Williams might be the difference in Cleveland
This week it became Mo Williams, the 25-year-old point guard, the cornerstone of a six-player, three-team deal that sent Luke Ridnour, Adrian Griffin and Damon Jones to Milwaukee, and Desmond Mason and Joe Smith to Oklahoma City.
Make no mistake: This deal was all about Williams as far as impact. A second-round draft choice by the Utah Jazz after two good seasons at Alabama, the 6-1 Williams has evolved into a major force at point guard, averaging 17.2 points and 6.3 assists for the Bucks last season, including an impressive .480 from the field, .385 from 3-point range and .856 from the free-throw line.
The Bucks signed him as a free agent in 2004, and re-signed him to a six-year, $50 million deal prior to last season, so the Cavs have him locked in for five years, and it opens the door for Williams to be the guy that will help James and the Cavs turn the corner.
Offensively, he is a very good shooter and a solid ballhandler, if not a pure point guard. He doesn't always make the best decisions with the ball, sometimes cranking up ill-advised shots instead of running the offense. And then there is the rumor that he plays some defense -- unquestionably the priority when it comes to the Cavs and coach Mike Brown.
And that may be why Cleveland is a perfect fit for him.
Defense shouldn't be a problem for Williams now, if only because the Cavs play such superb team defense. Williams will improve by osmosis and probably improve dramatically just from peer pressure. He's a fine athlete, and as Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and the rest of the Boston Celtics proved on their way to the 2008 title, good team defense is 85 percent effort and 15 percent sticking to the scheme.
As for his decision-making and shot-selection, he'll obviously be a lot more discriminating because James needs the ball so often. There is no doubt Williams will get a lot of open shots from James, the kind that Larry Hughes was unable to hit consistently as the primary starter there before he was dealt last season.
The Cavs lose nothing but a major mouth and a little streak shooting from Jones. Smith had a solid performance, but he's fading fast and this opens up time on the court for the impressive top draft choice from North Carolina State, 6-9, 240-pound J.J. Hickson.
Nonetheless, this is about the backcourt, and it has to make you wonder about where they think restricted free agent Delonte West belongs, not to mention Daniel Gibson, who recently signed a five-year, $21 million deal. West has a $2.76 million qualifying offer sitting on the table if they can't make a deal stick, and he'd become an unrestricted free agent next summer.
So how does this fit?
Fairly well, actually, although it would really help if the West deal were clarified considering the contract distractions from Anderson Varejao and Sasha Pavlovic that prevented both players from performing consistently last season.
At the trade deadline in February, Ferry went out on a limb by dealing Hughes and Drew Gooden, plus a cluster of bench players to add West, Smith, Ben Wallace and Wally Szczerbiak. Considering it happened at mid-season, the Cavs never did regain chemistry, although they did blow through the Washington Wizards in the first round of the playoffs and took the Celtics to seven games.
Yes, they play very good defense. Of course, James is a special player, able to take over games at a single bound. But somebody else has to be there consistently, which hasn't happened since James stormed onto the scene in 2003. Zydrunas Ilgauskas, all 7-3 of him and his aging, aching feet, has big soft hands that translate into pure shooting from the perimeter and at the basket with underrated passing skills.
Nonetheless, they need Williams to remove all the decision-making from James, while Brown must decide between West, Gibson, Szczerbiak and Pavlovic as their starting shooting guard -- perhaps rotating them and certainly using two of them occasionally when they play small. Whether or not this is the deal that allows the Cavs to return to the Eastern Conference finals, or even seriously challenge the Detroit Pistons for the Central Division title -- which would be the best indicator -- is still a long shot.
Nonetheless, this is the best deal Ferry has made. He caught the Bucks in transition with new general manager John Hammond and new coach Scott Skiles, who are hopeful the slick passing Ridnour can regain his confidence as one of the few pure point guards in the league. Oklahoma City is impossibly young and continues to dump salaries with the hope of being able to land a major free agent in the next year or two.
Let's not forget what this means for Williams. The youngest player in the deal, he now can prove he was a steal not only as a second-round draft choice in the draft, but in this trade. To play next to James on the Cavs will afford him every opportunity to prove himself a complete player and a winner.
And finally allow Ferry to stop spinning that wheel of misfortune.
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