Deron Williams used to be the best point guard in the league.

Well, maybe not the best, but at least he was in the conversation a couple years ago. Nowadays, the argument would last as long as Chris Paul’s stint with the Lakers.

Playing in Utah with Carlos Boozer and Jerry Sloan’s flex offense brought the best out of Williams. In his five and a half seasons with the Jazz, Williams had three seasons averaging at least 18 points and 10 assists per game. 

In comparison, no other NBA player has put out that stat line in a season since Williams in 2010-11. Before Steve Nash’s back-to-back years averaging at least 18 and 10 from 2005-07 and Paul’s three consecutive years from 2007-10, you’d have to go all the way back to Tim Hardaway’s 1992-93 season to find another player to average at least 18 points and 10 assists per game in a season.

Just as Williams was arguably having his best season in Utah the following year, averaging a career-high 21.3 points per game, the Jazz shocked the NBA world by trading him before the deadline to the Nets. 

Williams immediately saw a decline in his play. His points per game dropped to just 15.0 in his 12 games with the Nets. His 45.8 field goal percentage with Utah also fell off, as he shot just 34.9 with New Jersey.

His first full season with the Nets was also a disaster. With fewer scorers around him, Williams was asked to score a lot more. He did, but with much less efficiency. Williams sported a sky-high usage rate (the amount of possessions a player uses per 40 minutes) of 29.8, ranking fourth in the league. The only players that used more of their teams’ possessions were Derrick Rose and infamous shot-chuckers Russell Westbrook and Kobe Bryant. Williams averaged 21 points per game, but he shot just 40.7 percent from the field and 33.6 percent from behind the arc. In his best full season with Utah, Williams shot 50.7 percent from the field and 39.5 percent from downtown. He also had his lowest assist ratio since his rookie season while turning it over at a career-high rate. New Jersey finished 22-44 in the locked out season.

In the first half of this year, the inaugural season of the Brooklyn Nets, Williams was experiencing much of the same. In the 50 games before the All-Star break, Williams averaged just 16.7 points and 7.6 assists per game. Although the Nets were among the most improved teams in the league, much of the credit was given to Brook Lopez, who was selected for his first All-Star game. Williams, on the other hand, didn’t make the All-Star game for the first time since the 2008-09 season. Brooklyn was starting to regret dealing out $98 million to Williams prior to this season. Those doubts wouldn’t last long.

In the second half of the season, Williams has been a man possessed.

Williams is averaging a whopping 23 points per game since the All-Star break, ranking eighth in the league in that time. His 3-pointers have played a large role in his scoring uptick, as he’s averaged 2.9 per game, the third most in the NBA, while connecting at a 42.9 percent clip. In comparison, Paul, Westbrook and Tony Parker have combined to make 2.1 threes per game since the All-Star game. If there was a moment where Williams turned his game around, look no further than March 8 when the Nets played the Washington Wizards in Brooklyn.

It didn’t take long to realize Williams was about to do something special in that game, I mean he had drained six 3-pointers less than five minutes in. Williams had nine 3-pointers and 33 points by halftime, equaling the Wizards point total as a team. The nine first-half 3-pointers were an NBA record, and he also became the first player since 2003 to equal or score more than the opposing team in the first half. It was one of those games where you looked at the box score and had to refresh the page a couple times to make sure ESPN wasn’t malfunctioning. He finished with 42 points and 11 3-pointers, one shy of the NBA record. 

He didn’t stop there. In the 14 games since his coming-out party against Washington, Williams has scored 30 or more points in four games, including his last two. In the 58 games prior to his 3-point barrage? Only Twice.

OK, so his scoring is back. His passing? Not so much. No, Williams is not averaging 10 assists per game anymore, he’s currently at 7.7. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing, either.

When you look deeper into his numbers, Williams’ turnover ratio (turnovers per 100 possessions) of 10.5 is a career best. His tendency to shoot more 3-pointers these days has led to less dribbling, leading to fewer turnovers and more points for the once pass-first point guard. With a lineup that often includes the offense-inept Reggie Evans, the Nets need Williams’ scoring contributions.

There are several reasons for Williams’ sudden resurgence.

Lopez certainly deserves to be recognized for his breakout season. His player efficiency rating (PER) of 24.57 is that of a superstar, good for fifth best in the league. PER measures a player’s per-minute productivity, and the league average is 15. Lopez is the first All-Star post presence Williams has had since Boozer, when the duo was reminding Utah fans of the Stockton-Malone days.

Although Lopez has made Williams’ transition to the Nets easier, the biggest reason for the former Illini’s strong second half has been his hunger to win.

With Brooklyn sitting at 44-32 and currently holding the fourth seed in the East, Williams has had something to play for every night other than stats. His contract is signed, his injuries are healed and his mind is focused. Williams will have his first chance since 2010 to show the NBA what an inspired D-Will can do in the playoffs.

If you may recall, Williams averaged 24.3 points and 10.2 assists per game in that postseason, becoming the first player in NBA history to score at least 20 points and dish out at least 10 assists in the first five games of a postseason series. He was also the first player to put up those numbers in five consecutive games in one series.

Even with the strong second half Williams is experiencing, he is still facing stiff competition for the title of best point guard in the league.

I would still argue Paul sits atop the point guard crop in the NBA, even if Westbrook (23.4) and Williams (18.7) are superior scorers to Paul (17.0). With Paul shooting only 28.4 percent from downtown in the second half of the season, Williams has also emerged as a better deep threat than Paul. Despite the poor shooting, Paul is still fourth among NBA point guards in field goal percentage (48.1), second in assists per game (9.6), and first in assist-to-turnover ratio (4.15) and steals per game (2.4). With Parker, Kyrie Irving and Rose combining to play only 23 games since the All-Star break, Paul and Williams have faced less competition than in past seasons.

While Paul is still the NBA’s top point guard, Williams has entered the discussion for the second half of the season.

If Williams’ surge continues into next year, Paul may need to watch out.

Michael can be reached at [email protected].