Mo' Williams, Same Problems For Cavaliers

Three-team trades are always fun, especially when the three teams involved are trying to satisfy different agendas.

For Cleveland, it’s trying to find the right mix of scorers to take some of the pressure off of LeBron James. For Milwaukee, it’s acquiring the scrappers, shooters, and hustle players that Scott Skiles delights in. And for Oklahoma City, it’s trying to gain some sort of stability for a neophytic roster on a vagabond franchise.

Since the Cavaliers are the only of the three franchises that can reliably expect some measure of playoff success, we’ll begin with Cleveland:

Cleveland receives: Maurice Williams (from Milwaukee)
Cleveland loses: Joe Smith (to Oklahoma City), Damon Jones (to Milwaukee)

Giving up Joe Smith leaves the Cavs with only Zydrunas Ilgauskas as an established shooter and scorer in the frontcourt. Losing Smith also means losing a quality individual and a clubhouse leader.

The loss is mitigated by the fact that the Cavs still employ two quality defensive bigs in Ilgauskas, and Andy Varejao; the running-on-empty Ben Wallace; and a first round draft pick in J.J. Hickson in their frontcourt.

In the end, Smith is replaceable by players already on Cleveland’s roster and his loss shouldn’t be too difficult to fill.

Ultimately transmuting Damon Jones into Maurice Williams is a steal. Cleveland won’t miss Jones’ big mouth, bigger ego, and constant failings under pressure.

Instead, they get Maurice Williams, a score-first point guard who can also make plays for others coming off of pick-and-rolls. His shooting is better when he’s pulling up rather than when he’s spotting up, which could be a concern in Cleveland’s LeBron-centric offense.

After all, Larry Hughes was a slasher more than a spot-up shooter and Cleveland’s offense often sputtered with Hughes out of his element.

Also, because he’s a tad on the stocky side, Williams isn’t exceptionally athletic and has never been able to move his feel laterally. Despite the trade, Cleveland is still the least athletic team in the league, and now features the defensively underwhelming backcourt of Williams and either Sasha Pavlovic or Wally Sczcerbiak.

Acquiring Williams will help some, but aside from James, Cleveland still has a complete lack of athleticism on their roster and a profound lack of punch from their wings.

Grade: B

Milwaukee receives: Damon Jones (from Cleveland), Luke Ridnour (from Oklahoma City), Adrian Griffin (Oklahoma City)
Milwaukee loses: Maurice Williams (to Cleveland), Desmond Mason (to Oklahoma City)

In Scott Skiles’ attempts to get quicker and more versatile, Milaukee replaces Maurice Williams with Damon Jones and Luke Ridnour.

While neither of the three plays any on-ball defense, Ridnour is quicker than Williams in attacking passing lanes, and has quicker hands and feet which theoretically will lead to more steals, more opportunities to create chaos, and more opportunities to play at a fast tempo.

Ridnour also has better traditional point guard skills, and is looking to rebound off a lost year riddled with injuries and playing time designated almost at random.

Damon Jones will find himself in Skiles’ doghouse early and will be buried on the bench. Adrian Griffin is a scrapper and a defender who at best, may take minutes otherwise reserved for Charlie Bell. Desmond Mason’s time was up with the acquisition of Richard Jefferson. He isn’t a good shooter and isn’t the tempo-generator Skiles is looking for.

Grade: B

Oklahoma City receives: Joe Smith (from Cleveland), Desmond Mason (from Milwaukee)
Oklahoma City loses: Luke Ridnour (to Milwaukee), Adrian Griffin (to Milwaukee)

In an attempt to generate stability, Oklahoma City picks up wise old Joe Smith, and the veteran Desmond Mason, both with game still in their travel-worn legs.

Mason can still defend, rebound, and score by driving or cutting along the baseline. More importantly Oklahoma City knows that Mason can be plugged in at small forward, allowing them to designate Kevin Durant as their starting shooting guard, Jeff Green as their backup small forward, and Damien Wilkins as a bench warmer, thus stabilizing their rotation.

Joe Smith takes over the Kurt Thomas role of providing leadership, a positive attitude, craftiness, and a reliable mid-range jump shot. Adrian Griffin was simply bench fodder and won't be missed.

Instead of juggling three point guards in Earl Watson, Delonte West, and Ridnour, like Carlesimo had to last season, he now only has to worry about playing Watson and breaking in rookie Russell Westbrook at the point, which will also help stabilize players’ roles and playing time.

Overall Oklahoma City brought in quality talent and stability to a franchise desperate for both.

Grade: A