NBA: Each Team’s Most Important Player Heading Into 2015-16

May 1, 2015; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Brooklyn Nets point guard Deron Williams (8) shoots over Atlanta Hawks small forward DeMarre Carroll (5) during the first quarter of game six of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Deron Williams, Dallas Mavericks

2014-15 Stats: 13.0 points, 6.6 assists

The only – and I emphasize only – way that this Dallas Mavericks team is going to make the playoffs this season, assuming Wesley Matthews doesn’t have an unprecedented recovery and plays at an all-star level this year, is if they find a way for a more-than-Ok Deron Williams to re-emerge.

Even though I’m not sure that is even remotely possible, it has to happen in order for the Mavs to compete in the stacked Western Conference.

Williams is only 31 years old and, for the sake of the Dallas Mavericks losing DeAndre Jordan this summer, they’re going to need him to play like his age – not the way his game has declined over the two seasons.

Next: Denver Nuggets