Why the Cavs should bring back Derrick Williams

The Cleveland Cavaliers should bring back forward Derrick Williams.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have two roster spots available after trading six players (Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Dwyane Wade, Channing Frye, Derrick Rose and Iman Shumpert) for four (George Hill, Rodney Hood, Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr.) on Thursday. The Cavs should sign forward Derrick Williams, who played with the team last season, with one of the remaining roster spots.

Williams currently plays for the Chinese Basketball Association’s Tianjin Ronggang Gold Lions where he averages 20.0 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.9 steals and 0.7 blocks per game. He’s shooting 49.2 percent from the field (14.2 field goal attempts per game), 33.3 percent from three-point range (4.3 attempts per game) and 70.3 percent from the free-throw line (6.5 attempts per game).

With the Gold Lions holding a 7-30 record and being second-to-last in the league standings, their season will likely end on Sunday, as February 11th is the last day of the CBA’s regular season. That should make it possible to sign Williams rather quickly.

The level of competition and athleticism in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) is a ways away from the talent and athleticism found in the National Basketball Association (NBA), so the eye-popping stats Williams is putting up should be taken with a grain of salt. However, there are plenty of former NBA forwards in the CBA (such as Brandon Bass, J.J. Hickson, Luis Scola, Jared Sullinger and Ike Diogu) and so Williams’ stats do have some ability to translate to the NBA level.

Especially because he’s only been out of the NBA for a few months.

While in the league, the former second overall pick fell out of favor rather quickly, thanks to being a hybrid forward who didn’t dominate on the interior like a true power forward could but didn’t possess the guard skills or shooting stroke of a true small forward. In those days, small-ball versatility and the ability to be a positionless player weren’t en vogue like they are now.

Consequentially, he failed to live up to expectations as a franchise cornerstone in Minnesota and the Timberwolves traded him to the Sacramento Kings just two seasons later. Unfortunately, Williams found himself in basketball purgatory once with the Kings, an organization lacking direction, leadership or staff that would truly help him develop his game. He would go on to sign a multi-year deal with the New York Knicks, another dysfunctional franchise, before signing with the Miami Heat the following season.

With the Heat, Williams began to show flashes of his game coming together before inefficiency and dwindling effectiveness resulted in his release. From there, Williams found a Cavs team willing to kick the tires on a prospect they could have selected with the first overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft (Kyrie Irving was selected instead).

Likely familiar with his game and in need forward depth with Kevin Love out, Williams was signed to a 10-day contract and excelled. His energy, ability to attack the rim in the open floor of halfcourt, ball-handling (at his position and size), athleticism, efficiency from three-point range and ability to guard every position on the floor led to another 10-day contract from the Cavs before they decided to sign him for the remainder of the season.

When Love returned, Williams found himself on the outside of the rotation but not before turning heads and being a piece of the team’s most dominant lineup (outscoring opponents by 38.7 points per 100 possessions). A semi-positionless lineup with James playing point guard as Williams found himself guarding the opposing point guards.

He played so well that head coach Tyronn Lue was consistently questioned him for playing Richard Jefferson over him, even when they faced the Golden State Warriors in the 2017 NBA Finals. Williams did everything Jefferson could while being younger, larger and more versatile on defense. Jefferson was more experienced and demonstrated a better basketball IQ.

If the Cavs brought Williams back there would be no guarantee of playing time now or in the future but he’d be a great addition for depth in the event that one of the Cavs’ wings or forwards goes down with an injury.

Williams spoke to HoopsHype’s Bryan Kalbrosky about the Cleveland Cavaliers’ struggles and the quote that stood out most pertained to what he thought he brought to the table during his Cavs tenure was short and simple:

"“I brought energy, effort, efficiency.”"

In this younger and more athletic iteration of the Cavs roster, a team that looks to get up and down the court, Williams is just the type of player they need. Especially as they try to distance themselves from the lethargy that has plagued them throughout the season.

Williams averaged 6.2 points and 2.3 rebounds per game for the Cavs last season (13.2 points and 4.8 rebounds per 36 minutes), while shooting 50.5 percent from the field (4.3 field goal attempts per game), 40.4 percent from three-point range (2.1 attempts per game) and 69.2 percent from the free-throw line (1.6 attempts per game).

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*All stats gathered from www.basketball-reference.com