Cavs Acquire Mo Williams in 3 Team Trade

[keith133]

so i guess this means joe smith and desmond mason are midseason buyout candidates would the c's be interested in either?

[D Dub]

They must have something lined up to trade Wally and West for another big.  How else can you explain making your front court so thin when you have to go through Elton Brand, Dwight Howard, and KG to get to the Finals?

The Cavs will regret this move, DWest is a much better defender than Mo Williams.  The only thing Mo will do is dominate the ball and make Lebron a spectator.  DWest got his points on catch and shoot looks, Williams needs to pound it and isolate to score - not a good fit next to Lebron.  

Cons is right, Joe Smith and DWest were their 2nd and 3rd best players in the playoffs, and now both are gone.  Good move for the C's!!

[RebusRankin]

so i guess this means joe smith and desmond mason are midseason buyout candidates would the c's be interested in either?

Joe would be nice in the PJ role.

[BillfromBoston]

This is a great move by Cleveland, though I don't know if its enough to win a title...

Mo Williams is a big-time scorer who can create offense for himself-this is the first time LeBron has had an offensive complement to play along side him...

Joe Smith was very solid for them last year, but he's not a make-or-break loss...Z, Verajao, Wallace, and Hickson provide a nice mix of talent and experience...I think this move really allows Hickson a chance to show what he can do, without the pressure of NEEDING him to be a big time contributor.

They didn't acquire an All Star, but got a very strong player who easily moves up to 2nd best player on the Cavs...if they get good production from Hickson and a full season out of Wally and Gibson, they are a more potent offensive team that still plays  great defense...

Good trade..

As for Milwaukee, Ridnour serves as a veteran insurance policy for Sessions, but Sessions will have every chance to win the job out-right..

[Kwhit10]

This is a great move by Cleveland, though I don't know if its enough to win a title...

Mo Williams is a big-time scorer who can create offense for himself-this is the first time LeBron has had an offensive complement to play along side him...

Joe Smith was very solid for them last year, but he's not a make-or-break loss...Z, Verajao, Wallace, and Hickson provide a nice mix of talent and experience...I think this move really allows Hickson a chance to show what he can do, without the pressure of NEEDING him to be a big time contributor.

They didn't acquire an All Star, but got a very strong player who easily moves up to 2nd best player on the Cavs...if they get good production from Hickson and a full season out of Wally and Gibson, they are a more potent offensive team that still plays  great defense...

Good trade..

As for Milwaukee, Ridnour serves as a veteran insurance policy for Sessions, but Sessions will have every chance to win the job out-right..

I'm excited for Milwaukee now that Sessions should be the starter, I want to see this kid get some big time minutes over a whole season, I hope he develops.

[steve]

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. 

[nickagneta]

It's funny how no one is mentioning possible chemistry problems with Williams and LeBron both on the court at the same time. Both are guys that need to have the ball in their hands. Both are guys that look for their shot. Both are guys that feel they should be taking the shot.

Of course, LeBron is justified in his beliefs and Mo Williams, well, not as much. Also, Williams is a horrible defender and that Cleveland team prides itself on good defense.

I don't see him fitting in with that team. Bad move as far as I am concerned.

[JBcat]

The Cavs are more vulnerable with heir bigs for sure.   Wallace and Z are a year older at 33, Hickson although I like the pick is a very young rookie at 19 then you have Varejo.   They would be wise to go after another big man now.  The Cavs really need a bonafide second banana to James but keep coming up short going back to Hughes and now I think with Williams.  They must be thinking of moving West unless if he plays mostly shooting guard because they have a real logjam there. 

[Fan from VT]

Is it just me or do the Cavs pull these 'big' trades every year, to bring in mediocre talent, but really they're just worse off in the end (taking into account contract and their lengths and whatnot).

Yeah, they're just kinda spinning their wheels.  Same thing with last year's "big" deadlines deals; they got Wally; BFD!  They've taken on guys that, for whatever reason, just don't have a lot of value to their old teams.  One dimensional players like Wally and Ben Wallace.  Players that bad teams are looking to unload rather than build around.  And, they still have the same issue of not having a real PG or any semblence of a real offense. 

I don't think this deal makes Cleveland any worse...  but I don't see it as a big improvement.  Why give Boobie Gibson such a big contract if you're looking to bring in someone like Mo Williams?  You aren't putting those two guys on the court together. 

The Lebron/Cavs situation reminds me a lot of AI in Philly. I mean the man had no one around him. He was a great talent, but the Sixers showed zero patience and every year would send away younger talent for washed up players. Had the sixers taken their time and developed slowly, they'd have been much better throughout AI's prime. I like what Portland and Oklahoma are doing. They both have potential superstars, yet they are not making panic trades to bring in veteran talent to win now. instead, they are continued to build their foundations.

I blame Lebron a little bit for this. Once the Cavs landed Lebron, they immediately began trying to win as many games as soon as possible to appease him because they were afraid they had a limited window with him despite the fact that, at the age of 18, they should have been able to bank on him for 15 seasons. Lebron did nothing to calm their fears, and in fact has only fostered their fears by signing a short extension and continuously implying he wants to play in New York. Hence, the Cavs are stuck mortgaging their future to try to win a title now.


As an aside, I'm very interested to see what happens with Lebron next offseason. If it's clear Lebron is bolting, it will be interesting to see an open trade bidding war between the Knicks and Nets to try to gain his rights before he's a full free agent. Hey, who knows, maybe by then he'll add boston to his list, agree to an extension, and we can trade Ray's expiring deal with a bunch of picks for him.

[Surferdad]

Is it just me or do the Cavs pull these 'big' trades every year, to bring in mediocre talent, but really they're just worse off in the end (taking into account contract and their lengths and whatnot).

I pretty much agree as well. Most trades are parallel moves: mediocre for mediocre, bad for bad, sometimes good for good. Cleveland is making a lot of parallel trades, hoping something sticks and becomes greater chemistry wise. It does feel like a backwards move for the franchise though.  When Lebron leaves, Cleveland will be left with a strange roster of overpaid role players.
...

Bingo.  I thought Danny Ferry was a smart guy, but it's clear this is his last-ditch attempt to make something work.  Just whelling spinning going on, but from a Celtics fans perspective it's absolutely hilarious to see other GMs try to make a splash.

I am also glad to see Joe Smith leave the conference.  He was pretty tough in the playoffs.

I don't see the chemistry in the backcourt, at all.  Williams, Gibson, LeBron -- all need the ball to be effective...unless they put LeBron at the 3...

[cordobes]

Wow this is an odd-ball trade

Great work by Cleveland, JJ Hickson just made the rotation, love that. Mo Williams is a good upgrade at the point. They got better. Long term Mo's contract is an irritation but the fact he doesn't have a PG bone his body won't affect Cleveland because they've no offense to speak of. He's well capable of playing off of LeBron.

Oklahoma got rid of another contract which serves their purposes. Joe Smith will help some of their kids out, teach them how to play the game. Desmond Mason gives them .... did Mason come out of Oklahoma? College? Grow up there? Something rings a bell there ... a solid two guard and a good defender. Lots of benefits for Oklahoma.

Milwaukee got rid of an atrocious contract so that's a win. They took back a bad contract in Ridnour but got some cap relief. Not sure why the wanted Ridnour or what purpose he serves. Hopefully Ramon Sessions starts if not Ridnour will do an acceptable job, I don't like that they put another player in front of Sessions. Ridnour's a very good offensive point guard and a pass first player, he'll help out in those regards. For a team looking to move up from 30th in the league in defensive efficiency though ... let's just say he hurts the cause.

I agree with this comment except that I don't think that losing Mason is going to hurt the Bucks so much on the defensive end. And Mo was a terrible fit for them. I'm very curious to see how much will they improve defensively, with Skiles on charge. I also think, like others, that Sessions will have his chance to be the starter. 

[BballTim]

It is not a bad trade for Cleveland.  They can now sign and trade West to replace Smith. 


It is an upgrade at PG.  Still, not enough to get past Boston.

  Nobody's going to trade a f/c as good as Smith for DWest.

[Who]

Wow this is an odd-ball trade

Great work by Cleveland, JJ Hickson just made the rotation, love that. Mo Williams is a good upgrade at the point. They got better. Long term Mo's contract is an irritation but the fact he doesn't have a PG bone his body won't affect Cleveland because they've no offense to speak of. He's well capable of playing off of LeBron.

Oklahoma got rid of another contract which serves their purposes. Joe Smith will help some of their kids out, teach them how to play the game. Desmond Mason gives them .... did Mason come out of Oklahoma? College? Grow up there? Something rings a bell there ... a solid two guard and a good defender. Lots of benefits for Oklahoma.

Milwaukee got rid of an atrocious contract so that's a win. They took back a bad contract in Ridnour but got some cap relief. Not sure why the wanted Ridnour or what purpose he serves. Hopefully Ramon Sessions starts if not Ridnour will do an acceptable job, I don't like that they put another player in front of Sessions. Ridnour's a very good offensive point guard and a pass first player, he'll help out in those regards. For a team looking to move up from 30th in the league in defensive efficiency though ... let's just say he hurts the cause.

I agree with this comment except that I don't think that losing Mason is going to hurt the Bucks so much on the defensive end. And Mo was a terrible fit for them. I'm very curious to see how much will they improve defensively, with Skiles on charge. I also think, like others, that Sessions will have his chance to be the starter. 

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).

[nickagneta]

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.

[JBcat]

I'm not willing to write off James jumping ship just yet although I'm getting close.  I want to see what Ferry does with 2 more expiring contracts in Snow and Wally for a combined 20 mil as I can see teams angling trying to trade for them in and return get longer contracts but maybe more effective players.   Next summer Wallace will be going into his last year and then his contract will be attractive to some teams.  As much as I'm not crazy about the makeup of their team they were very close to beating us in a 7 game series so Ferry's team still has to be considered one of the top teams in the east.  Ferry may have to include a 19 yr old rook in a deal for a more ready player and West in a possible sign and trade.  If they plan on keeping Lebron and extending his contract they will have to figure out relatively soon how to replace 2 aging bigs in 33 yr olds Wallace and Z.