Cavs Acquire Mo Williams in 3 Team Trade

[Newguy]

I actually think DWest will get sufficient playing time with this trade, at least for this upcoming year.  Though he may not be the "starting" point guard, I can see him playing alongside Mo Williams and Gibson.  None of the three give the Cavs a traditional point guard, but with Williams and West in together, West can set Williams up to score and vice versa. When Gibson is in, West can be more of the set up man and Gibson can shoot his three's. The combo that I don't think works that well is Williams and Gibson because neither are great set up men.  In the end, it doesn't really matter because we all know LeBron will be handling the ball 90% of the time anyway. 

[lon3lytoaster]

Heat and Cavs should do this...

Blount
Marion

Wally
Snow

Basically this opens a lot of cash for Wade because Wally and Snow are 1 year deals. 

Cleveland, knowing they won't keep Lebron, are going for it this year. 

If Cleveland could get Miami to even consider that then they should do whatever to make that trade work. Marion is a legit allstar, and I'm sure just to spite us Mark Blount would average 20/10 in the playoffs and if they can get over the Boston hump I think they could win a championship if LeBron goes on a hotstreak shooting the basketball. (Keyword being shooting, not just driving and getting fouls but actually being able to hit a three, too.)

[BballTim]

Cleveland must be counting on retaining LeBron without any trouble whatsoever. I just don't see where trading for this horrible contract for a player that isn't worth anywhere near the money he is being paid by that contract makes them able to transform the team into a team that LeBron will feel he should stay with long term because they have a good core to go forward with.

As others have said, the Cavs keep going sideways or backwards and keep taking on really bad contracts in doing so. The Wallace contract and now this Williams contract really hampers them in being able to upgrade the talent around LeBron anywhere near where it will have to be to contend for a title.

Cleveland got lucky getting to the Finals in 2007 and they are fooling themselves if they think that horrible collection of non cohesive parts is going to get them back to the Finals. Their best big man plays outside. They have no interior offensive force. Their guards are all combos and small. They have one good wing player. Almost none of their players are two way players and can be effective on both ends of the floor.

LeBron isn't stupid. He'll see this all during the year and he'll be angered beyond belief when they are knocked out early again and the front office tells him they are hamstrung with bad contracts. He'll be gone the year after next.

Mark my words, the Cavs just kissed LeBron goodbye with this trade.

  I think this is going to be a recurring story for LeBron. Every year his team doesn't win the title he looks for the team to give him a better supporting cast. Every year the team will dig a little deeper into a hole to appease him, taking on bad contracts. Someone should have sat him down a few years ago and explained to him that he still had about 15 years left in the league. Instead he has the team in a constant "win now" mode. After they've completely mortgaged their future he'll move on to another team.

[jdub1660]

I don't see what all the hype is about. Mo is another overpaid PG, good pg with shooting touch, but West did the same thing. Cleveland needs more depth at SG and PF. Big Z is too slow, and Varajeo and Big Ben have no offensive hands. They would have been better to attempt to add one of those 3 first before Joe Smith. That guy gave us problems with hitting his high percentage mid range shots. The best thing the Cavs could do is sign West and try to trade away Wally in exchange for a nice SG and PF. How about Wally, West, and Varajeo to Phoenix for Diaw, Barbosa, and Bell.

MoWilliams-Gibson           Nash-DJStrawberry
Bell-Barbosa                West-Barnes-Tucker
LeBron-Pavlovic             Hill-Szerbiak
Diaw-JJHickson              Amare-Lopez
BigZ-BigBen                 Shaq-Sean Marks?

[King Mob]

I can only say one thing about Mo Williams...

He's going to get Rondo'd 

[cordobes]

Completely agree on getting rid of Mo Williams for the Bucks .... Addition by subtraction. He caused a lot of damage to that team. He just has no clue about how to run an offense.

He was great back when they had TJ Ford and he was allowed to be the scoring spark off the bench. Mo was a game changer in that role. But being responsible for others? Ugly consequences.

One of the reasons why I see Mason as a loss is because their three best defenders all play small forward. They're weak defensively at all other positions. Mason could have backed up the shooting guard position and at least given some defensive help elsewhere. I don't expect they're planning on using Alexander/Mbah-a-Moute/RJ at shooting guard. I consider Mason a slightly above average defensive player at this point, he might be better than that if he had more defensive help around him (he once was).

Yes, I agree. But in the great scheme of things, would Mason affect their defensive efficiency much? Would he get enough minutes to make an impact? And I think Bogut is a decent defender. What's your opinion on Alexander, btw? Do you see him as a good defender? I think he will struggle to defend quicker forwards - very bad defensive stance, subpar fighting screes - and that his overall game is very, very raw. I don't think he'll play a lot in his first season, in fact I can see him being labeled a bust after it (perhaps undeservedly).

[Robb]

I don't see how this is an end of the world deal for Cleveland.  They got the best player in the trade, a good scorer (what they needed) and they still have their biggest bullet still in the chamber with Wally's deal, that is if they want to contend this year, and I wouldn't if I were them.

Look at their salary numbers.  After the 2010 season if LeBron opts out to get his max contract, Daniel Gibson, JJ Hickson and Mo Williams are the only players they'll have on the books and they'll have only have $13M against the cap.  So, if LeBron opts out, and they resign him to max deal, they'll still have room under the cap to pursue an unrestricted free agent (Chris Bosh, Kobe Bryant, Caron Butler, Tyson Chandler, Dirk Nowtitzki, Paul Pierce, Amare Stoudemire, Dwyane Wade).  Cleveland is hoping that they can entice someone in that group to come give LBJ some help. 

This trade didn't do anything to hurt that outcome.  And it helped them to be respectable in the 2010/2011 season when they'd probably be up against the cap with only five players (plus however many they draft) under contract.  Their three players currently signed past 2010 are all expected to be contributors, and Williams will be expected to be one of the biggest.

Cleveland's goal is to nail the next few drafts and to bring in one of those guys.  Has to be.

A few more things from this thread: 
It's silly to think that Delonte brings the same kind of skills to the table as Mo Williams.  He's not anywhere near the scorer or ball handler that Williams is.

nickagneta:  How do you label LeBron as a guy who can't share the load?  Or that wants the ball in his hands at all times.  I thought that was the biggest criticism of his career so far:  that he sometimes defers too much, especially in crunch time.

[soap07]

I don't see what all the hype is about. Mo is another overpaid PG, good pg with shooting touch, but West did the same thing. Cleveland needs more depth at SG and PF. Big Z is too slow, and Varajeo and Big Ben have no offensive hands. They would have been better to attempt to add one of those 3 first before Joe Smith. That guy gave us problems with hitting his high percentage mid range shots. The best thing the Cavs could do is sign West and try to trade away Wally in exchange for a nice SG and PF. How about Wally, West, and Varajeo to Phoenix for Diaw, Barbosa, and Bell.

Come on, let's put things in perspective. Cleveland's frontline was a strength  before Smith was acquired in the trade - especially on the glass. Ilgauskas is an above average big man and Ben Wallace, if he comes off the bench, is solid. Varejao is, IMO, as good as Perkins. Mo Williams is twice the player Delonte is and can create consistently for himself and others. Joe Smith is a nice average player who is a difference maker in spurts. This doesn't make the Cavs better than  the Celtics, but it sure as hell makes them better and maybe on par with the Pistons.

[Robb]

Joe Smith is a nice average player who is a difference maker in spurts. 

I think seeing the effect that PJ Brown and James Posey had on this team this season might have made a lot of people overvalue veteran role players.

I think players like Posey, Smith and Brown are necessary on championship teams like the Celtics, but the Cavaliers aren't a championship team.  They need talent.  The Celtics are going to be hurt by the loss of players like PJ and Posey, and they're going to be hurt much more than the Cavs by the loss of players like Joe Smith.  If there were more talent around LeBron, Joe Smith would be a great veteran guy to augment the lineup, but he's not going to get that team to the Finals.  Mo Williams plus what they get for Wally might.

[Evantime34]

I like What OKC has , with Durant and D. Mason at the wings, and Westbrook looking good at the point.  J. Smith off the bench or starting for offense.  And Wilcox and whoever else.  Nice moves for a team that I thought was in the dungeon.

Wilcox and Jeff Green the 5th pick in the draft last year.

[BballTim]

I don't see what all the hype is about. Mo is another overpaid PG, good pg with shooting touch, but West did the same thing. Cleveland needs more depth at SG and PF. Big Z is too slow, and Varajeo and Big Ben have no offensive hands. They would have been better to attempt to add one of those 3 first before Joe Smith. That guy gave us problems with hitting his high percentage mid range shots. The best thing the Cavs could do is sign West and try to trade away Wally in exchange for a nice SG and PF. How about Wally, West, and Varajeo to Phoenix for Diaw, Barbosa, and Bell.

Come on, let's put things in perspective. Cleveland's frontline was a strength  before Smith was acquired in the trade - especially on the glass. Ilgauskas is an above average big man and Ben Wallace, if he comes off the bench, is solid. Varejao is, IMO, as good as Perkins. Mo Williams is twice the player Delonte is and can create consistently for himself and others. Joe Smith is a nice average player who is a difference maker in spurts. This doesn't make the Cavs better than  the Celtics, but it sure as hell makes them better and maybe on par with the Pistons.

  They're good on the glass, but Z is their only big who can score. Wallace and Varajao are decent players but they were never on the floor together against us because they're both liabilities offensively.

[Who]

Completely agree on getting rid of Mo Williams for the Bucks .... Addition by subtraction. He caused a lot of damage to that team. He just has no clue about how to run an offense.

He was great back when they had TJ Ford and he was allowed to be the scoring spark off the bench. Mo was a game changer in that role. But being responsible for others? Ugly consequences.

One of the reasons why I see Mason as a loss is because their three best defenders all play small forward. They're weak defensively at all other positions. Mason could have backed up the shooting guard position and at least given some defensive help elsewhere. I don't expect they're planning on using Alexander/Mbah-a-Moute/RJ at shooting guard. I consider Mason a slightly above average defensive player at this point, he might be better than that if he had more defensive help around him (he once was).

Yes, I agree. But in the great scheme of things, would Mason affect their defensive efficiency much? Would he get enough minutes to make an impact? And I think Bogut is a decent defender. What's your opinion on Alexander, btw? Do you see him as a good defender? I think he will struggle to defend quicker forwards - very bad defensive stance, subpar fighting screes - and that his overall game is very, very raw. I don't think he'll play a lot in his first season, in fact I can see him being labeled a bust after it (perhaps undeservedly).

I haven't seen much of Alexander. I'd read and heard he was a good defensive player. I'll take your opinion on the matter until I see more of him. I only watched two of the Bucks summer league games, he had a bad game in one and I wasn't really paying attention in the other which was a game he didn't stand out in (except for his freakishly high elevation on his jump shot which always stands out). I've seen more of Mbah-a-Moute from watching UCLA games to watch Kevin Love, and Affalo the season before. I planned on watching the rest of their SL games to see more of Ramon Sessions so I might know some more about Alexander after that.

I regard Bogut as poor defensive player. His post defense is fine, sometimes good even, but his help defense is very poor. His man-to-man defense outside of the post and off the ball are also poor.

Fair point on Mason and their D, it's not a big loss. It all helps though and it's a loss for a team that needs all the defense they can get.

[ecballer]

I think it's a good deal for Cavs & Bucks.  I wonder if the Cavs are starting to get deserate and are trying to build a team that'll keep LeBron dancin' in Cleveland past 2010 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl4vXgwsxPM