Went From Top 5, To Not Mentioned At All - - NBA Edition

The Steeze Report will be conducting our very own "Went From Top 5 To Not Mentioned At All" series of posts over the next week or so.  We will be highlighting the top NBA players(in no particular order despite the numbers associated with them) who have plummeted from the heights of superstardom to becoming damn near scrubs.  Here is our first entry in the series.

Drake looking mofo

#1 Deron Williams

The $98 million dollar man has been missing in action for years now. Here's a guy, while playing for the Utah Jazz, was one of the top 2 point guards in the league. There was a time when you talked about the elite point guards in the game and most would ask "Chris Paul or Deron Williams?" Now, you can go 5 to 10 names deep before you would pick Williams. Sadly, injuries and McDonalds have done Williams in. As recently as 2012, Slam Magazine had Williams ranked as the 7th best player in the entire NBA!  Of Williams, Slam Magazine stated that, 

The thing is when you looked back at those days, you could speak reverently about everyone else at that time, but when you look at October of 2010, there is still one man standing; one man who is now the best point guard in basketball, and did it in a way that should be applauded and appreciated…and that man is Deron Williams.

It appears that Williams is more of a system player. He was great in Jerry Sloan's offense, which was a two guard offense. When he played at Illinois, he played in a system. System offenses like the Triangle or Princeton offenses suit Williams well. However when you take him out of a system, and he has to call the plays and setup the offense he's not as good.

No longer a debate

If the rumors are true that Tony Parker will retire after the 2016 Olympics in a few years, perhaps Williams should give the San Antonio Spurs a try; assuming coach Popovich, Kawhi Leonard(aka "Sugar K. Leonard") and Tim Duncan stick around.

Check back tomorrow for our next pick in our "Went From Top 5 To Not Mentioned At All" series. Leave a comment with your picks.