Deron Williams returns to Barclays Center on Dec. 23

Former Point Guard's Visit Among Highlights on Nets' 2015-16 Sked

August 13, 2015 By John Torenli, Sports Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle

After three up and down years in Brooklyn, Deron Williams will return to the Barclays Center as a member of the Dallas Mavericks on Dec. 23. AP photo

Share this:

Last year, it was Milwaukee.

This season, make it Dallas.

The Nets officially released their 2015-16 regular-season schedule on Wednesday evening, and Brooklyn basketball fanatics are likely to be intrigued by the return of Deron Williams to the Barclays Center on Dec. 23, the only scheduled trip for the organization’s former franchise player and his new Dallas Mavericks teammates to the place he called home the previous three campaigns.

When the 2014-15 schedule was released, Nets fans were eager to find out when former head coach Jason Kidd, who forced his way out of Brooklyn via a failed power play against general manager Billy King following the 2013-14 season, would be back in our fair borough.

Kidd and his Milwaukee Bucks showed up Downtown on Nov. 19, and the game was epic to say the very least as the Nets and Bucks battled through three overtimes before Milwaukee emerged victorious, 122-118, in one of the most exciting games in Barclays Center history.

Even though Kidd is arguably the greatest player in Nets history, his jersey hanging in the rafters of the state-of-the-art-arena as evidence of that fact, Brooklyn fans booed him heartily during player introductions that night.

”I have bad hearing anyways,” Kidd noted that night. “So I thought whatever the greeting was, it’s about the players. People don’t pay to come see the coach, they come to see the guys play.”

They’ll likely come in droves to see the return of Williams, who re-signed with the Nets for five years and $98 million following the franchise’s move from New Jersey, but never materialized into a true franchise player or floor leader here in Brooklyn.

This past offseason, King found a way to help the Nets avert paying an exorbitant luxury tax, as well as sending Williams back home to Dallas, the place he admittedly always wanted to play, nullifying the final two years and $43 million remaining on his pact via a $27 million buyout.

On July 11, the Nets officially waived Williams, three years and eight days after the date they anointed him the face of the franchise ahead of its move to Brooklyn.

“I would like to thank Deron for everything he gave the organization over the past 4 ½ years,” King said, adding the time that Williams spent as a New Jersey Net following his acquisition from Utah in 2011. “I would like to wish Deron and his family good luck in the future.

“I think we both made it work — tried to make it work — I think we had some great moments with him (here in Brooklyn),” King added.

The great moments were certainly few and far between, despite the fact that Williams helped the Nets reach the playoffs during all three of his seasons in Brooklyn.

He averaged 16.6 points and 7.5 assists in the 277 games he played for the Nets, but the numbers don’t speak to his inability to lift Brooklyn into the elite status of Eastern Conference contenders King and billionaire owner Mikhail Prokhorov were hoping for when they decided to re-sign Williams on July 3, 2012.

Now Williams will be a sidekick to future Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki in Dallas, where, ironically, it was Kidd who helped the Mavericks to their only NBA title in 2011.

There will definitely be a mixed reaction from the crowd when he returns to the Barclays on the night before Christmas Eve, as Nets fans might not view him as a traitor, as they did Kidd, but perhaps more as a player that didn’t take them where they wanted to go in the playoffs.

The Nets will also visit Williams in Dallas on Jan. 29.

Of course, the dates for the D-Will Saga are far from the only highlights on the Nets’ new schedule.

Brooklyn will kick off its fourth season at Barclays Center on Wednesday, Oct. 28 against the Chicago Bulls.

The Nets also welcome reigning MVP Stephen Curry and the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors to Brooklyn on Sunday, Dec. 6, tipping off a season-high six-game homestand which also includes a visit Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and the rest of the Los Angeles Clippers on Dec. 12.

Brooklyn will host LeBron James and the Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday, Jan. 20 and Thursday, March 24, while Tim Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs visit the borough on Monday, Jan. 11.

Lest we forget, the Battle of the Boroughs against Brooklyn-born Carmelo Anthony and the Knicks commences on Dec. 4 at Madison Square Garden, with the teams scheduled to meet three more times during the regular season, including Jan. 13 and Feb. 19 at Barclays, and April Fool’s Day at MSG.

Brooklyn is scheduled to appear on national TV a total of four times over the course of the upcoming campaign, including one game on ESPN and three on NBATV.

Nothing But Net: The Nets signed guard Donald Sloan, who has appeared in 157 games (33 starts) in four seasons with the Atlanta Hawks (2011-12), New Orleans Hornets (2011-12, 2012-13), Cleveland Cavaliers (2011-13) and Indiana Pacers (2013-15), registering averages of 4.9 points, 1.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 15.5 minutes per game. … Brooklyn also announced that it has waived forward Earl Clark. … The preseason slate for Brooklyn opens on Oct. 5 when the Nets play host to Fenerbahce Ulker of the Turkish Basketball League, with tip at 7:30 p.m. In addition, the Nets will host the Boston Celtics on Wednesday, Oct. 14 and the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday, Oct. 18.