From BSKBALL.com Jayson Williams, the former center/power forward for the Nets has been working and playing relentlessly for the past few months, he is said to be in great shape and pondering a serious comeback, having been waived by the Nets Williams is free to sign anywhere as a free agent, but reports have come out that upon retirement he agreed to an alteration in his contract which basically had him giving up substantial amounts of Nets guaranteed money in favor of the insurance policy that covered his enormous contract. If Williams returns to action the Insurance company would likely stop its payments to Williams, and they new agreement may allow the Nets to stop paying him altogether. Whether this agreement holds up is another issue, and one Williams agent is working to get clarity on, but for now Williams is playing, and playing well, and hoping to hear something soon, as he'd like to try and land on a team this year. I know the guy has a serious injury history, but when he played, he was a monster! Couldn't he be intersted in a one-year deal with a promise for the long run if he actually plays the entire year?
I think at this point, he is damaged goods. The guy used to be a great rebounder, but with the tpye and severity of the "career ending" injury he had, it would be very difficult for him to pull it off successfully. We shall see........
I talked to a basketball management guy on that very subject several months ago and was told it would be a virtual nightmare to get through all the money questions that would surface. This guy is not related to anyone with the Nets or with the NBA, and this was a conversational thing between meetings or something, but he said he thought, the legal jumps with the league would be horrible. He also said he thought that an interested team would have to get some kind of additional waiver from the Nets too. The other thing of course is his injuries. He broke a bone in his leg, tore cartilage in his knee, had several surgeries. Re injured his knee again before he was fully recovered, then broke bones in his foot. All of these were during what can be best described as "normal" everyday game scrimmages. I like your thinking, Thanos, but man, although Williams would be a monster addition, he would have to do some herculean convincing to a lot of people?
I saw that yesterday and I think he would be a great addition. You're right, the guy has been injury plagued, but when he was healthy, he was an all star caliber center. I'm not sure if the money issue would affect us though. I guess it shouldn't be an issue to him or us for the insurance to stop paying him if he has a contract.
Yeah, i know. I was just throwing around the idea around to see what you guys thought IF it could be done. IF he is really healthy, and IF he can overcome this legal mess, he would be perfect for us. A hard-working, hard-nosed rebounding defensive minded center, and a quote machine too. (damn, do I miss Barkley) Looks like we are stuck with Cato... hope he wakes up this season. Anyway we can steal Brad Miller from the Bulls without giving Cato away?
"..... anyway we can steal Brad Miller from the Bulls without giving Cato away? ...." I think Miller may still be going somewhere. Last I heard all the serious talk of a Miller deal involving Houston was put on the backburner. I have no idea what is current. My guess is No. But when I was posting a thread on available pivots a couple of days ago, I sent an email to a friend (reliable source) was asking for something, anything on it .... No answer. I still think that after everyone is signed, CD starts to shop in earnest. Late, tardy, lackadasical, lassez faire, whatever .... they don't seem to hinder Rocket's late moves in the market ...... never hurt them acquiring Shandon and MoTaylor in previous years at the tail end of a signing/Free Agent summer. I also think they will have either blockbuster deal (unlikely) or skim the middle to pick out some serviceable role player-type(more likely).
Funny someone should post this. I was thinking about this because I ran into Byron Scott at a birthday party (he lives in my town up here in NJ and I met him through a mutual friend). From what I understood, he is still getting some sort of payout from the Nets or through an insurance policy as was stated earlier in the thread. I asked Byron about J Williams and he said that Jayson has been working out but that "playing pick up games and playing in an NBA game is a whole different animal." He is best friends with Keith Van Horn and they work out together but the odds of him playing arent very good. Byron did say however, if anyone can do it, Jayson can because he has the heart of a lion. My opinion is that if he were to comeback, it would be here (NJ) or maybe Philly. He has a HUUUUUUUUGGGEEEE compound where he lives complete with a few golf holes among other "Kobe-bryantesque (referring to Kobe's home in Cali) things.
Unfortunately, this would violate the NBA rule against having three players in the league with the same name.
I think you all are underestimating the seriousness of his injury. It is hard to back from a leg injury and regain quickness you used to have. It is damn near impossible to come back from two. I have no doubt that he could play spot duty, but if you are expecting anything close to his pre-injury numbers, you will be sadly disappointed. Either way, it certainly wouldn't be worth the effort to bring him in.
I personally think he's an idiot if he comes back. Before he got injured he signed a $50 million guarenteed contract. He agreed to restructure the contract when he retired so that if he does come back he will foreit whatever is left on the contract at the time he comes back. In other words he can stay retired, and collect his $50 mil ... or he can come back and sign a contract with the team of his choice for the league minimum. Because face it no team is going to give him anywhere near $50 mil considering his medical history. Stay retired Jayson, collect your $50 mil, and stick to dominating the guys at the "Y".
Williams would be great and at the same time horrible to get. Great because he's a riot and a leader that hustles his ass off, but it would really suck if he came back to fulfill his dream to retire after a LONG NBA career and have it cut short again,and this time sacraficing the 80 mill or 50 mill or whatever unheardof amount of money. The dude is said to feel horrible about taking money for doing nothing, and probably already has like 30 mill sitting in the bank. Intresting to see what happens.
