Mavericks guard Deron Williams was bought out on Thursday after the trade deadline passed, and it did not take long for him to find a new home. The championship contending Cavaliers announced Monday that they have signed the former All-Star guard.
Basically, what LeBron wants, LeBron gets. James has wanted a playmaker for the better part of two months, and Williams fills that role to a T. Williams can run the offense, knock down shots, and generally just manage the team in a way the Cavs have been in desperate need of. Williams, notably, is in the 95th percentile in pick-and-roll offense, including passes out, per Synergy Sports.
Oh, and he’s a 70th-percentile jump shooter, via Synergy, at a 51 percent effective field-goal percentage. He’s above Kyrie Irving and Carmelo Anthony in effective field-goal percentage on jump shots.
So this is a little gross. The Cavaliers have had absolutely zero trade assets and managed to add Kyle Korver and Deron Williams, and there’s a not-terrible chance that Andrew Bogut hops on board, too. This helps with the regular season to get Kyrie Irving rest, it helps for the playoffs to have another shooter and playmaker with playoff experience, and it comes at absolutely no cost of assets.
This is a home run move for the Cavaliers, and it’s just what they needed. The only drawbacks are concerns over Williams’ health, which derailed what was an All-Star career five years ago.
