Williams said he’s never been advised by Nike on how a location would boost his marketing value, and he doesn’t envision himself commanding the type of cachet that reportedly landed Derrick Rose a $250 million deal with Adidas, even as Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov is promising global stardom. Without such a lucrative endorsement deal, Williams hinted that the high cost of living in New York — where he rents a SoHo townhouse — offsets the smaller monetary bonuses of playing in a big market. Of course, Williams would get an extra year and $30 million on his contract by re-signing with the Nets instead of another team. He has already ruled out an extension. “I’m sure I could make a couple more hundreds of thousands or something like that a year (on endorsements), or maybe a $1 million per year,” said the 27-year-old, who is married with four children. “But you could go somewhere in Florida or Texas and you’re not losing 8% state tax, plus you don’t have a city tax, plus the cost of living isn’t two times higher than anywhere else.”
Stefan Bondy, New York Daily News — As NJ Nets fall to Cavs in Cleveland, All-Star Deron Williams not seeing the benefits of playing in big market
“We had a really good run in the first half, got the ball moving,” Johnson, the Nets coach, said. “But in the second half, they got hot from the 3-point line. They shot (61.5) percent from 3 … so we didn’t do a good job of defending the 3-point line, didn’t do a good job in the second half or really, finishing our layups … and again, just too many turnovers.” The Nets committed 22 turnovers in the game, leading to 25 Cavaliers points. Point guards Deron Williams and Sundiata Gaines had six and five turnovers, respectively, and Anthony Morrow had four. “I’m definitely frustrated,” Williams said afterward, “frustrated with how I’m playing. I’m not helping this team at all. I’m hoping this gets turned around and we get some wins.” Gaines, who started his third consecutive game alongside Williams in the backcourt, took responsibility for turning the ball over. “We just stopped playing defense,” he said. “We were missing some shots; we had a lot of turnovers. Mainly it starts with me — I’ve got to take better care of the ball, get the team organized, and do a better job.” The Nets were playing their fifth game in seven nights, but would not use fatigue as an excuse.
Colin Stephenson — Nets fall to Cavaliers, 98-82, dropping fourth straight game
The schedule gets ugly soon enough, but maybe the youngsters develop some confidence in the meantime. Organizations want to see their rookies and high draft picks enjoy early success. Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson are doing that. Irving didn’t play his best all-around game Sunday, but he hit 3-of-4 3-pointers after starting the season 1-of-7 from behind the arc. Thompson was some kind of efficient in 16 minutes producing nine points, six rebounds and three blocked shots. Meanwhile, reserve small forward Alonzo Gee continues to be the surprise of season’s opening weeks. He scored 11 points and was 3-of-5 from 3-point range. Of course, it helps when the opponent looks like it rolled in at 6 a.m. from a night of New Year’s revelry. The Nets, without center Brook Lopez (broken foot), shot 38 percent and, like the Cavs, committed 22 turnovers. Point guard Deron Williams scored 16 points, but turned it over six times. Rookie MarShon Williams was held scoreless. “We didn’t do a good job in the second half of finishing our layups,” Nets coach Avery Johnson said. “We were 13-of-30 on layup shots in the paint.” What in the name of Kim Kardashian did he just say? The Nets missed 17 layups?
Tom Reed, The Plain DealerCleveland Cavaliers taking advantage of opportuntities afforded them: Days of Wine-n-Gold
