Deron Williams

Deron Michael Williams (born June 26, 1984), nicknamed D-Will, is an American basketball player currently with Beşiktaş of the Turkish Basketball League. Prior to playing for Beşiktaş, Williams played for the Utah Jazz and the New Jersey Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is still under contract with the Nets, but he signed with Beşiktaş because of the 2011 NBA lockout. Williams was drafted 3rd overall in the 2005 draft by the Utah Jazz, for whom he played before being traded in the middle of his sixth season to the Nets. He is a two-time All-Star and a gold medal winner at the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Deron Williams again elevated his play during his third season in the NBA. He scored a career high 41 points on December 8, 2007 in a game against the Dallas Mavericks, although they ended up losing the game.He also had two 20-assist games on the season.He elevated all of his stats, improving to 18.8 points and 10.5 assists per game, third in the league behind Chris Paul and Steve Nash.Despite his strong performance during the season, he was not selected to represent the Western Conference in the NBA All-Star Game, as the point guard position was filled by Allen Iverson, Steve Nash, and Chris Paul.Although he did not participate in the main event, he won the 2008 All-Star Skills Challenge.
Deron Williams missed thirteen of the first fifteen games of the season due to a second-degree ankle sprain sustained in the preseason against the Chicago Bulls.He returned November 26 against the Memphis Grizzlies. Since that time, he has led the team through an up-and-down season plagued by injuries to several key players (most notably Carlos Boozer and Andrei Kirilenko), but despite averaging 19.2 ppg and 10.0 apg through the All-Star Break, he was again snubbed from the All-Star Game. Similar to the previous year, he responded to the snub with strong play, scoring 30+ points in five consecutive games before the break (he missed one additional game during this time due to a minor injury) and leading the team to a 5–2 record to close out the first half of the season, including a win over the league-leading Los Angeles Lakers to snap their seven-game winning streak. They followed the All-Star Break with a win against the defending champion Boston Celtics.
On January 28, 2010, Williams was named to participate in the 2010 NBA All-Star Game at Cowboy Stadium in Arlington, Texas. This marked his All-Star debut. He was also invited to participate in the 2010 NBA Skills Challenge where he finished second to Steve Nash.
Despite playing with injuries to his wrist and ankle, and playing without starters Andrei Kirilenko and Mehmet Okur, Deron Williams became just the second player in Utah Jazz history to record at least 30 points and 10 or more assists in a playoff game. John Stockton is the only other Jazz player to accomplish said feat, doing so twice in his career. Williams scored 33 points on 7-14 shooting from the field while making 16-18 free throws from the line, while also contributing 14 assists on the road in a game 2 win against the Denver Nuggets.He repeated that feat later in series while scoring 34 points and dishing out 10 assists.
On February 23, 2011 Williams was traded to the New Jersey Nets for guard Devin Harris, forward Derrick Favors, two first round draft picks, and $3 million in cash.While Williams was under contract through 2011–12 with a player option worth $17.7 million for 2012–13, Jazz chief executive officer Greg Miller did not believe they would be able to re-sign Williams. "And while I never saw any indication that he wouldn’t re-sign with us, I never saw any indication he would,” said Miller.
During the 2011 NBA lockout, Williams signed a one-year contract for $5 million to play for the Beşiktaş of the Turkish Basketball League. His contract allows him to return to the NBA with the Nets when the work stoppage ends.Beşiktaş was the same team that signed Allen Iverson in 2010.Because Williams is still under an NBA contract, he requires clearance from FIBA in order to play elsewhere. The National Basketball Players Association intends to challenge any attempts from NBA or FIBA to block Williams from playing in Turkey.