Taking Talents Overseas: NBA Lockout Has Nets Guard Deron Williams Pondering Turkey?

Photo Credit: Majdi achour/Wikimedia Commons

With the NBA Lockout in full effect, New Jersey Nets guard Deron Williams has decided to take matters into his own hands. The Nets All-Star point guard has reached a deal with the Turkish Besiktas team to play basketball overseas given that the NBA lockout is not settled by fall.

According to the NewYorkTimes, Besiktas coach Ergin Ataman has confirmed that an agreement has indeed been made with Deron Williams.

“We confirm the contract with Williams. The deal should become official in the next 24 hours. Besiktas president, Seref Yalcin would join Williams for a news conference in The United States next week.”

The Turkish Besiktas team is the same basketball organization that had hired NBA icon Allen Iverson. There are rumors also spreading around that the Besiktas team’s next target would be Los Angeles Lakers own Kobe Bryant. With the NBA season’s future undetermined, the Besiktas organization looks to pursue all the NBA heavyweights and encourage other stars to play basketball in Turkey.

The NBA player’s union has already committed to protecting locked out athletes. Given that the NBA lockout continues to next season, players are free from playing basketball overseas without being hassled by the NBA.

In the instance that the NBA lockout is resolved before fall, Deron Williams has the opportunity to break away from the Turkish deal and continue to play with the New Jersey Nets.

Deron Williams is set to receive approximately 16 million playing for the New Jersey Nets next season. The Besiktas organization must have presented Williams with a deal lucrative enough for the All-Star guard to want to play overseas. The New Jersey Nets organization has not yet delivered a statement in regards to the matter.