Cleveland Cavaliers power forward Derrick Williams has been signed for the remainder of the season.
*Editors note: article updated to reflect current status of the deal
The Cleveland Cavaliers have signed Derrick Williams for the remainder of the season, according to general manager David Griffin.
In the latest bit of basketball irony for the Cavs, Williams will be signed for the remainder of the season on the day that he plays against the team that released him. The same team that LeBron James left in 2014 to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers. A team that slighted James’ friends in Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in the offseason.
This, just a day after Kyle Korver hit a record-breaking three against the team that traded him to the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Atlanta Hawks. Korver did that in the Hawks’ arena.
Williams, who averages 10.3 points in nine games for the Cavs on 56.1 percent shooting from the field and 42.9 percent shooting from three-point range, has nearly doubled his averages from the time he spent with the Miami Heat. With the Heat, Williams was averaging 5.9 points per game on 39.4 percent shooting from the field and 20.0 percent shooting from three-point range. In Cleveland, Williams averages 24.2 minutes per game. In Miami, Williams averaged 15.1 minutes per game.
Williams has been an efficient and effective player for the Cavs as he consistently makes the right play on offense and defense and executes in what’s a three-and-D, 1-5 role. His versatility has allowed him to guard every position on the floor and gives the Cavs a dominant lineup that features no player shorter than 6-foot-7. He’s athletic and an able ball-handler, which are factors that make him dangerous in transition and around the rim in general. He’s helped balance out a lineup of three-point specialists by specializing at attacking the rim.
According to LeBron James and Tyronn Lue, Williams earned his contract with his play.
Lue even went as far as to say he thought that he always thought Williams would be signed for the remainder of the season because of the way he played against them.
Williams’ new contract is a bargain for a player who’s become an integral part of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ rotation.
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