Deron Williams isn’t happy with the situation in New Jersey with the Nets. From playing on a team with high aspirations, hopeful of landing Dwight Howard somehow, Williams has found himself as the best player on a team going nowhere, with an owner who’s too involved with current Russian politics to actually care enough it seems.

The Lakers are counting on that, or hoping they are a good place to be considered an out for Deron Williams. They wanted Chris Paul before the season began, but David Stern decided to gift CP-3 to their rivals, the Los Angeles Clippers. While Williams’ numbers, 18 points and 8.4 assists while shooting a terrible %37.2 from the field, aren’t a sign of his depression, a 4-11 record with the Nets and the lack of smiles on his face when games end are a better sign.

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We’ve had a brutal schedule. Everybody has. We’ve been on the road and played a lot of games in a short amount of time. We’re a young team, a team that was just put together. So it’s been tough. We knew everything wasn’t going to come together overnight.

The wide belief is that Williams is waiting to become a free agent in the summer, and then head south, to play for the Dallas Mavericks, his hometown, where they have aging point guard problems of their own. Jason Kidd is playing nearly 30 minutes a night, but the 38 year old future hall of famer is producing just 4.7 points and 4.9 assists a night, while shooting just above %30 from the field.

But it’s the Lakers who might snatch up Williams before everything is said and done. From the looks of how things are run right now in Laker-land, meaning Kobe Bryant shooting while everyone watches and prays that he actually decided to pass the ball once in a while, Bynum and Pau Gasol are nothing more than trade-bait. Bynum is more important than that, especially this season, but It’s obvious that this is still Bryant’s team. Gasol and Bynum are the only worthy pieces for a trade involving an All-Star point guard like Williams.

I’ve had that since I was in Utah, Laker fans wanting me to come here. It’s definitely flattering. I’ll address all that when the time is right.

In terms of possibilities and likelihood, the Dallas move is probably easier to pull off. The Nets aren’t decided as to where they’re going, who they want to build around and probably believe Williams isn’t part of that future. The Los Angeles Lakers have had a better start than initially expected, so who knows if they blow up the package now.