Cavs still interested in bringing back Derrick Williams, does he still fit?

The Cleveland Cavaliers are interested in bringing Back Derrick Williams but does he fit on the roster after the Cavs’ offseason moves?

According to cleveland.com’s Joe Vardon, the Cleveland Cavaliers are still interested in bringing back forward Derrick Williams.

"“Williams is a free agent and is generating very little buzz on the open market. Cleveland could bring him back for $2.4 million. A source said the team remains interested in bringing Williams back.”"

Vardon would add that the reason Williams may remain unsigned is because he’s looking for a team that will, if not value him more as a player, reward him for his solid play.

"“Perhaps he is looking for other options because, as you said, he is indeed a stepchild of the red-headed variety, having lost his rotation spot in March (and through the playoffs) even though he played well for a month after signing in February as a free agent.”"

Williams, the second overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, hasn’t lived up to expectations since being selected to be a cornerstone for the Minnesota Timberwolves franchise after the organization traded power forward Kevin Love for a trade package headlined by the high-flying Andrew Wiggins, the first overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft.

However, Williams’ journey took him to the Cleveland Cavaliers, a championship team with a culture for him to thrive in and a role that simplified the game for him. Usually, teams would sign Williams with thoughts that he could be something like a featured scorer for them. However, the Cavs only needed him to make open shots and play off of their featured scorers.

Williams stepped up in Love’s absence when the latter was out recovering from an arthroscopic knee surgery to provide adequate spacing, above-the-rim plays and versatile defense from the power forward position (and sometimes center). In 25 games with the Cavs, Williams averaged 6.2 points per game while shooting 60.0 percent from two-point range and 40.4 percent from three-point range.

In his first seven games for the Cavs, Williams shot 36.8 percent from three-point range while averaging 10.1 points per game.

In March, Williams shot 40.0 percent from three-point range but only averaged 5.6 points per game as Love returned to the court halfway through the month. In April, Williams played sparingly and averaged 2.4 points per game. However, he shot 66.7 percent from behind-the-arc.

In addition to his individual performance, the Cleveland Cavaliers had even found a positionless lineup where the team thrived with Williams playing beside LeBron James, Richard Jefferson, Channing Frye and Kyle Korver.

In fact, it was their best lineup. With those five on the court the Cleveland Cavaliers recorded their top point differential (+38.7 points per 100 possessions). This was a factor of tremendous boosts to their efficiency (+25.6 percent from the field, +20.5 percent from three-point range, +32.0 effective field goal percentage) and playmaking (+11.8 assists per 100 possessions); the Cavs’ numbers in all four of these categories were also the best of any lineup.

It was one of the lineups many thought Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue would break out against the Golden State Warriors, a team that thrives on positionless play. However, Williams, like DeAndre Liggins (a standout performer during the Cavs’ Christmas Day game against the Golden State Warriors), never got the opportunity to play in the NBA Finals despite the overwhelming evidence in his favor that the Cavs could benefit from his play in the matchup.

That’s especially considering that the bench wasn’t hitting their shots. It’s understandable why Lue would trust Jefferson (11.1 percent) and Iman Shumpert (22.2 percent) in the rotation though they had their struggles in making shots from three-point range in the 2017 NBA Finals. Both Jefferson and Shumpert play passionate defense and try to keep the ball moving on offense.

However, so did Williams. The same Williams whose physique, athleticism and versatility most closely resembled James’.

Even if Lue continued to play Jefferson and Shumpert, Williams could have played. Instead, Lue played the wrong D-Will.

In place of Williams, Lue opted to play Deron Williams (who started 0-of-11 from the field in the NBA Finals).

That was a decision that probably won’t haunt Lue, who has shown favoritism in the way of veteran’s in a way reminiscent of your old high school or AAU coach. Or even his mentor Doc Rivers.

However, it will haunt the minds of Cleveland fans forever.

Lue’s decision not to bench the elder Williams for the younger Williams was possibly fatal for the Cavs championship hopes, as the Cleveland Cavaliers simply needed a bench that could keep the Golden State Warriors from running away with a lead or cutting too far into a lead the Cavs had built. Unfortunately, Lue opted to stick with what didn’t work — keeping Williams on the floor.

These thoughts may have run through Derrick’s mind, as Vardon even noted that despite Williams playing well for the Cavs, he lost his place in the rotation.

That he essentially lost it to a player who, outside of a stretch of games between his start against the Miami Heat at the end of the regular season and the beginning of the NBA playoffs, had underwhelmed for the Cavs is not something Williams is likely to hold against the Cavs because of the elder Williams’ storied career. Nonetheless, it’s a reason for Williams to look for or wait out better options.

If the Cleveland Cavaliers were to sign Williams now, he’d likely find himself as the third-string power forward behind the recently signed Jeff Green (a player James personally recruited). That’s not all too different from the situation he was in when Love returned from his injury, with Jefferson, Frye and James all playing minutes at the power forward spot as well.

Williams’ best hope would be to try to usurp Jefferson, a veteran that both Lue and James trust greatly. To be fair, Jefferson is more likely to make the right play than Williams due to his basketball IQ and experience. Last season, Jefferson was also better at shooting threes above the break than Williams. However, Williams is likely the better athlete at this stage in their careers and would be better defensively than a now 37-year-old Jefferson.

With that said, if Williams has to bank on his youth and defense to earn him a spot in the rotation, he may be better off playing for another team. Especially if there’s no guarantee him outplaying one of Lue’s favorites would allow t

The Cleveland Cavaliers still need to sign a scorer with their open roster spot, as they still don’t have a player in their second unit who can consistently create shot opportunities for themselves off-the-dribble or in the post outside of Green. Hence their interest in Jamal Crawford before he signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

If they can’t find a scorer, the Cavs would still do well to use that spot on a player who provides leadership for what can be a volatile locker room at times, especially when James is frustrated, or on a mobile big man. Edy Tavares, though a solid rim-protector, doesn’t look like a player the Cavs can rely to stay on the floor against quicker offenses or those that thrive on player and ball-movement.

Cavs fans certainly wish Williams the best and wouldn’t mind him back but at this time, the fit doesn’t seem right for either side.

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*Unless otherwise referenced, stats gathered from www.basketball-reference.com