Mo Williams is happy with his role in the move to the Los Angeles Clippers
Mo Williams was pleased to finally have an opportunity to leave behind the beleaguered Cleveland Cavaliers and their disastrous season, and play with Blake Griffin in Los Angeles and rebuild that young team into winners.
For that, he had to waive the option of an early termination to his contract, which basically meant that he would be forced to play out the last two years of his contract with the Clippers. Williams jumped at the opportunity, and the Cavs GM concocted a
deal with the Clippers to trade Jamario Moon and Mo Williams to Los Angeles in return for Baron Davis.
The Clippers rejoiced at the offer to trade away Davis and quickly put the deal into work. Baron Davis and Head Coach Vinny Del Negro were not really the best of friends, and it was evident that there was some animosity between the two.
While the ailing Cavaliers got a talented leader for their team, and a second-round lottery pick to help out with the rebuilding process left in the wake of Lebron James’ departure, Mo Williams kind of flew under the radar. And he would have liked it that
way.
Williams will now have the opportunity to play alongside another budding superstar by the name of Blake Griffin. After spending two seasons as James’ side-kick in Cleveland, Williams would savour the opportunity to play in the spotlight again and set things
up for the young NBA Slam-Dunk Contest winner.
The Cavaliers enjoyed great success in the regular season with Lebron and Mo Williams at the helm, but failed to translate that same bravado into the playoffs. With James much touted departure from Cleveland; Williams saw the Cavs hit rock-bottom.
In Los Angeles, Williams eyes a new start, and a new way to redeem his talents.
"I'm three years older now," Williams said. "I'm not that young guy to come in just to help out with scoring. I think my role will be different here, because we've got Eric Gordon and Blake. They'll be our two scorers. My job will be leading this team, running
this team, being a scorer when needed. I think that will be my best role, the role I want to play -- score when needed, but basically getting these guys involved, getting in them in situations to excel, spacing the floor."
The Clippers would want just that. While Davis was a major contributor to the Clippers run of wins after the 1 – 13 start, his $28.6 million contract left a huge knot in the throat of Clippers, GM Neil Olshey. The Clippers can now use some of that money
to surround Griffin with pivotal role-players and keep him happy in Los Angeles.
"Having Mo out there hitting big shots is huge for us," Griffin said. "Baron was doing that, and now we have a guy that's perfectly capable. He's done a great job. The more we play with each other and the more familiar we are, the better off we'll be."
The Clippers had been looking for perimeter threats to compliment Blake Griffin. Eric Gordon fits in perfectly, and now Mo Williams, with his playoff experience and stout shooting ability gives the Los Angeles squad a whole new dimension.
A far superior 3-point shooter compared to Davis, Williams is the only one on the team to have any prior playoff experience. Although the Clippers will be resting out this post-season, Williams is hopeful that he can lift this team to that plateau by next
year.
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