Rucker Out, Depth Disappearing
August 13, 2008Indians Perhaps Looking To Bolster Ohio Fanbase
August 13, 2008
Per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Bucks guard Mo Williams could be headed to Cleveland as part of a three-team trade, with the Bucks targeting point guard Luke Ridnour of the Oklahoma City franchise, formerly the Seattle SuperSonics. […]
The Cavaliers have been unable to come to a contract agreement with point guard Delonte West, who is a restricted free agent this summer, and he could be part of the deal in a sign-and-trade, according to reports. Or Oklahoma City could receive former Bucks forward Joe Smith, who has an expiring contract and will be paid $4.8 million next season.
Williams was a big target at this point last season, but opted to take the larger contract with the Bucks; a $43 million contract that we would now have to pay.
There is no doubting Williams’ ability to score and create his own shots. He can hit from every part of the floor, and is a decent distributor.
However, defense has never been a strong part of Williams’ game. Would that clash with Mike Brown? Is it worth Joe Smith’s contract as well? Though overpaid, Smith was solid in the playoffs, and provides some decent depth at the power forward/center slots.
Delonte West provides a lot of intangibles, and is a significantly better defender than Williams. But is it easy to turn the other cheek with the D when a point guard drops 17 points and six assists per game? What exactly does West want from the Cavs front office? A ton of questions, I know.
So what say you? Though an expensive revolving door, would Williams be the answer?
(Update: Cavs Board thinks there will be more pieces to the puzzle…)
4 Comments
[…] Waiting For Next Year is also talking about the Williams/Ridnour/Smith deal, and if you haven’t read Rock’s piece on Lebron heading to Europe yet, do yourself a […]
I am just giddy at the thought of getting Williams without giving up West. I’d hate to see Joe Smith go because I like what he brought to the team, and it certainly puts more pressure on Hickson to develop into a contributer much sooner, but man is that much more atttractive than getting rid of Delonte.
I like Joe Smith, but MAKE IT HAPPEN, DANNY!
I’m with Rock King. In it’s current form (Smith and Jones/Pavs) for Williams, I’d say do it. We get to see Hickson and the only big negatives seem to be Williams’ deal, the pressure on Z/Hickson to keep the offense coming from our PF/C’s, and the possibility that moving Jones and Smith would leave us with less movable pieces as the deadline. But considering Wally, Snow, Pavs/Jones (depending on the deal), and Varejao would still remain as guys on expirings, they’d still have options to make a huge pre-deadline move.