http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=williamsisworthagamble&prov=tsn&type=lgns Sean Deveney at the Sporting News, who I think is a good source, says that Jason Williams is looking very good and speculates that Houston would be a great fit for him: Williams is worth a gamble By Sean Deveney - SportingNews Dip your toe into the NBA's free-agent waters, and you'll quickly find that what was recently a pool is down to a puddle. But look close, and you'll see a unique free agent available, a young player whose talent and character are unquestioned and who could be had for a reasonable contract. Last week, point guard Jason Williams -- formerly Jay -- held a workout in front of about 15 media members at Hoops the Gym in Chicago, marking the most confident and most public display of his progress since a devastating motorcycle accident in June 2003. Williams worked on stopping short and taking quick elbow jumpers. He showed off his midrange baseline shots. He shot 18-footers from around the key, then backed up for an impressive display of 3-point shooting. Sure, there are potential problems with Williams. He could get hurt again. His best asset as a rookie was quickness, and after multiple surgeries to repair his knee, pelvis, foot and nerves, he won't fully get that quickness back. But Williams is 23. He is not far removed from being the college player of the year and the No. 2 overall draft pick. It's not entirely fair to consider how good he could be based on his single season in Chicago. The Bulls were a mess, and coach Bill Cartwright stubbornly forced Williams to split time with Jamal Crawford, refusing to play the two together for most of the year and creating unnecessary tension. Williams still has star potential. Ask him where he wants to take that potential, and Williams is diplomatic -- he's lucky to be walking, let alone to have a shot at returning to the NBA. He doesn't feel he is in a position to dictate which team gets him. But he'll be ready by training camp in October and, deep down, we've got a sense of where Williams wants to be -- or at least, where he should want to be. Houston The Rockets have addressed their frontcourt by adding Stromile Swift, but the team still lacks a true point guard. Williams would change that and give the Rockets a low-risk opportunity to address their most pressing need -- a big-time playmaker to set up Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming. Memphis No doubt, the Heat was one team in which Williams had interest, but the trade for that other Jason Williams -- the one who had been with the Grizzlies -- probably means Miami won't be interested. But now, even with the signing of Damon Stoudamire, Memphis is the team in need of help at point guard. Why not replace one Jason Williams with the other? Orlando The Magic settled on signing Dooling, who is a good defender and a capable reserve. But Dooling has played long enough to confirm that he is not a starting-quality point guard, and Jameer Nelson is not ready for that responsibility, either. Orlando must acknowledge that Steve Francis would be better off at shooting guard. To make that happen, the Magic needs to acquire a player who at least has the potential to start. Why not take a chance on Williams? Sean Deveney is a staff writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at sdeveney@sportingnews.com.
I'd take a chance on him. Move Sura to SG and have James running PG for a bit until we can gel Williams into the chemistry.
Bring him in. He probably won't be able to contribut this season, but let him use our facilities...our trainers...and just let him condition himself back. Let him replace Ward/Mooch on the bench for a while, then hopefully he can get some backup (maybe starter?) minutes next season.
Seems like if you wanted him at the league minimum, you'd have to promise him playing time. Even with Sura playing a little SF, you still have three other guards who expect playing time, plus Head.
In all honesty, I wouldn't want him at all. But I don't make these decisions. And that's probably a good thing...
For the coming season, NVE has much more upside. Longer term, I'm still not sold on Jay Williams but we'll find out.
I say let's go for him. We need to get younger and well..... he is. Can we give him a 2 year deal W/ a team option for a third? If we could that would give him this year to get back in shape, maybe even in the NBDL. Then next year get some good playing time and if he works out pick up his option. i can not see him being any worse than Ward or Moochie. All I know is we need young guards to grow with our core. Jason is young and if we gave him a chance I don't think he would let us down.
Sign and trade Mike James and Ward to get Jaric. Then sign Jay Williams. Then go and try everything to cheaply pick up some of the amnesty rule casualties (FINLEY, Houston?, maybe LaFrentz?, Blount?, guys like that...).
Why not sign Williams to the LLE, then send both him and Head to the D-League? You know that at some point either Sura, Wesley, or Barry will get injured - at that time, call up whoever is doing best between Williams or Head and give him 20 minutes a night. Then, when Wesley is gone after this year, move Sura to SG full time and go with the guy who performed the best. My feeling about Williams is the same about Head or any other low draft pick - you really don't know what you're getting, so all you're doing in making an investment that may or may not pay off.
Its safe to say that no team is going to offer him more than the minimum so the ball is in his court... If the Rox are one of the teams that offers it to him then I feel we have a good shot at getting it done. That said, if they were interested in him, would they be trying to sign NVE? Personally I would rather take a chance on Williams at the minimum and then try and sign more depth behind TMac at the 3... Williams COULD be a STEAL!!! We will see.
I agree, I would rather go with the potiental this kid has, I just have a feeling that this could be one of those things we moan over if he does well elsewhere. He's cheap, why not give it a shot?
www.jaywill.com let's flood his site with e-mails urging him to sign with the Rockets! www.jaywill.com
