Things have really taken an ugly turn in the relationship between Mo Williams and the Cleveland Cavaliers. He wasn’t invited to the opening night championship ring ceremony, and the player is not welcome at the franchise he played four seasons of his career for.
Williams is more or less retired at this point. However, the way to get there hasn’t been exactly straight and filled with good vibes between him and the Cavaliers. It looks like all bridges between the two sides are burned.
So what happened? Williams did miss most of last season, but was on the floor when the Cavaliers won game 7 in the 2016 finals, winning the franchise’s first NBA championship.
Well, Williams thought the 2016-2017 NBA season would be his last. He picked up his $2.2 million player option, but on the day training camp opened, he decided to retire and have knee surgery. Of course, this way, the Cavs not only had to pay him, but also took the cap hit that comes with massive luxury tax repercussions even after the massive rise in the salary cap. He’s also part of the roster, eating up a space the Cavaliers would love to give to a backup point guard, a position they seem to be struggling with.
So why would Williams, who basically knew he’s going to retire, take such a course? Well, it comes down to one thing: Feeling that the Cavaliers medical staff messed up diagnosing his knee, and overall apathy to his injury and his pain.
So where are things now? Williams is retired, although he hasn’t handed in his papers, which is pretty much screwing the Cavaliers. Cleveland in the meantime are trying to include his contract in a trade for a backup contract, so far not finding a trading partner willing to take it on without the Cavaliers also adding a draft pick they don’t want to give up. Williams played in 41 games for the Cavs last season, averaging 8.2 points and 2.4 assists in 18.2 minutes per game.
0 comments:
Post a Comment