Adios Deron

It happened in a split second.  Deron Williams was traded to the New Jersey Nets.  The Jazz simply were unwilling to be held hostage for the next 18 months while Williams made up his mind if he wanted to commit to the Jazz.  It's a bittersweet day for Jazz fans.  It's true, they lose probably the best point guard in basketball but the leadership of the Jazz did not want to end up like Toronto or Cleveland.  Both of those teams lost star players to free agency, received nothing in return and now will be rebuilding for years.

I have enjoyed watching Deron play.  He is a very skilled basketball player but one great player doesn't win a NBA championship.  I always felt Deron was missing something.  He always claimed to want to win but he never took the team on his shoulders and willed them to win.  Stockton and Malone did that many times throughout their careers.  It's possible he may learn how to lead but that is a hard skill to learn.

The Jazz have begun to build for the future.  I believe that the Jazz would have ended up trading D-Will next year if not now.  They received in return, a good point guard, a promising rookie forward and 2 possible lottery draft picks.  The future is now!  I admire the Jazz for being proactive.  Jazz owner Greg Miller put it best when he said the Jazz replaced ambiguity with certainty.

Jazz fans need to evaluate this trade in three years. When Deron Williams will be on a team to be determined and still NOT winning championships. I think the Jazz will have a solid team that is competing for league and division championships. As a Jazz fan this move gets them closer to the ultimate goal a NBA championship. If they play their cards right they could make a potentially disastrous situation and turn it into a move that could propel the Jazz towards the goal that no other Jazz team has accomplished.