Well I feel a little bad that my pre-trade analysis article of a rumored Mo Williams trade was so short-lived. But that’s negated by the great news of Brian Windhorst’s return to active reporting.
After missing some time due to illness, Brian Windhorst has returned to break the biggest story of the summer for the Cavaliers. Maurice Williams will join the Cavalier in a three-team deal that sends Luke Ridnour, Damon Jones, and Adrian Griffin to Milwaukee while Joe Smith and Desmond Mason will join the Oklahoma City Hornets.
Here it is from the Akron Beacon Journal:
An NBA executive said the Cavaliers, in a trade expected to be completed later today, finally have acquired a top-level point guard in executing a six-player, three-team deal.
The Milwaukee Bucks traded point guard Mo Williams to the Cavs in exchange for the expiring contracts of guard Damon Jones and forward Joe Smith. As part of the deal, the Bucks will receive Jones and Oklahoma City point guard Luke Ridnour. Oklahoma City acquires Smith and Bucks forward Desmond Mason. Oklahoma City also will send swingman Adrian Griffin to the Bucks.
Williams scored 17.2 points per game with the Bucks last season. He averaged 6.3 assists in 66 games, shooting 48 percent from the field, 86 percent from the free-throw line. He was drafted out of the University of Alabama by the Utah Jazz in the second round of the 2003 NBA Draft.
Williams is coming off three strong seasons with the Bucks, where he established himself as one of the league’s better offensive point guards. He is known for his ability to break down defenses off the dribble. The Cavs are taking on significant salary with this move.
Williams has five years and $43 million left on a contract that he signed last summer. He’ll make $8.5 million this season and owns a player option for 2012-13 at $8.5 million. The Cavs showed interest in him last year, but he resigned with the Bucks.
Williams will likely be the starting point guard, which leaves restricted free agent Delonte West without much bargaining power in his protracted contract negotiations with the team.
Sources said the Cavs still want to bring West back but this increases the chances that he will take the qualifying offer of $2.8 million for one season.
The loss of Smith is expected to be made up by rookie forward J.J. Hickson, the Cavs’ first-round draft choice. He impressed the Cavs during summer-league play last month.
Immediate Analysis
Well this was an unexpected treat. The best case scenario played out, and the Cavs will now see a backcourt that retains Daniel Gibson and Delonte West (albeit likely only for a year), while adding a significant burst of scoring ability in Maurice Williams.
The price was small. While losing Joe Smith’s midrange game and veteran leadership hurts, his limited appearances made the deal something the Cavs had to do, especially with the uncertainty of Delonte West. Damon Jones, who I thought played very well in short spurts last year, wasn’t going to see minutes in a Mike Brown system, except as a last resort.
Now the Cavs will get to see J.J. Hickson sooner rather than later as he will slide into the fourth big man role, allowing the Cavs to finally get Darnell Jackson signed to a deal and on the roster.
As for the Cavs financial flexibility…well they retain between $27-32 million dollars of expiring contracts in Wally Szczerbiak ($13 million) , Eric Snow ($7 million) , Sasha Pavlovic ($4.5 million with partially guaranteed 2009-2010) , Anderson Varejao ($6 million player option), and Tarence Kinsey ($800,000) to move before the deadline.
Where does this leave West?
Delonte West and Boobie Gibson are so fondly regarded by Cavs fans for a reason. They’ve showed a desire to have the ball in their hands during key possesions (when most of the rest of the team watches Lebron operate), and Delonte is/was the closest thing to a penetrator the Cavs had outside of Lebron and “terrible handles” Pavlovic. While Gibson has been mostly a spot shooter during his formative years, the fondest of memories of him that Cavs fans have is when he “dominated” the ball against Detroit in the Eastern Conference Finals and actually looked to create for himself by driving to the hoop. Getting Williams eleviates some of the concerns that the Cavs won’t be able to replicate Delonte’s ball pressure should he leave. In all likelihood, it will be a marked improvement.
As for West, I’d still like to see him return since the team’s best guards are very small, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see him dealt in a sign and trade for another big man to fill the void Joe Smith’s departure has created. I’m optimistic about Hickson’s promise, but Mike Brown brings along young guys slowly. Even Daniel Gibson, who hit his shots from day one and played far headier than a rookie usually does, didn’t see significant minutes until after All Star Break of his rookie season.
Future Outlook:
Maurice Williams, Daniel Gibson, and J.J. Hickson are the only guys on the roster who would definitely still be here past 2010. Adding Williams’ contract may be a concern to some, but it’s a justifiable risk if the Cavs feel they are close to competing for a title, or if they think that Williams strengths will fit well with this roster long-term.
No team is going to be able build their squad so that every contract is off the books simultaneously, and Williams is making a lot of money on a long-term deal (5 years, $43 million remain), but he is only 25 years old. He will probably still be contributing throughout that term. The biggest risk in this deal was the financial part of it. Chemistry and injuries are secondary to that.
How does this affect Lebron?
Maurice Williams likes to have the ball. That’s undeniable. But nobody is questioning who will have the ball in their hands when it matters.
Lebron IS the playmaker, but when given the chance to post up and play off the ball (like in the Olympics at times) he’s shown he’s more than capable of excelling in that role too. Williams will be expected to be able to make some plays for himself without relying on Lebron in hopes of adding a new dimension to the Cavs offense instead of always trying to plug every other roster player into a neatly defined one-dimensional role of “Lebron’s helper”.
The Realist View
I don’t think any Cavs fan is under the mistaken assumption that Mo Williams was brought in here to shore up a defensive issue. You won’t find many players making 8 million dollars who address all the shortcomings this Cavalier roster has (did I just say you can’t expect someone making 8 million a year to be perfect…jesus). But a 17 ppg scorer (albeit on a weak Buck squad) with a 17 PER doling out 6 assists per game isn’t too shabby even if he doesn’t play a lick of defense. The Cavs defense is built from the inside out.
It’s a trade off of big money for big potential, as are most deals, but the Cavs have Pavs/West(sort of)/Kinsey for length, and don’t be shocked to see the $27 plus million in expirings they have turn into another deal before the deadline that may or may not bring a better two-guard or a more well rounded big man.
The Bucks View
For a Bucks perspective, Brewhoop checks in with their summary of the deal:
Talent-wise the Bucks would clearly get the short end of the stick, but then again the questions about Mo have never been related to talent. Clearly the Bucks view this as addition by subtraction, though that might be tougher to sell to the average fan. The Bucks will get some financial benefits over the next two years and then even more flexibility once Ridnour’s deal is up in 2010, but the near-term benefits won’t be the same as they would have gotten in a straight salary dump. That suggests Hammond and Skiles do see Ridnour as more than just cap relief, though it’s not clear what the point guard pecking order will look like once the dust settles.
As for Mo, he could be a terrific fit next to LeBron in Cleveland, where he’ll also be surrounded by a more defensive starting lineup than in Milwaukee.
I plan to do a podcast later on today, so check back for that as the Mo Williams discussion will certainly dominate.
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So much for Delonte accepting the qualifying offer and using the season to increase his free-agency value. I guess he should have accepted the 2 or 3 year deal. Too bad about Smith, but I guess that makes room for Hickson.
Well either Delonte joins the pile of expirings as a qualifying offer guy, or they sign and trade him now for a big man to add to the mix. Either way, his leverage has largely disappeared.
Not that I’m a Cavs fan, but this really seems to create problems defensively. Are you going to play Boobie and Mo at the same time? That’s the shortest backcourt in the League. Hopefully you get a ton more out of Sasha than you did last year- but, AGAIN, the ideal people to put around LeBron are the James Posey/Bruce Bowen/(Sasha?) types (can play D and shoot the 3) because LeBron is the playmaker on this team. You don’t want ball dominators around LeBron (not that Mo is Stephon Marbury, but he’s more of a dominator than Delonte or Boobie).
Mo Williams will definitely help more than the loss of Joe Smith hurts- but this isn’t a slam dunk in my opinion if it hurts future moves that you can no longer do because of the $8.5 mil every year. (I’m talking about 2010 and beyond flexibility)
To your point that putting three-point, defensive specialists around Lebron would cure the Cavs woes, well maybe it would. But the Cavs weren’t lacking in team defense last year and 6 million a year for five years for a 32 year old player is a tough pill to swallow for Posey. If it’s an A or B proposition, I’d take Mo Williams and his big, long deal before Posey. Until trading Hughes and Newble, they weren’t lacking for big perimeter defenders. Where did that get them?
Where they were lacking offensively was for a guy who could create for himself. Guys not afraid to put the ball on the floor. Not just as a shooter, but a slasher who could get to the line some. Williams could do that here.
I think you underestimate how frustrating that can be for Cavs fans who watch this “offense” operate night after night. You can only ask Lebron to do so much if you want to maximize his contributions on the other end of the court. The Cavs could stand to have a few other guys who want to get theirs so long as Williams doesn’t end up doing it at the expense of the team.
Are you the one descending vote for this being a bad deal?
If Mo stays healthy and continues to put up around 17 points 6 assists while shooting at the same percetange…it’s a steal. Mo, Delonte, LBJ, Wallace and Z starting 5, with boobie, wally/sasha, andy and hickson coming off the bench. Take away Posey from the Celts, throw in Mo’ Williams to the Cavs…I like our chances if we play boston again in 7.
Yo, thanks for the shout - I don’t know what made me happier, the subject of the article or the author. Glad to have Windy back. The stars really aligned on this one!
Yes, I am the lone dissenting (not descending) vote.
I overreacted to the loss of Joe Smith and thinking Williams can’t shoot (which he’s not a great 3-point shooter). I like the deal for the Cavs now (albeit not as much as all you Cavs fans seem to). These polls are so permanent, a quick decision is not advised. My life my never be the same.
As to the quick point about LeBron posting up- YES, please! Ridiculous why Mike Brown does that once in the first quarter and then never again every game. Although, I mainly blame LeBron, who sometimes starts in the post and ends up getting the ball with his back to the basket, standing on the three-point line. I guess because he doesn’t feel like fighting for position, I don’t know.
i thought you brought up some good points, and so I’ve added to my post.
Maurice Williams is a very respectable three point shooter. (38% three years ago, 34% two years ago, 38% last year). But that’s hardly as important as how he shoots when it counts. Flip Murray proved to excel in that role, and I’m pretty sure his career percentages are mediocre. Delonte excelled this postseason too despite having a down year.
Just because a guy was good on paper (Marshall) never meant he’d hit them when it matters. We’ve yet to see in that regard.
While I’m not overly happy about the move (I still think Delonte is the better option because of his defense), the money thing isn’t really that big of a deal. We’re losing Smith’s and Jones’ contracts, which are basically equal to Williams’ for this coming season. So, you have to ask yourself, will Williams contribute as much as Smith and Jones would had they been around for this upcoming season? The season after next is a different story in relation to money, but we’ll have Wally gone sooner or later with his big fat contract.
Still, I think we NEED Delonte and not a bunch of softies on the perimeter.