Deron Williams Shot Regression

It's noticeable to nearly every Nets fan, new and old. Deron William's shot making abilities has tanked since his arrival onto the Nets. There's been several reasons. One is that his wrist is still injured. Others may say he's no longer an elite point guard and his skills are diminishing. After missing yet another clutch shot against the Knicks in his Nets tenure, DIME Magazine inquires the regression in Deron Williams' shot-making abilities..

Despite averaging 16.7 points per game, Deron is shooting 38.7% after never shooting at a clip below 42% from his Utah days. What's worse is his 27.5% clip from beyond the arc, much lower than his career 34.7% 3-point average.

Below is Deron's shot chart via NBA.com/stats for the last three years. It's worth a look.

Deron's season up until Round 2 vs the Knicks

That last chart, that has a lot of red. 

DIME Magazine takes a look into what could be the problem, and questions why his averages suddenly dipped as he entered the East Coast.

Quotes from the article:

If you look at Williams’ shooting graphics above which show his last full season in Utah, his full season in New Jersey last year, and this season, you’ll see that he’s not really struggling to finish in the restricted area. It’s more his outside shot.

After being traded away from Utah past the midway point of the 2010-11 season, Williams shot under 35 percent in the 12 games he appeared in for the Nets before being deactivated to rest his janky right wrist. Earlier in the year, when he was still with Utah, he had shot over 45 percent, but that dropped almost the moment he came to Jersey. Williams kept playing with the banged-up wrist because the Nets were – speciously, at least – in playoff contention.

It goes on to talk about the dip in his assists numbers as well.


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