DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Cavs reportedly pull off massive trade!!!

Cavs pull off big deal to land point guard
In three-team trade, Mo Williams coming to town to run offense

By Brian Windhorst
Beacon Journal sports writer

POSTED: 02:27 p.m. EDT, Aug 13, 2008

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.

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.

Jones played in 67 games for the Cavs last season, averaging 19 minutes and 6.5 points. He played three years for the Cavs and likely will be remembered most for his game-winning shot against the Washington Wizards in the 2007 playoffs.

Smith, who was acquired in the blockbuster deal last February from the Chicago Bulls, averaged 8.1 points, five rebounds and 21.5 minutes in 27 games for the Cavs.

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.

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.

Jones played in 67 games for the Cavs last season, averaging 19 minutes and 6.5 points. He played three years for the Cavs and likely will be remembered most for his game-winning shot against the Washington Wizards in the 2007 playoffs.

Smith, who was acquired in the blockbuster deal last February from the Chicago Bulls, averaged 8.1 points, five rebounds and 21.5 minutes in 27 games for the Cavs.

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dont know much about this mo,

hooray? i know we need a solid point gaurd, so.

hooray?

WOW!!!!

I don't remember hearing a lot about Mo, but I do remember him single-handedly tearing us apart one game last season (or maybe it was two seasons ago).

... still, with those stats. 17.2 pps, 6.3 assists! 86% from the free throw line!!! Nice move Ferry!!



Losing Joe Smith hurts a bit, and it leaves us a little thin up front. Our only big guys are: Ben, Z, Andy and the rookie Hickson ... but for what we got in return?? Great deal!!

I dont know much about him either but he's gotta be better than West. So sure, i'll join in.... Hoooray!

He's a decent player overall. He'll be a nice fit, especially if the Cavs can find a good scorer.

I guess the other "good news" with this trade as that we only gave up our two smallest expiring contracts to get him. We still have Wally and Snow for $21 million in expiring contracts plus another $5 million in Varejao if we want to go after a monster player around the trading deadline.

Well shoot, I wish I had access to NBA Insider on ESPN because there is a rumor that the deal has stalled.....

Ive never heard of the guy. Oh well we got rid of Joe and damon for a starting point guard.

The game I was talking about was last year ... I looked up his game log. He dropped 37 on us, the second game after our big trade for Ben, Wally, Joe and Delonte.

That 85% free throw shooting is key too. It'll be great to have a guy we can toss it to at the end of close games, and know he'll be converting the free ones to put the game away.

Quote:

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It'll be great to have a guy we can toss it to at the end

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Hopefully he'll already be in there.

So I take it Windhorst is out of the hospital? That is good to hear. I got worried due to the nature of his illness and recently death of Bernie Mac.

Yeah...2 years left at 14.5 and 14...

One thing to remember- Andy was not happy last year in Cleveland. One of the reasons was because after the all-star break, Joe Smith took some of his min.

Perhaps, this could be the first step in restoring the relationship between Andy and the Cavs, so a long-term deal could get done.

solid deal, williams is an upgrade...

not exactly the milwaukee deal we wanted, but at least we have the pg thing taken care of, with the chance of delonte west bolting for europe we have no point guard...

also, i'm glad to see windy in good enough shape to be writing, he's one of my favorites

we will miss joe smith though, hopefully jj hickson can give us something this year...

Officially on Espn now.


Espn

At the Ferry bashers.

We pick up a 25 year old PG, who's a borderline all-star, for Damon Jones and Joe Smith?

Williams is very, very underrated. 48% shooter from the field, 39% from 3. He's also one of the best pure scorers at the PG position in the NBA.

Still can't believe we landed a player as good as Williams without having to give up AV or our biggest trade chip (Wally). What is Milwaukee thinking?

The only concern with Williams is will he play Mike Brown type defense?

If Williams played defense, he'd be one of the best point guards in the league, lets see if he picks it up on that end of the court now that he is playing for a contender and has LBJ watching over him. Great move by Ferry.

yeah, that is really williams' only blemish, he is not much of a defensive presence... (he is also a little trigger happy, but i think we can use that, we have too many people who are afraid of taking shots)

i'm not worried about him being a great defensive player, he's our point guard...

he just has to be willing to not be a liability...

similiar to how tony parker works in san antonio, he can't guard some of the better backcourt guys in the league...

whoever plays the 2 is going to need to be a very very good defender, and hopefully that is where sasha can fit in and finally turn the corner, then you have yourselves a good team.

The Good: We get a true scoring PG who will take some of the scoring burden off of LeBron over the first 3 quarters.

The Bad: he has a lot of $$ on his contract, he hasn't been playing defense, the Bucks were practically begging someone to take his contract off their books even though they apparently are not rebuilding too far down the road after the trade for Richard Jefferson.

Also consider: He was a career 43% shooter (33% 3pt) until last season when he exploded for 48% shooting (38% 3pter). He also hasn't played more than 68 games the past 3 seasons. Nothing major, just something to note.

Despite all that, I like this deal because we didn't give up anything except for cap space and....

This whole deal comes down to if LeBron and Mike Brown can drill into his head to play hard on defense. Even going back to his "career" norms in shooting, he is better than what we currently have because he can create his own shots (and better than Hughes as he tends to at least attack the rim and he's a career 84% FT shooter). I'm a little skeptical because he does not create as much for others as someone who gets in the lane like he does should, but it's not like we are giving anything up (other than future space which there are no guarantees we can fill with a better player).

i'm not comparing him to massive mistakes of contracts because I am hoping he is not one....yes, if he starts playing defense like he could, then the $8mil/year won't seem too bad. If he doesn't then he's not going to be beloved by many here this time next year. We will see.

Anyway, the only guys who are on the books past LeBron:

Gibson
Hickson
Mo Williams

Not to mention the $7 million we pay Snow, and the $6 million we paid Damon Jones. $8 million for Mo looks like a bargain at this point.

I think the contract is a non-issue IMO.

If we get the same production out of him (that he was putting up in Milwaukee), 8-9 million a year is nothing. 17 points and 6 assists a game (while shooting a high percentage) is damn good from the PG spot.

Plus....he has a 2 to 1 AST/TO ratio and was also chipping in 3.5 rebounds a game. He's a very complete player and could easily be a guy that really takes the next step playing alongside a player like LeBron.

To think we landed a guy this young and this talented for next to nothing is pretty amazing. Glad to see Ferry wait it out. He grabs a very good young PG and still has enough pieces left to land a big time player at the trade deadline.

8 million a year is not alot of money for a starting point guard. The only reason it is a big contract is because there is a lot of years left on the deal.

One thing that has not been mentioned is that he is not really a slasher. If the Cavs can convince West to come off the bench, he will be a nice change of pace to Williams. Some experts even say that right now in his career that West is a back-up quality pg.

The more I think about this ... the more I love the deal. What's not to like? If he can keep putting up the numbers he has been, $8 mill a year is completely worth it for a borderline all-star. I also think his numbers will improve with Lebron helping him out. Milwaulkee was a chemistry nightmare last season ... I think his offensive numbers improve with Lebron, and his defense improves with Mike Brown.

And like I mentioned before ... we still have all the flexibility and potential to land the biggest name available at the trading deadline.

mike brown isn't the problem, he shouldn't have to have excuses, his roster is now better, but i believe that some of his players need to play up to their potential

like i mentioned before, the guy i point out the most is sasha pavlovic, he was a complete disapointment last year, everything from the holdout to the non-production on the floor.

if anything, the nba finals this year proved you don't need a great coach to win the title, you need great players, because doc rivers isn't exactly a hall of fame coach.

i think williams will fit fine into mike brown's system, it is a team oriented system that doesn't require guys as much to be great defenders, as much as it requires them to be willing defenders...

i will stand by my thought that when williams is on the floor i would prefer to have a guy that is a better on the ball defender to go alongside him, which i know contradicts my previous statement a little, but at 6'1" he is a bit undersized...

for instance...

you can't really have williams and boobie on the floor at the same time, that leaves your best defender as lebron. and mike brown does everything he can to make sure lebron doesn't have to constantly guard the best perimeter player (and with the way the game is called these days, i don't blame him for that approach)

All of this is nice, but it doesn't matter once Lebron leaves.

That's fine ... by the time he leaves ... most these guys will be retired or aging vets.

i agree....Gibson and Williams probably don't see the floor much together especially in the 4th quarter.

Also, I thought of something else that favors this trade...the main teams to worry about in the East (Boston and Orlando) do not have great PGs to defend.

I think we can deal with Billups well enough. Our only issue among top teams would be what to do with Calderon, but everyone has problems with him and he should have his hands full with Mo.


Also, we can now start pursuing sign-n-trades hard with Delonte....Golden State and Miami needing PGs the most now. Golden State has more interesting names seeing as we've been linked to Harrington and Brandan Wright in the past.