When Mo Williams, now 33, signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers over the summer, he had to know that once Kyrie Irving returned from his fractured kneecap, he wouldn’t be a prominent part of the rotation.
Or, um, maybe he didn’t know that.
Williams has been receiving inconsistent playing time of late, a trend that dates back further than Irving’s return to action. He hasn’t played in three of Cleveland’s last nine games, and in the six appearances he made, only once did he log more than 15 minutes.
And it appears he’s not OK with any of this.
From ESPN.com’s Dave McMenamin (h/t CBS Sports):
To James’ point, if there was anything to be concerned about with Saturday’s outing, it was seeing Mo Williams report to the locker room just 63 minutes before tipoff and then being late to join his teammates, if he joined them at all, as they got up off the bench and onto their feet to cheer several plays as Cleveland built its big lead.
Everyone means everyone, and as understandable as it might seem for Williams to buck against having his minutes cut drastically since Irving returned, anything but an all-in attitude is counterproductive to the rest of the Cavs using the recent calendar turn as a chance for a fresh beginning.
“Guys got to understand, and I’ve told them this, only so many guys can play,” Blatt said before the game. “That’s just the reality of the limitations of the game.”
This is weird to me. Williams’ minutes, which were plentiful to start the season, were always going to decline. Maybe he expected to be ahead of Matthew Dellavedova in the rotation, but the latter is playing too damn well to bench. Besides, though Williams accepted a bargain-bin deal to play alongside LeBron James, that typically happens because a player wants to contend for a championship, which the Cavaliers are doing.
If Williams is unhappy, he can take solace in knowing he owns a player option for next season. He can leave in free agency and never look back. The Cavaliers could also move him, given how easy he contract would be to flip, though they’re unlikely to net anything back in exchange for his services.
A Mo Williams-Utah Jazz reunion needs to happen, is what I’m getting at here.
