who from now on will talk about how they liked the Nets before they were good.

Williams always maintained that he would be open to resigning with the Nets, provided they make moves to surround him with good players. Well, grabbing Joe Johnson from the Hawks in exchange for some expiring contracts, holding onto Gerald Wallace (albeit expensively) and keeping alive the specter of hope, however faint, that Dwight Howard could still come to town all qualify as making moves.

So rather than go home to Dallas and play with some proven winners, Williams remains and will be the face of the Nets franchise. The Mavericks, meanwhile, have to be upset with themselves. Though the new CBA only let them offer four years and $75 million to the free agent guard, perhaps the fact that Mark Cuban was shooting a reality show rather than meeting with Williams– while Nets brass continued to cultivate their close relationship with him — made a difference.

Here’s how Williams announced the decision (notice the lowercase), via his Twitter:

Very understated — like the Nets logo itself. This development must make Nets fans ecstatic, and for good reason. The New Jersey Nets, with a few exceptions, were a pretty miserable franchise. The Brooklyn Nets, however, are going to be one of the better teams in the league this season (on paper), and their future is looking bright.

But, between their move to the greatest city in the world (that’s Brooklyn, mind you, not New York City), last season’s dismal 22-44 record, their superstar “owner” in Jay-Z and the fact that they’ve already managed to lock down a formidable starting line-up, this summer will be prime bandwagon-ing season for sports fans. Hurry up and jump on now, future Nets season-ticket holders — you’ll want to find a spot with some leg room early on, before all the disaffected Knicks fans, gentrifying young couples who just moved to Fort Greene, and those people who buy hats for all different sports teams just so the colors match their shirt and shoes come running, clamoring for a spot, proclaiming their undying love for the Brooklyn Nets (not to be confused with the Brooklynettes, the dance squad).

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