Jay Williams back in the NBA

Nets sign the ex-bull

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Three years after a motorcycle accident put his fledgling career in jeopardy, Jay Williams is getting a chance to return to the NBA with the New Jersey Nets.

Williams signed a contract with the Nets on Thursday, giving him the right to attend training camp and try out for the team.

Contract terms were not immediately available, but the deal is not guaranteed.

"I would love for it to happen here," Williams said. "I pray to God it does. But if it doesn't, I'll have to go from there."

With Jason Kidd being the Nets' starting point guard and Marcus Williams, the team's first-round draft pick, expected to be his backup, Williams is a bit of a long shot to make the team.

"I think there are a lot of things in my game that a lot of people don't realize," Williams said. "Over the past 2½, three years I really found the passes, so I can still (pass) the ball and make everyone around me look great, too. My jump shot has gotten a lot better. I just have to keep working hard."

Nets president Rod Thorn said earlier this week that the accident has taken away some of Williams' athleticism, but he can make up for that with his knowledge of the game.

"Remarkable young man to get to this point," Thorn said. "Nobody outworks him. He's got a tremendous attitude. He's a guy that everybody roots for, the kind of person that he is. He believes he'll make it back. And we're certainly hopeful that he will, too."

Williams, who has been working out at the Nets' facility for the past seven weeks, said he feels great.

"When I first came here a month and a half ago, we did the full-court sprint and I ran it in a 3.5 (seconds)," Williams said. "Two weeks ago, we ran it again and I was at a 2.85. So I've gotten a lot, lot faster.

"It's weird, though, because sometimes it'll kind of level off a little bit and then I'll have a big jump," he added. "I keep getting better. I don't know how to explain it, I keep working hard and hopefully it will continue to pay off."

Originally drafted with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft by the Chicago Bulls, Williams averaged 9.5 points, 4.7 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 1.15 steals in 75 games during the 2002-03 season. He was named to the NBA's All-Rookie Second Team.

Williams' career appeared to end on June 19, 2003, when he crashed his recently bought motorcycle into a light pole in Chicago, fracturing his pelvis and tearing knee ligaments and suffering nerve damage in his left leg. He was hospitalized for 3½ months.

The Bulls eventually bought out his contract for about $3 million.

A native of Plainfield, which is about 20 miles from where the Nets play their home games, Williams led Duke to the national title as a sophomore in 2001 and was a two-time All-American and the 2002 Associated Press College Player of the Year.

"(I) just keep getting better and keep showing that I can play," Williams said. "It's been a fun experience."

hell yeah, playing for my nets, but i dont know if they really need him

Best of luck to J-Will

Yes good luck to the kid, really hope he gets a tonne of time and turns into the player he always shoulda been.

good to see him back, but shouldve really either kept the money or spent it on a needed bigman. i want to see Marcus get the most of the mins and develop

hopefully he doesnt get wasted like antoine wright was last year

I was pretty happy to hear the news when I read it yesterday. I loved this guy at Duke and I really wanted to see him do well in the league. Now he has another shot to really show us what he got.

Well, J-Kidd was overplayed a lot last year, this'll help give him a rest once in a while.

He's not signed to a deal for sure yet, people.

Marcus Williams is also playing behind Kidd and House can play a couple minutes as a point guard as well, so I don't really see this as an opportunity to really show what Jay can bring. The signing is still a pretty good low risk/high reward kind of player and adds depth in case one of the guards go down with an injury, though.

Jay, welcome to the Nets!! I hope he'll end up as a great sucessor of Kidd with the help of Marcus from the bench when Kidd retires.

Yes good luck to Jay Will, hopefulyl he can contribute off the bench behind Kidd.

Damn i thought he actually made a team.

NJN would be a tough place for him to make considering Kidd is the present & Marcus if their future. Maybe he can outplay Marcus...who knows.

Damn i thought he actually made a team.

NJN would be a tough place for him to make considering Kidd is the present & Marcus if their future. Maybe he can outplay Marcus...who knows.

I read somewhere that in July the nets had a work out with Jay, Marcus, and Tierre Brown and they were seeing what they could get from PGs to back up Kidd. Apparently Marcus was the best offensive threat but he was slpppy running the offenses and was playing horrible D.

Jay on the other hand was playing really good i guess. With his lack of speed he has a new found shooting touch and his playmaking skills are even if not better then MArcus. I like Jay Williams Alot, his swagger and game were always what made him my fave college player (and i hate duke) but im glad hes back, he used to be my fave bull.

They shouldn't have signed House. Hes not going to do anything this year for the Nets. I bet he doesnt even play in 50 games.

Too bad he lost all of his explosiveness, don't think he'll ever be the same, but best of luck to the kid.

feel sorry for williams, he used to have mad hops and blazing quickness.... he dunked over yao ming

feel sorry for williams

Jay Williams doesn't need your pity.

Great news for Jay Williams. just to see him anywhere in the league is great news. i wish it hadnt been a team with 1 superstar PG and 2 other very solid PGs. But it has been a tremendous fight-back for him, and i really hope the new jersey fans welcome him, because he is a great pickup.

Marcus Williams is also playing behind Kidd and House can play a couple minutes as a point guard as well, so I don't really see this as an opportunity to really show what Jay can bring. The signing is still a pretty good low risk/high reward kind of player and adds depth in case one of the guards go down with an injury, though.

how can he be high reward?

the guy was average before the accident. he couldn't bully/outquick NBA players like he did in college. a torn MCL/ACL and nerve damage in his hip later- he gets a NON guaranteed contract this far into the free agency signing period

House can always come in at shooting guard, right?

He's also one of the only players on the bench who can come in and put up points quickly.

how can he be high reward?

Well, considering he was signed for around the league minimum and he's still fairly young and better than most scrubby back-up point guards, I'd say that's somewhat of a reward if he manages to cope with his lost athleticism and quickness.

so somewhat of a reward now? we don't even know if he can hang with NBA players... rely successfully on his "smarts' instead of his strength & athleticism, which he heavily relied on before the tragic accident

If he is able to "hang with NBA players", I think he'll be able to play quite well. Since nobody's expecting him to put up monster numbers or anything, he's also playing for a very small contract and if he does manage to play well it's a good pick up for New Jersey.

If not, he'll be a bum, but there are plenty of those with even bigger contracts.

it looks like jay might actually get some decent court time, aparently mcinnis is leaving and will more then likely end up at the heat because jason williams wont be available for the first few games

http://www.yesnetwork.com/news/article. ... 318&vkey=3

read question 10

The most important thing right now is the development of Josh Boone, but in case Marcus Williams has some trouble getting started, this will be good.