The Top 50

#14 - Deron Williams
He’s not Chris Paul. The comparisons have stuck like duct tape ever since the Jazz snagged Williams with the third pick in the 2005 Draft, right ahead of the Wake Forest phenom. Despite his own dominance, Deron just can’t seem to shake the unfair and illogical parallels that are constantly drawn between the two classmates. He may never be as good as Paul, but looking at Williams’ ability in his shadow is a tragic undermining of one of the best players in the game.

Standing a solid 6’3”, Williams has the body physically dominate most point guards he faces. While he isn’t nearly as quick as the top-tier 1’s he joined the ranks of last season, he’s very good at using his size to shoot over and muscle through smaller defenders. Thus, he dropped 19/game and shot more efficiently than any other point last season, besting Paul and even Steve Nash with a .507 shooting clip. His 19/10/.500 last season put him in the exclusive company of the Johnsons (Magic and Kevin), something even Chris Paul can’t claim.

Equally adept at scoring and distributing, Williams seamlessly slid between roles and led Utah near the top of the West, but was still slept on by ignorant coaches who left him off the All-Star squad. He proceeded to annihilate the Skills Competition and went on a second-half tear that saw him dish more assists in March than any player not named John Stockton has in a single month and light up the Lakers for 22/12/5 in a second-round loss. His place among the game’s best was questioned; his response left no room for debate.

Deron’s ridiculous end to last season and ensuing triumph in Beijing bode well for a Utah team looking to make waves in the West. One of the few teams with a legitimate shot at winning a conference that somehow might be even tougher than last season, they’ve found a true leader in Williams. All of 24, he’s improved his game every year and has time on his side; the tandem he forms with Carlos Boozer already drawing some legitimate (though premature) comparisons to Stockton and Malone. But enough of the comparisons. They’re demeaning to the skills of one of the league’s brightest young stars. He’s not Chris Paul, but almost every other point guard in the league isn’t Deron Williams.