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Mo Williams is one of the better scorers on the free agency market as the offseason is about to begin, and there are quite a few teams that would love to have him on their roster. He is going to be highly sought after as a free agent, but appears to have figured out which team he’d prefer to sign with. According to Cleveland.com’s report, Williams would like to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers this coming offseason.
Needless to say, it would take a lot of work from both sides to make that happen, but it would be a perfect fit for both parties as well.
In last season’s split between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Charlotte Hornets, Williams ended up averaging 14.2 points and 6.2 assists per game while shooting 39.7 percent from the field overall and 34.2 percent from behind the three-point arc. His shooting percentages simply weren’t up to par, but the combination of scoring and playmaking that he put on display was impressive.
Cleveland is coming off an impressive run in the 2015 NBA playoffs, but unfortunately fell in the NBA Finals to the Golden State Warriors. Injuries derailed what could have been the first championship for the city of Cleveland in 50 years. Signing Williams would fill a couple of the holes they have heading into the offseason and would bolster their roster for another run at a championship in 2015-16.
LeBron James did everything he could without the help of both Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving, but it just wasn’t enough. His supporting cast of Tristan Thompson and Matthew Dellavedova in particular were absolutely exhausted throughout the final series. Adding a veteran like Williams, who knows what it takes to get to the NBA Finals, would be a huge step forward.
He would immediately upgrade the backup point guard position, although Dellavedova could still find minutes in David Blatt‘s rotation. Scoring off the bench would immediately improve as well, which was an area of concern all season long for the Cavaliers.
Not only would it be a perfect fit for the Cavaliers and Williams for basketball reasons, it would also return yet another “prodigal son” to the city of Cleveland.
Back when James was making his first impact on the Cavaliers, Williams was one of his primary supporting pieces. He played for the Cavaliers for three seasons, but ended up leaving to join the Los Angeles Clippers ahead of the 2010-11 season. Returning home for Williams would be yet another face to return to make good on their promise to the city that they would bring a championship home.
There is already quite a bit of excitement surrounding the Cavaliers looking ahead to next season, but adding another familiar face and lethal scorer would take that excitement to a new level. Cleveland would be adding excellent depth and another perimeter threat to the floor, while also bringing in a veteran presence to help lead the way for the roster when the going gets tough.
While there will be plenty of other options for Williams in free agency, the Cavaliers are without a doubt his favorite possibility.
Finding a way to get a deal done isn’t going to be easy, however, unless Williams is willing to settle for a very small salary. It doesn’t seem like Williams would want to play for the minimum, but he might be willing to take a discount to return home.
If he is indeed willing to take a cut in salary in order to make something happen, then the Cavaliers will find a way to get a deal done. Bringing him back to Cleveland would be a perfect fit and would make the Cavaliers an even more dangerous championship contender next season.
Evan Massey is a featured writer for www.RantSports.com, and contributes across the NFL, MLB, NCAA and NBA portions of the site. Follow him on Twitter at @Massey_Evan and like him on Facebook.
