Williams perfect fit for Cavaliers’ title push
Champs find way to improve, don’t bust budget
For a team over the luxury tax line with limited salary cap flexibility and for a team in need of a proven playmaker, the Cleveland Cavaliers could not have done any better than reaching a deal with veteran point guard Deron Williams.
Cleveland gets another starter who will come off the bench, giving the Cavs the depth they need and want in the backcourt. The Cavs also get a guard who can manage the offense, run plays and set up others for shots while not worrying about scoring. But Williams can do that, too, when necessary. He has eight games with 20 points or more this season.
And the Cavs get him at the most affordable price: the veteran’s minimum. Williams will cost the Cavs just more than $900,000 in salary and luxury tax payments. While they’re adding to the luxury tax bill, it’s not a financial hardship.
This season, Williams, 32, averaged 13.1 points and 6.9 assists and shot 34.8% on three-pointers in 40 games for the Dallas Maver- icks, who waived him Thursday. He cleared waivers Saturday and informed the Cavaliers he would sign with them for the remainder of the season.
Cavs All-Star LeBron James griped this season that the Cavaliers needed another playmaker, someone who could take the burden off of him and All-Star guard Kyrie Irving.
It was a difficult time in the season when James made those comments. Cleveland had lost five of seven games and was for- tunate that the struggling Toronto Raptors failed to overtake the Cavs for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. James backed off those comments recently, telling reporters before Williams agreed to join the team that the Cavs had enough to compete for a championship.
Asked during All-Star Weekend if the Cavs needed more talent, James said, “That’s a question for the GM (David Griffin) sitting in his seat or for the ownership group. For me, as the leader of the team, I’m fine with what we have, and we’ll continue to push forward.”
James must be thrilled he’s getting a player of Williams’ caliber; he is a three-time All- Star. He is not the player he was with the Utah Jazz or even Brooklyn Nets, but Williams is more than capable of running an offense and making the right plays.
Williams is a solid pick-androll player, and, while there’s a reason for this — Irving is one of the best score-first point guards in the NBA — Williams is averaging more assists than Irving this season.
Not only can Williams help reduce the minutes James and Irving are playing, but he also can bolster the second unit and sometimes be on the court with James and Irving.
Williams’ addition also will help the Cavs get through the next four weeks without forward Kevin Love (recovering from knee surgery) and shooting guard J.R. Smith (recovering from a broken thumb).
Once Love and Smith return, the Cavs will have high-quality depth with Williams, Kyle Korver, Channing Frye, Iman Shumpert and Richard Jefferson.
The front office, led by Griffin and assisted by senior vice president of basketball operations Trent Redden and assistant GM Koby Altman, have found ways to continually add solid contributors despite salary cap restrictions.
This season, they managed to keep the core of their title team together while adding Korver and Williams. They might even add veteran center Andrew Bogut.
The Cavs will be in better shape in May and June than they were in January when James said, “We’re not better than last year from a personnel standpoint.”
This doesn’t guarantee another title, but personnel won’t be the issue.
FOLLOW NBA REPORTER JEFF ZILLGITT @JeffZillgitt for breaking news and analysis from the court.