Cleveland Cavaliers Are Targeting Deron Williams, D.J. Augustin In Trade

Deron Williams and D.J. Augustin are two of the Cleveland Cavaliers recent trade targets.

As the Cleveland Cavaliers try to find a backup for Kyrie Irving, they’ve decided that the trade route is their best option to replace Matthew Dellavedova and complement rookie Kay Felder. According to Joe Vardon of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Cleveland Cavaliers are targeting Deron Williams of the Dallas Mavericks and D.J. Augustin of the Orlando Magic.

That these two are available in a trade isn’t surprising.

Augustin is a career journeyman on a team that’s currently 5-7. He plays behind a young point guard in Elfrid Payton who is a former lottery pick and in front of a point guard in C.J. Watson whose defensive rating of 106 shines in comparison to Augustin’s defensive rating of 113. While Augustin holds opposing ball-handlers to 36.4 percent shooting in the pick-and-roll, he’s had trouble contesting shots from spot-up shooters. Spot-up shooters have converted 37.5 percent of their shots against Augustin and have an effective field goal percent of 46.9.

Part of that is his size at 6-feet even. Part of that is him being out of position defensively.

Augustin likes to play fast and will attack the rim incessantly in transition or on a drive in half-court. Once he’s there, Augustin converts his shots at a 63.6 percent rate around the rim and 55.6 percent in the lane. Augustin also uses the pick-and-roll effectively, shooting 48.3 percent from the field when operating as the ball-handler.

For the Cleveland Cavaliers, Augustin style matches the pace that Lue wants to run and Augustin’s efficient shooting in the pick-and-roll will make him a suitable replacement for Dellavedova. However, Augustin is an inconsistent shooter from the midrange area unless the center is truly a threat to score inside or able to shoot from the outside. On the Cleveland Cavaliers, this would likely mean he spends a lot of minutes with Channing Frye in at center. Nonetheless, Tristan Thompson seems stronger this season and is increasingly becoming a force as a roll-man inside.

Williams is a player whose best days are behind him. Though he still finds ways to be effective, Dallas is need to rebuild. Williams (32), J.J. Barea (32) and Devin Harris (33) are all on the wrong side of 30 and injured. 26-year-old Seth Curry, younger brother of NBA sensation Stephen Curry, could be the future point guard in Dallas.

While both players are expendable for their respective teams, they’re the type of players that could come in handy for the Cleveland Cavaliers. While neither player is strong defensively, they’re both capable of filling the Cavs hole at backup point guard with their offensive talents.

Williams was a superstar in the league and though his body is slowing down, his mind isn’t. Williams is currently averaging 4.8 assists per game. For perspective, Williams at one point has averaged as many as 10.7 assists per game in his career. Between his court vision, ball-handling ability and athleticism, he consistently worked teammates open time after time with the Utah Jazz.

Williams is also a strong shooter and is doing the best work from the mid-to-long range in his career. He’s shooting 50.0 percent from 10-16 feet away from the rim, 54.5 percent on long two-point attempts and 38.7 percent on three-point attempts. In catch-and-shoot situations, Williams is shooting 42.9 percent from three-point range. In the pick-and-roll, Williams is making 42.9 percent of his shots but has an effective field goal percent of 47.6.

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His diminished athletic ability and his body, which at times seems to be breaking down, will disallow him from being a strong scorer on drives where he only converts 21.4 percent of his shots. He will, however, make the right pass in this situation and 16.7 percent of his team’s assists come from his passes on the drive. Where Williams also runs into trouble is on converting around-the-rim as he only converts 36.4 percent of his shots from within three feet of the hoop. Williams is even worse in the lane where he only makes 14.3 percent of his shots.

Furthermore, Williams turns the ball over 21.4 percent of the time in the pick-and-roll and opposing ball-handlers make 45.5 percent of their shots with Williams guarding them in that situation. In isolation situation, Williams has only made 2-11 of his shots but he has held opposing players to 1-5 shooting when singled out as a defender.

Unfortunately, Williams is even worse than Augustin when defending spot-up shooters. Spot-up shooters are converting 44.4 percent of their shots with Williams contesting which is bad already, but when factoring in their three-point field goal attempts their effective field goal percent with Williams guarding them is 63.9.

For the Cleveland Cavaliers, Williams can be the heady veteran that runs the second unit and is available as a spot-up shooter. However, Williams would likely be a one-year rental for Cleveland. He doesn’t offer much in terms of defense and the wear and tear on his body presents a different issue than Augustin’s lack of size.

Nonetheless, the Cleveland Cavaliers have two good options to backup Irving in Augustin and Williams. While Mario Chalmers could still be signed in free agency, he won’t be available for awhile. There’s also no telling what physical condition he’ll be in when he is available.

With that said, trading for Williams or Augustin is probably the best option for the Cavaliers.

Do you think that D.J. Augustin or Deron Williams will be a good trade acquisition for the Cleveland Cavaliers? Who do you prefer? Let us know in the comments section or Twitter @KJG_NBA.

Cleveland Cavaliers Targeting Deron Williams, D.J. Augustin In Trade

By Quenton S. Albertie | Nov 19, 2016

Deron Williams and D.J. Augustin are two of the Cleveland Cavaliers recent trade targets.

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