I'm not sure if Sean Williams studied Greek history or language while at Boston College, but he should have. If he did, he missed the day they taught hubris.
Williams was guilty of it when he went to Nets GM Rod Thorn and requested the team decline his contract option for next season. Williams, like all first-round picks, is tied to the team for five years, should the team choose to continue the relationship. The forward wanted to get to his second contract sooner than that, however, so that he could start cashing in at a salary above the capped total put in place by the collective bargaining agreement.
The Nets passed on his generous offer, so Williams will have to make do with $1.6 million next season. The rookie pay scale is something NBA teams like very much, it stops them from overpaying potential and enables them to add veterans without breaking up a core of young talent. A player would have to underperform to truly epic levels for a team to pass up their option year, Williams hasn't set the world on fire, but hasn't been that bad either.
Williams was okay as a rookie, averaging 5.6 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game, but not so good that a team couldn't live without his talents. Lawrence Frank clearly agrees with that assessment, since Williams currently ranks fourth among the four forwards on the New Jersey bench. Once Stromile Swift is healthy, he'll drop to fifth. For good measure, throw in the fact that Williams already has a red flag to many NBA teams because he was suspended twice for marijuana use while in college.
Despite all that, Williams thought he was going to earn a major payday next season. It takes a special kind of guy to be that arrogant in the face of numerous reasons to be humble. The Nets must be thrilled that their demoted second-year player was so motivated by being benched that his immediate worry was making money next year instead of winning back a spot in the rotation. That's the kind of spirit that's sure to get them back on the winning track.
