Scotto: Will Deron Williams Play This Preseason?

BROOKLYN – Jason Kidd raised eyebrows while addressing Deron Williams’ injury over the weekend. Kidd was asked if he would be comfortable sitting his franchise point guard for the entire preseason.

“This is going to be a question that we’ll probably have to deal with every day until he does get the green light to go,” said Kidd. “But we’re not rushing him, so if we have to start the season with him still trying to get better than I think we all feel comfortable, but we would feel a little bit more comfortable if he was starting.”

Despite an undetermined timetable for Williams’ return, Kidd stressed a patient approach does not imply anything.

“There’s no setback,” said Kidd. “I think, again, for him to work out this evening and go get after it a little bit and we’ll see how he feels tomorrow morning.”

Currently, Williams is day-to-day and participated in shooting drills prior to Saturday’s game. Williams attempted transition 3-pointers, set shots around the perimeter and free throws.

Williams did not appear to favor his ankles, land awkwardly, or grimace in any pain during the shooting drills. Rather, Williams displayed a solid vertical lift on his jump shot and showed a fluid release.

However, Williams was seen sitting down with his right ankle elevated and wrapped heavily during practice on Sunday as this photo from Newsday’s Rod Boone illustrates:

Deron with a leg up at practice today. #Nets pic.twitter.com/9dANrNYAkE

— Rod Boone (@rodboone) October 13, 2013

 

While Brooklyn may simply be taking every precaution to ensure Williams’ health for the start of the season, there’s no denying as each day draws closer to the opener and he remains sidelined, the concern continues to mount.

Boone’s photo may not suggest a “setback” necessarily, but it raises the question of how much progress has been made since the injury first occurred roughly three to four weeks ago, according to an initial report from the New York Daily News.

After looking like a shell of himself during the first half of last season due to ankle troubles, it’s reasonable for Brooklyn to take every precaution with Williams and make sure he is fully healthy heading into a season with championship aspirations.

Paul Pierce reiterated the importance of Williams as the key to Brooklyn’s title hopes.

“I mean he’s going to be the engine that’s going to drive this team at both ends of the court before we could really see how we’re going to reach our full potential,” said Pierce. “It’s up to us with the guys that we have out there to continue to get better, to continue to understand what we’re trying to accomplish each and every night.”

Should Williams need the remainder of the preseason, and miss time during the regular season if necessary, Brooklyn has the depth to hold down the fort. As I outlined in a previous Sheridan Hoops column on the bench unit, the trio of Jason Terry, Andrei Kirilenko, Andray Blatche, Reggie Evans, Shaun Livingston and Alan Anderson bring a combined 56 years of experience and 1,864 starts. Brooklyn’s bench is unrivaled on paper across the league as the only unit with four double-digit scorers and one double-digit rebounder from last season.

“I think Deron and Jason are a big part of this and with them being out I think it helps us see how deep we are,” said Kidd. “In this league you have to play with the guys that can go and so I think Shaun has stepped up and Tyshawn (Taylor) has done a great job. The way that this team has been built is, if someone is out, someone steps right up and has to be ready. Those guys have done a great job, especially Alan playing the two stepping in for Jason. It just shows how deep we are.”

 In addition to a deep bench, Kidd has also installed an offense heavily reliant on ball movement to take the pressure off Williams as the sole playmaker. In stark contrast from Avery Johnson and P.J. Carlesimo’s dependence on isolation basketball, Brooklyn routinely had all five players touch the ball on numerous possessions to break down Detroit’s defense for high percentage shots.

I asked Kidd if this trend is something that will be prevalent throughout the season going forward.

“We have been working on being unselfish,” said Kidd. “We saw that with the core of the group out there early in the game, they had multiple touches. We feel in this league if you can do that you will have some success. Now you’re not going to make every shot but they were making the right play and that’s something big with this group that they are all unselfish, they are trying to get the best possible shot.”

Kidd appears to have found the sweet spots for each of his star players on the court.

Brook Lopez and Joe Johnson both frequently posted up along the baseline, Kevin Garnett operated along the elbows of the free throw line and Pierce worked the pick-and-roll from beyond the arc.

With the players settling into their designated spots on the floor, Kidd believes natural team chemistry and more familiarity with one another will help reduce Brooklyn’s turnover totals.

“If you look at the offensive end, continue to be unselfish and share the ball,” said Kidd. “That comes with some turnovers, I understand that, but we have to also have to take better care of the ball.”

While Kidd sees promise and progress on the offensive side of the court, it’s the defensive end that will determine if Brooklyn’s championship aspirations come to fruition.

“I think right now as a group, as a whole, we have to get better defensively,” said Kidd. “That’s something we talked about at the start of training camp and we’re still in that mode of getting better defensively.”

Detroit shot 51 percent from the field and scored 50 points in the paint on Saturday, a statistic which alarmed Kidd.

“That’s something that we have to take pride in as a whole,” said Kidd. “Protecting the paint, looking at the opportunity to contest jump shots and work from there.”

Those numbers should improve once Lopez is around the basket to block shots and Garnett can be the defensive coordinator on a consistent basis without a minute restriction during the regular season.

The offense should also click on all cylinders whenever Williams returns fully healthy with one of the greatest floor generals ever, Kidd, overseeing the progression.

Whenever that may be.

Michael Scotto is a Sheridan Hoops NBA columnist. You can follow him on Twitter.