Philles 7 Indians 6: Never Spending Money on a Closer Ever Again
June 24, 2010Indians’ Minor Leaguers Charged in Assault Case
June 24, 2010With the NBA Draft set to kick off in a matter of hours, rumors continue to circulate regarding potential trades heading into the 2010-11 season. The Cleveland Cavaliers continue to be one of the more-discussed teams for a variety of reasons, one of which is the report that the team could be shopping key members of its backcourt.
Point guard Mo Williams, one of the rumored available players, recently leveraged his Twitter account to let Cavs fans know that he would prefer to stay in Cleveland.
“[Please] don’t trade me, I’m not ready to go,” said Williams. “I’m begging. My work ain’t done yet. I’m on both knees…[Please]. I’m serious.”
Having a player claim that he wants to be in Cleveland is rare enough. One that has put up solid regular season numbers is even fewer and further between – Williams has averaged 17.8 and 15.8 points, respectively, through his two seasons as a member of the Cavaliers. Supplying the team with a long-range threat, a handful of assists and veteran leadership, Williams even made his first All-Star appearance following his trade from Milwaukee two offseasons ago.
But where the player has fell short has been after the regular season has come to an end. With the Cavaliers in a championship-or-bust playoff run, Williams provided four or fewer field goals in four of the six games against the Boston Celtics – this included a 1-for-9, four-point night through 34 minutes of play in Game Two. And while his offense was inconsistent, Williams was consistently a liability on the defensive end, forcing the coaching staff to rotate various defenders to both Chicago’s Derrick Rose and Boston’s Rajon Rondo.
Despite Williams’ knack for big games on the offensive end and all-around positive demeanor, speculation continues to remain that the Cavaliers would like to improve at the point guard spot both offensively and defensively. In the prior two seasons, the offense has mainly run through LeBron James; something that could change if James would opt to sign with another team this offseason. While this could open up more opportunities for Williams (who thrived as a main option in Milwaukee), it could also further exploit his weaknesses if the player is forced to take on a larger role.
“I have my heart in the city and the organization and I don’t want to leave,” Williams recently told The Plain Dealer’s Brian Windhorst. “You can look at it from both sides. Other teams want you, so that is good, but I love Cleveland.”
Williams is due $9.3 million next season with compensation of $8.5 million each of the subsequent two seasons – the second of which is a player option.
39 Comments
My heart broke when Chuck Galetti(?) read this tweet on Chuck’s Last Call.
The trade rumors make sense, but it certainly makes it hard to pull the trigger after reading something like that.
You would figure that if anybody would be aware if LeBron is coming back, it would be his teammates.
So either Mo Williams knows something we don’t, Mo Williams is a hopeless optimist or Mo Williams is a sinking ship fetishist…
It’s weird, the player all of Cleveland wants to stay has shown no interest in the city or the team.
The player that everybody wants to sacrifice to the NBA Gods is pleading to stay and says his job isn’t done.
Honestly only one word came to mind when I saw this yesterday….sad…actually kinda pathetic. I like that Mo want’s to get things done, but the delivery comes off really sad.
@ doc – Mo claimed he hasn’t even talked to LeBron recently, so I’m not sure how much he knows. I think it’s admirable that he wants to help this team get over the championship hump and finish the job – a desire that I can only hope LeBron shares.
I’d like to see the Cavs get a true point guard to run the offense, and I don’t think they’d necessarily have to dump Williams to get him. Seems like Williams could be effective as a 2 guard anyway.
That plea is just pathetic. While I appreciate the fact that he actually wants to stay in Cleveland, he just ends up sounding like the last guy picked in gym class.
What should he do?
“You can act like a man!!!”
/Godfather’d
Mo… shut up. If Mike Brown had begged you like this to play some defense on Rondo, would you have done so? No.
I’m glad you don’t want to leave because we rescued you from Milwaukee, but I don’t really feel like its as genuine as Victor.
Your plead would have been more appealing to the Cavs if it was begging for LeBron to stay.
No to pick nits, buuuut
“In the prior two seasons, the offense has mainly run through LeBron James; something that could change if James would opt to sign with another team this offseason.”
Shouldn’t that be “something that WOULD change…”. I mean, if LBJ leaves, I would hope the Cavs offense doesn’t still run through him. That would be quite a feat, even for him.
@Stinkfist – Really? Not as genuine as Victor?
And you can tell that because…
It is so irritating to read comments like that, judging whether or not the statement of a person you don’t know at all is genuine.
Mo sounds pretty genuine to me. Desperate yes. But, why would you put that on your twitter unless you didn’t want to stay. Especially, when there is a rumor that the Trail Blazers want to trade for you. The Blazers are a pretty good team.
I love the fact you want to stay Mo, but this just reeks of desperation. The Cavs orginization should have sent out a tweet in each of the last 2 postseasons: “Mo, We miss you, why do leave us halfway thru April? We’re honestly thinking of putting a picture of your jumper on a milk carton”. I think I’m just about over Mo Williams. We need a PG who can play both sides of the ball. Trade him & D-West and let’s get a pick out of it.
Vare- DWest can play both sides of the ball and play them well. Why would we want to trade him? Because of his legal issues? Because of the Gloria rumors? I say we address this free agency expecting LBJ to leaves, we offer players the 12 million we’d have, we offer the MLE, and we don’t trade anybody until LBJ makes up his mind. Because, we may need some scorers (Mo and Dwest) on a LBJless Cavs team.
why trade Mo for the sake of trading him? believe it or not, he actually IS a really good player. no hes not a superstar, but he is legit. as fans, we sometimes (or alot of times) focus on players’ warts rather than what they can do. i mean, if GS wanted Mo for Ellis and the #6 pick, then ok. but to just trade him for 50 cents on the dollar just because, makes no sense at all.
Wow, I wanted Mo gone. But after this, Im not so sure. I guess maybe Im a sucker for feeling bad, he’s been plain awful for us when it counts but wow.
I guess New Orleans front office would bundle Darren Collinson and Emeka Okafor… I’d take them if the price is right and JJ wasn’t involved.
I guess the Cavs are trying to buy into the top 20 to draft Bledsoe from Kentucky.
@10 – I can’t make inferences? Thats what columnists, bloggers, and fans do every day. My reason is that when he was asked last season about LeBron’s free agency, he said that he wants to go wherever LeBron may end up.
Above all, I am sick of his consistent-inconsistencies, his lack of defense, his goofy-carefree (borderline non-serious) demeanor, average-at-best passing abilities, and his playoff failures. While his contract is reasonable compared to others on the team, it is slightly overvalued. For those reasons, I have very little sympathy for him if he were to be traded for young talent or a point guard that better addresses our needs. For those reasons, I have no sympathy for him if he gets traded. Tony Parker has expressed his desire to stay in San Antonio, but seems to understand the business without whining about it.
I was thrilled when we got him for Joe Smith and Damon Jones. I am not saying Mo Williams is garbage. I am saying that Mo Williams is not a fit with LeBron’s Cavaliers, and is not logical to hold on to him when cheaper, young talent is available with a LeBron-less Cavaliers.
I am glad Mo said he wants to stay, and even more so that he wants to make up for his failures. He may indeed enjoy Cleveland. However, being committed to a sub-500 baseball team to which you have been a part of your whole career comes off as far more sincere than being committed for two years to the contending Cavs (uh, I mean LeBron and his 66 and 61 win regular seasons)
By the way a Antawn Jamison swap for Okafor and Collinson would work. That is, if it’s just a contract dump for the Hornets.
@Stinkfist – comment all you want on Mo’s play on the court, just spare me your inferences (based on nothing) regarding whether something he writes is genuine. Maybe poor columnists and bloggers make inferences based on nothing – but it doesn’t make them worthwhile.
When have you ever taken him seriously? You cannot honestly tell me you think he will be happy to be in Cleveland next year if LeBron leaves and he is on a 38 win Cavs team.
@Stinkist – I don’t know, he may or may not be happy. He asked/pleaded to stay in Cleveland – that’s all I know.
@ Matty – why would the Hornets do that? As bad as Okafor’s deal is, Jamison still has two years left at big bucks.
ANNOUNCEMENT:
I was just about to submit a big babbling comment.
But I’m over it.
Please don’t play for our team next year, I’m not read to see you suck up the playoffs again. Our playoff work will never get done with you on our team. I’m on both kness…pls. I’m serious.
It is frustrating to want LBJ to be this loyal, but it is also fustrating to listen to fans care less that anyone not named LBJ is loyal. To have a player beg to stay in Cleveland and listen to fans in turn say they will not feel sorry for him if he gets traded is frustrating to me. You can say you would be happy if we landed a better pg but to say its his own fault and who cares makes me sad (and a little angry). So instead we get a “better” PG and in 3 years when he asks to be traded or leaves you will all be upset that there was no loyalty.
Apparently Cleveland cries for loyalty, but only if it comes from LBJ
Let’s not forget we lose game1 to the Celtics without Mo’s 3rd quarter. And at least he showed up in game6.
That said, if we can acquire better talent by trading him, then by all means, we do it.
tribefan, what are you talking about? Z gets applauded for his loyalty. Cribbs was loyal to the point where he got sympathized with for demanding a pay increase. Since you’re a tribefan, you clearly know the whole Victor story, right? Its way beyond LeBron
Yes there are other fan favorites, my second post was uncalled for. But what I was talking about in my first post was that I get frustrated by the “who cares” attitude toward this loyal player. I get that he let us down at times, but anytime you have a player make comments like this, can we not shoot him down. Like I said, I get being happier with a better talented PG, but when you make comments that you wont feel sorry for a guy I think is uncalled for. Like I said, when you trade this loyal player for a better PG who then demands a trade, I dont want to hear “where is the loyalty”
I’m with lowercase mike on this:
People talk about moving Mo and getting a better PG. Sure, Mo’s got a few issues. But the teams that have better PGs aren’t exactly giving them away. And if we somehow did make a deal for a better PG, we would probably end up with an even more glaring hole somewhere else.
I still think Mo is a great fit for the Cavs offense. With LeBron handling the ball as much as he does, the PG has to be able to get open for threes and hit them. Mo does that very well — check his 3PT% over the years. Of course, Boston’s D made it more difficult for him to get those open threes.
Getting a better fit than Mo is less likely than Mo getting his post-season neurons in order.
I think a good coach wants Mo.
We want a good coach.
Mo should stay.
Boop de boop.
this breaks my heart.
Kind of funny borderline sad even pathetic if only more of this desire had been shown in the playoffs by Mr. Williams the Cavaliers may have given Boston a tougher time. Oh well.
Mo SHOULD want to stay with the Cavs. Its a world class organization. Is it in flux at the moment? Sure. But considering the Cavs have world class facilities and an owner willing to spend, who wouldn’t want that?
Players are human, even lebron james. So you can’t blame the cav’s failure in playoffs even slightly on Mo. It takes a team to win a game, not one or 2 people. If you truely think mo doesnt deserve to stay on the team based on his playoff performance then there is no reason you should want lebron to stay on the team. And if you dont agree then you are completely negating everything lebrons done wrong for everything he’s done right and not giving the same credit to Mo. Maybe the cavs should ask mo if he is willing to take a pay cut to open up some cap space if he truely wants to stay in cleveland that bad.
Mo did an AMAZING job durring the season. And why is everyone getting mad at Mo for doing bad in the playoffs, when LeBron wasn’t doing very well in our last game? i am a HHUUUGGEE fan of both players, but Mo is a very very good player, getting rid of him just doesn’t seem right.
A decent player that actually wants to stay in Cleveland and the fans are bashing him, calling him desperate and pathetic. I don’t like the way Mo played in the playoffs either, but come on. This is why Cleveland sports fans are sociopaths.
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