Deron Williams Reaches Deal to Play in Turkey
By HOWARD BECK
Published: July 7, 2011
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CloseLinkedinDiggMySpacePermalink Deron Williams, the Nets’ star point guard and one of the N.B.A.’s premier players, has an agreement to play in Turkey during the lockout.
“We confirm” the contract with Williams, said Ergin Ataman, the coach of the Turkish team Besiktas, in a telephone interview Thursday.
Ataman said that the deal should become official in the next 24 hours and that Besiktas’s president, Seref Yalcin, would join Williams for a news conference in the United States next week.
The news of Williams’s agreement was first reported by a Turkish television station, NTV Spor, and later confirmed by ESPN.com.
Williams, 27, is a two-time All-Star and one of the N.B.A.’s top point guards. He would be the biggest N.B.A. star ever to play overseas in his prime. Besiktas briefly employed Allen Iverson last season, after Iverson, 36, could no longer find a willing employer in the N.B.A.
Williams has two years and $34 million left on his contract with the Nets, with an option to terminate next summer. It is unclear what effect his playing for a European team might have on his Nets contract, although Commissioner David Stern has indicated that the league would not stand in the way of players going overseas during a lockout.
“If there’s a lockout, the players are free; their contracts are suspended,” Stern said during All-Star weekend in February. “It’s that simple.”
In general, the N.B.A. and FIBA have an arrangement that precludes teams in either organization from signing players already under contract. That agreement became moot on July 1, when the N.B.A.’s labor deal expired, and the league locked out its players.
But if Williams were injured while playing for Besiktas, it could risk nullification of his Nets contract, according to N.B.A. officials.
Williams is expected to report to Besiktas, which is based in Istanbul, on Sept. 1. The season there begins Sept. 27.
If the lockout is resolved, Williams would be free to break his contract and return to the N.B.A., Ataman said.
Ataman said Zaza Pachulia, who plays for the Atlanta Hawks, also has an agreement to play for Besiktas. And the club is not done recruiting locked-out N.B.A. players, he said.
“If there’s a possibility, we’ll talk with Kobe if he’d like to play in Europe with Deron and with other guys to play we can talk with him,” Ataman said. “If Kobe would like to play with us, we will also contact his agent and maybe with him.”
Pete Thamel contributed reporting.
7/7/2011 11:36 AM
