"Deron Williams emerged from the training room looking tired and drawn. While reporters huddled around teammates Kris Humphries and Jordan Farmar, Williams sat quietly at his locker, holding his cell phone and stroking the bottom of his goatee. He was too upset to get dressed or soak his feet in the ice bucket in front of him, or to read through any of his texts.

This season isn't even a month old, but it's obviously wearing already on Williams. His New Jersey Nets have lost 11 of their first 14 games after Monday's listless 101-91 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. Center Brook Lopez is out another couple of months with a broken foot. Dwight Howard isn't arriving anytime soon, if at all. Which leaves Williams in this strange place, waiting for things to turn around in New Jersey, or plotting an escape via free agency this summer if they don't.

He's neither here nor there. His present consists of waiting for his future to sort itself out. The only saving grace is that because the Nets gave up so much to get him last year, he doesn't face the constant barrage of questions about where he might get traded, as Howard does every day.

But the more New Jersey loses, the more miserable Williams looks. And as the prospect of landing Howard seems further and further away, the trade issue will come up that much more."